The Country Hour

The Country Hour is Australia's longest running radio program, established in 1945. The program is currently broadcast on all regional ABC Local Radio stations from midday to 1pm each weekday, presenting news from rural and regional Australia, with a heavy focus on the agricultural industry.

The program features live interviews and stories that are compiled by the ABC's rural reporters who are based at each regional station. National Rural News, a national five-minute rural news bulletin is broadcast on The Country Hour at 12:06pm. General national news headlines are broadcast at 12:30pm followed by a weather update. Market reports are delivered by designated correspondents just prior to the conclusion of the program at 1:00pm.

There are currently seven separate local editions of The Country Hour that are broadcast to each Australian state and territory, with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory. While the program is not aired on metropolitan ABC stations, but is streamed on their corresponding stations on the ABC Radio app.

Due to The Country Hour being aired at noon on regional ABC stations, the national current affairs program The World Today is aired on a one-hour delay in regional areas, whereas it is broadcast at midday on ABC stations in the capital cities.

The concept of The Country Hour arose during World War II when research indicated educational content on radio had the potential to increase productivity for the war efforts, particularly in the agriculture sector. John Douglass, an agricultural scientist with some international radio experience, convinced ABC management to establish a specialist rural department. The ABC agreed and Douglass was subsequently appointed to lead the new department as "Federal Director of Rural Broadcasts". After recruiting some former ABC announcers to work on the program, it debuted on 3 December 1945 with presenter Dick Snedden welcoming listeners to "a program for the farm families of Australia". The program was officially opened by Federal Minister for Agriculture William Scully.

Stories that had been planned for the first few weeks of The Country Hour included coverage of stock sales at Homebush; an interview with a Pheasant enthusiast; an educational piece about a poultry factory; and an account of haymaking at Hawkesbury Agricultural College.

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