IT’S been a long time since Charles Wooley saw so many farmers with huge smiles from ear to ear. The veteran reporter has grown rather more accustomed to telling stories about hard times on the land — the droughts, the tears, the uncertainty. But on 60 Minutes on Nine on Sunday night, Wooley uncovered the new boom sweeping Australia that’s leaving cattle farmers very rich and very, very happy. Beef is being hailed as the new iron ore, as Indonesia and the rapidly expanding Chinese market drive up demand for our cattle. And that demand — coupled with favourable grazing conditions — is turning Top End livestock ... (full story)