Maurie Cafra planted his first asparagus spear in Koo Wee Rup in 1983.

“It grows well here because it's a very fertile clay soil,” Cafra told the Monitor. “Once the roots are established, there's no irrigation needed, and it's also not too hot here.”

Gippsland is well known as one of the major producers of dairy in the country - supplying an estimated 23 percent of Australia’s milk - but if you’re seeking a crop that totally dominates its market, consider asparagus. 

The Koo Wee Rup region in West Gippsland produces more than 95 percent of Australia’s entire asparagus crop, according to the Australian Asparagus Council.

Cafra’s parents bought his property 80 kilometres southeast of Melbourne in the 1950s after migrating from Italy and grew potatoes, carrots and onions.

Cafra and his wife Maria took over the business in 1975 and switched production of the 69-hectare property to an organic certified farm named Cafresco Organics.

Brian Edwards, marketing and shed manager for Cafresco Organics, told the Monitor: “Asparagus to Koo Wee Rup is like what rare earth metals are to China, that is how valuable they are.” 

Read the full story here.

Sharyn Swanepoel long hoped someone would open an independent bookshop in Drouin. It didn’t happen, so she launched her own.

Check out a video from one of our contributors about the new bookshop below.

How do you change a law in Australia?

My colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account looked into how a Hong Kong-based gas pipeline company is trying to change laws in Victoria to make households more reliant on gas.

Checkout Archie’s video below.