Over the past year the Western Magazine has taken a look at some of the more unusual stories from around the wider readership area, from the profitability of mouse poo (who knew!) to a spice worth more in weight than gold. 

Click on the headlines or images to read more of the stories. 

Worth more than gold: Protein balls, hot cross buns and muesli are all foods infused with Katrin and Greg Dixon's locally-grown saffron, and the duo is reaping the benefits of these products which use the world's most expensive spice.

With the Dixon's Capertee Valley Saffron being the only company in Australia infusing locally-grown saffron with their many products, they have certainly set themselves apart from other producers.

Saffron is worth about $75 per gram and Ms Dixon said what made it so expensive in Australia compared to other overseas countries was labour costs.

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Whippersnapper: For siblings Tyler, Jada and Logan Anderson, the art of whip cracking is a natural thing

It all began when 11 year old Tyler was four years old, when he and his parents, Alicia and Todd travelled from their hometown of Cobar to Dubbo to watch a live performance of the Man From Snowy River.

"Tyler saw whip cracking champion Ben Hughes on stage and instantly wanted a whip himself," Ms Anderson said.

"We went home and talked about it. I've always said about the kids that whatever they're passionate about we'd support it, as long as they were dedicated."

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Brody shears 200 in a day: Seventeen-year-old shearer Brody Tiyce took on a veterans task earlier this year and conquered it when he successfully shore more than 200 sheep in a day.

Brody, who has only been shearing for seven months, completed the momentous effort in January.

Your back doesn't get cold and it doesn't ache as much," he said.

Brody said although he didn't practise in the lead-up to shearing the 200 plus sheep, practice certainly makes perfect.

"Every day I shear and every day I've gotten better," he said.

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Mouse manure profitable: An accidental discovery has led Molong-based commercial mouse farmer and reptile breeder, Steve Leisk to a lucrative side project that is nothing to sniff at.

Mr Leisk operates DoLittle Farm, a commercial rodent production facility that supplies frozen snake food to Australian pet shops, python breeders and wildlife institutes across Australia, since 2004.

But for just over a decade he has expanded his business to selling the mouse manure for compost.

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Earthy aroma: Whether you think of them as an aphrodisiac or a fungus, truffles are certainly making their mark on the agricultural industry, and Oberon growers Col and Sue Roberts are reaping the rewards from this culinary delight.

They planted their 550 truffle trees in 2002, on their property Lowes Mount Truffiere.

"We're a small family business and we decided to put the trees in to give us a cash flow in retirement," Col said.

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Maremmas on guard during dogwatch: In theology a guardian angel is assigned to protect someone through life, and although Firenze, Leonardo, Edessa and Calabria sound like heavenly creatures, they are actually the team of Maremmas that guards John and Estelle Joseph's flock of 1000 chickens on their farm 'Brigadoon Harvest'.

The Josephs run an organic pastured egg farm just outside the small central west town of Tooraweenah.

In order to protect the many chickens from predators such as foxes, snakes or feral dogs and cats, the Josephs knew they would need some extra help.

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Hot opportunity: Being on the road to the Warrumbungle National Park, means Tooraweenah farmers Penny and Phil Henley always have people stopping by, but it isn't just for your usual cuppa and yarn, it's to see the 800-strong mob of emus they have on their property, appropriately called Emu Logic.

Being one of the very few emu farms in NSW provided the Henley family with the opportunity to turn their emu farm into a tourist hot spot.

Although Ms Henley said they 'just sort of fell into' establishing their emu tours.

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Full of flavour: Thirty years ago there were more than 300 garlic growers in Australia, but with the rise in cheap, imported garlic local growers just couldn't compete, now they're making a comeback with their organic and flavoursome produce.

Morganics Farm is an organic garlic farm situated on the outskirts of Orange.

Farmer Libby Morgan runs Morganics Farm with her husband Ken.

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Love lingers on in the bush: Grace Hambling and Harry White may have started their love story 'backwards' when they first met in 2010 while working in the Northern Territory, but six years later, the lovebirds are still together and have now moved to Harry's family farm in Mudgee, NSW.

Their love story caught the eye of creative duo photographer Edwina Robertson and journalist Andrea Crothers, who have been travelling across the country to capture rural and regional love stories from the bush, with their creative project Hearts of Australia.

"One look for me was all it took and as they say the rest is history," Ms Hambling said of first meeting Harry.

"We were living and working in close quarters to each other from day dot, we sparked up an unofficial relationship within a week of knowing each other, and then three months later it became official."

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Olive growers enjoy fruits of labour: "Except the vine, there is no plant which bears a fruit of as great importance as the olive."

A quote from Ancient Roman philosopher Pliny that still rings true to local olive producers, who from humble beginnings, have now grown their farming businesses into nationally recognised award winning products.

Bryan and Mandy Wheatland run Glenroy Grove on the outskirts of Narromine.

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Cream of the crop: Milk and cream products from Dubbo's The Little Big Dairy Co are in the running for top honours in the NSW division of the Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards.

Last year the single-source, family-run dairy and milk processing company received an armful of gold and silver medals.The Little Big Dairy Co director Emma Elliott is confident of more success in the 2016 competition.

"Judging took place this week but we will have to wait until June for the results to be released," she said.

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Producers making a name for themselves: Central west pork producers are reaching new heights with their free-range produce, not only selling their respective products direct to customers at local markets or butchers, they are also passionate about what they do and the part they play in Australian agriculture.

Eumungerie producer Michael Hicks, with his wife Alexandra, started their business Extraordinary Pork in September 2014.

"I've been a farmer my whole life. It was something we always wanted to do" Mr Hicks said.

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Market bonanza: Saffron, cider, beef jerky, truffles and truffles are just some of the exotic and niche foodstuffs opening new revenue lines for producers and hobby farmers in NSW’s Central West and Western regions.

And enterprising farmers have created steadily expanding customer bases by selling the products through four Farmers’ Markets each month.

The markets in Bathurst, Orange, Mudgee and Dubbo pull at least 12,000 customers monthly and some farmers are drive for up to eight hours to sell directly to the public from stalls.

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Boots to help make a change for farmers: The Boots For Change campaign began as one of the 2015 ABC Haywire Youth Innovation projects, and was the brainchild of five young women who each came from farming backgrounds across Australia. 

Australian Farmers Markets Association spokesperson Jane Adams said boots were a great country metaphor that helps to link back and focus on food, farming and youth programs.

"The vibrant national network of Australian Farmers' Markets is ideally positioned to communicate these important messaged," she said.

Do you have a wonderful story about Western NSW? Email the Western Magazine journalist at taylor.jurd@fairfaxmedia.com.au with your ideas.