Editing Bendigo (section)

===Farming and agriculture===
The surrounding area, or "gold country", is quite harsh, rocky land with scrubby regrowth vegetation. The [[box-ironbark forest]] is used for timber (mainly sleepers and firewood) and beekeeping.

Sheep and cattle are grazed in the cleared areas. There are some large poultry and pig farms. Some relatively fertile areas are present along the rivers and creeks, where wheat and other crops such as [[canola]] are grown. The area produces premium wines, including [[Shiraz grape|Shiraz]], from a growing [[viticulture]] industry. [[Salinity]] is a problem in many valleys,<ref>Edwards, M. D., & Webb, J. A. (2003, November). Ground-Truthing of a Tempest Airborne Electromagnetic Survey in the Salinised Kamarooka Catchment, Near Bendigo in Central Victoria. In Proceedings CRC LEME Regional Regolith Symposium, Adelaide (pp. 110-114)</ref><ref>Lane, R., Heislers, D., & McDonald, P. (2001). Filling in the gaps? validation and integration of airborne EM data with surface and subsurface observations for catchment management? an example from Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Exploration Geophysics, 32(4), 225-235.</ref> but is under control.<ref>Reid, M. (1995, September). Burkes Flat—a salinity treatment success story. In Murray-Darling Basin Groundwater Workshop’. Wagga Wagga, NSW (unpublished)</ref> A relatively small [[eucalyptus]] oil industry operates there.<ref>McCartney, W. T. (2003). An introductory overview of the essential oil industry in Australia. In Proceedings of International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades international conference’.(Ed. C Green)[CD-ROM](IFEAT: London).</ref><ref>Goodger, J. Q., Heskes, A. M., King, D. J., Gleadow, R. M., & Woodrow, I. E. (2008). Micropropagation of Eucalyptus polybractea selected for key essential oil traits. Functional Plant Biology, 35(3), 247-251.</ref>

Bendigo provides services (including a large livestock exchange) to a large agricultural and grazing area on the Murray plains to its north.