The Farmer Club

The “Club Notes” for Wednesday, the 12th of June, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

You fux you fix

Here in Australia, we Farm independently, nearly to the point where we Farm in isolation. And what I mean by that is no two Farms are run the same. We all do it differently, and we do it our own way. It's very much a strength and a weakness at the same time. I was talking to a Sheep Farmer the other day, and he shares a Sheep Handler with a neighbour; it works swimmingly, and they have halved the cost. But there are rules, he said. The main one is, you fux, you fix. If something breaks on your watch, you make sure you fix the mishap, and the cost comes out of your pocket. What I struggle to understand is why Farmers don't share more stuff. I get it; I get it, I get it, that for seasonal things like Headers, Air Seeders, Tractors, Balers, etc, it doesn't work. It's been tried numerous times and nobody can seem to find the secret ingredient. But for non-seasonal stuff where the use of something isn't as urgent, I think it's a no-brainer. I also get that sometimes, these things can lead to a fallout in relationships, and people would rather prevent that happening by doing nothing. Leave me out of it, they say. But take a bit of a look around the Farm and think to yourself what you could share. Do a bit of a stocktake and jot them down, and then have a bit of a chat with the Farmer you would most likely do this with. If you could, would you share more stuff to reduce your cost of Farming? Reply to [email protected]

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