The Farmers Club

No 168 - Good Friday's Club Notes

Dwain Duxson
March 29, 2024

The “Club Notes” for Good Friday, the 29th of March, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

What our plans are over Easter and going forward

First of all happy Easter. Celebrate it however you see fit. We will kick off with a fully blown Good Friday edition below. On Tuesday morning, we will send out instructions on how to sign up for the subscription, and we will commence the full subscription edition on Wednesday morning. It will be a 30-day trial; after that, it will cost $44 inc GST per month with no lock-in contract. In other words, you can sign up, and you will get 30 days free, and you can unsubscribe before the first payment comes out. Some of you have indicated that at $44 a month, you think it’s a little bit expensive. Most people who have said that say they enjoy it each day. All I want you to do is break it down; at a bit over $1 a day, it’s a relatively small price to pay for something you enjoy. However, whichever way you go, I fully respect your decision. I have made the promise to commit to this fully, and it will evolve over time. I have a few ideas of how we can add extra value along the way. Initially, I will do a free edition with access to the first story and will let you know of my plans after that. I am super pumped about this project; I have worked out that my purpose going forward is to support Farmers and the Agriculture community fully and provide information and commentary 6 days a week for the rest of my existence or until I can’t. I have never been so excited about doing something, and I thank you for your ongoing support. Reply to [email protected]

In Agriculture, there aren’t really too many places to Market. The Rural papers have been the cornerstone of that over the years, and lately, advertising has gone digital, where you can market through platforms like AuctionsPlus, Beef Central and equivalents. We have just started doing banner advertising at Farm Tender. Check it out here. I remember when I was on the Farm and in charge of marketing our yearly Ram sale. It was always a scramble to get an ad in all the Rrual papers in the two weeks leading up to the event. It was more a reminder to people as to when it was on that something that would sell a few extra Rams. It sorta got lost in amongst all the other stud advertising, but it was something we spent money on as a marketing exercise. We also did a printed newsletter with some shallow waffle each year, and that was about the extent of the marketing other than ringing each client that had bought Rams in the past to ask them how many Rams they intended to buy. In Ag, I think we are pretty poor at marketing as it seems pretty basic what we do and without much flair. Cooky cutter stuff. There are a few Ag businesses that do marketing well, and it’s a fully ongoing commitment. I will talk about that another day. Do you think Agriculture marketing and advertising is pretty basic? Reply to [email protected]

It’s a game

“The reality is that Farming is a Land investment game”. You will see this quote below, highlighted in yellow, made by David Cornish, who is a Podcaster, Farmer, and Marcus Oldham executive. I think he is partly right with his statement, and the focus has certainly shifted that way a little more than it used to be with the spurt in Land prices. All of a sudden, anyone who owns Farm Land has become very wealthy on paper. I remember when I first started on the Farm, we valued our Land at $300 to $400 an acre. We had about 5000 acres at the time, which was a peak value of around $2 million dollars. That same property today is worth $30 million and that’s pricing it at an average of $6000 an acre. So yes, David has a point. I remember having a debt of around $300 to $400k at the time, and we thought it was a huge amount. It took a bit of servicing, and I am sure many debts are bigger now with bigger valuations, meaning it’s all relative and relatable. So, the numbers have changed, but the game is still the same. We are just managing much bigger businesses now. How do you see it? Reply to [email protected]

Those who forge a path

There are plenty of men and women who have forged a path in Agriculture, a path many of us follow. Austin Ryan (pictured below) and many others did that in our Industry, and I don’t think we recognise these people enough. I plan to bring you more of these stories over the coming years through this publication. Read part of the Austin Ryan story here. Most of you will be forging a path in Agriculture and one day; you will be recognised for t Don’t be shy; tell us what path you are forging in the Ag space. Reply to [email protected]

Your replies

Below are snippets from some of the replies you sent in. All quotes will remain nameless. See a few current ones below:

“Hi Dwain, I can't see us being able to restore today's Vehicles in 50 years ’ time. Why? Electronics. For a start, Engines and Machines rely on sensors feeding info to computers. If my Machines are any guide, sensors are not long-lived devices and often are custom designed to fit the application. I don't think they'd be something that would be easy to reverse-engineer and get custom-made in 50 years time.” - In reply to our Note where we asked if our modern Machinery and Vehicles will be attractive to collectors and restorers in years to come.
“Hi Dwain. Saw your couple of replies about the Angus breed and Maccas. Just letting you know they are 100% spot on with the Maccas thing. Our Sheep Classer is good friends with the bloke at the head of marketing for the Angus Society, and he is solely responsible for getting it into Maccas. it 100% was the turning point for the breed. Apparently, that bloke in the Angus society got it all set up with Maccas, then left the Angus society with the greatest of reputations for what he did. He can also now command quite a price for his services as he uses the Angus Society as proof that he can take a business, market it well, and turn it from good to great. He’s done a good job either way”. - In reply to the Note on how the Angus breed of Cattle has become so popular.
“Hi Dwain, The Land price in South West Vic in 1903 was around 17/6 to 1/1/0 an acre. If you double that every 10 years, it is very close to where we are today. Whatever we pay for Land today will be cheap in 10 years”. - One Farmers take on how the increases in Land prices have happened over the years.
“On the Lachlan River out at Lake Cargelligo which is where we are heading for Easter”. - In reply to our Note on where Farmers like to go off Farm to relax and get away from it all.
“Dwain, I think most of the modern Gear will end up in the scrap heap, not restored. Same as Cars, the last of the “real” Cars ended in the late 70s. After that, they all started to look alike”. - In reply to whether the new Gear will be collected and restored as we do to old Gear today.
“Austin often said there were a lot of good ideas behind Sheds. The problem is getting them manufactured and marketed. (Marketing is everything). No invention is any good until it’s sold. (If it doesn’t sell, it remains an invention, not a product)”. - Paul Ryan with a few more quotes his inventor dad made. Read the story on Austin Ryan here.
“Farmers are the best Engineers as they’re right in amongst it. Manufacturers who don’t go into the field and experience the workplace and workings, they won’t get it. Even down to the 2am breakdowns. Nothing breaks down when parked”. - A Farmers reply to our Note on how many Farmers make great Engineers and go on to invent and build great things.
“Are Angus superior? Back in the 90s’s dad and I had a self-replacing Hereford herd. It was very common in the SE of SA at the time, and we also managed the neighbouring property that had been self-replacing Angus since the early 70’s. To cut a long story short, we would have a small amount of Calving problems every year in our Heifers, whereas the Angus herd would not. So, the Angus terminal sire was introduced over the Hereford Heifers. Over time, there were limited issues with calving. The “black baldies” made a premium in the following years, provided they didn’t have white feet. Our meat buyer had the simple explanation that the Japanese want black Cattle as it was similar to Wagyu. We became an all-black herd and introduced Wagyu genetics in the early 2000s”. - One Farmer explaining his journey into Angus breeding.
“I agree that the Angus breeders worked well as a group to promote the breed and were ahead of the other breed associations. The introduction of EBVs really got them moving”. - More on the Angus story.
“You imagine when Austin/we came out with a Spring Press Wheel. The flack we copped. They thought we had gone mad. It’s probably taken 20 years to gain full acceptance. Don’t worry, and we’ve been through a lot of pain in getting it right”. - Paul Ryan again talking about one of his family's inventions that is gaining increased popularity today. Like everything in Ag, good things take time to establish and get accepted. That’s why it’s unique, there is nobody getting rich quick in Ag. The industry only allows you to grow at a certain pace. And they ain’t quick.
We’ve got a long term vision for our business that would highly involve partnering with other businesses in our (hopefully) local area. Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes”. - In reply to our Farm Tender story about how some partnerships work really well. See the story here.
“Lots of equity and negative cashflow is the long-standing recipe for sleepless nights”. - In reply to our Note on what you would prefer. equity or good cash flow.
“I can't see us being able to restore today's vehicles in 50 years time. Why? Electronics”. - In reply to our Note on whether the modern Machinery and Vehicle will become collector's items like the old Holden Utes are.