The Farmers Club

The “Club Notes” for Saturday, the 13th of July, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

Bare minimum

A Sheep and Wool Farmer quoted me this yesterday: "I reckon last year I fed 150,000 people and clothed 60,000 people, and I didn't make a profit". That quote got me really thinking, and it could be another story for another day. Another Farmer said this: Costs have caught up with high Land prices, but production hasn't". We know when non-market costs rise, they very rarely come down. I heard 2nd hand that Case IH are thinking about raising prices for Machinery again. This surprises me in the current climate. Anyway, back to my thinking, where do prices need to be, say, at a bare minimum to make the job viable? Does Canola need to be a minimum of $750 a tonne, Wheat $350 a tonne, Heavy Lambs $300 a head, the Eastern or Western Young Cattle Indicator at 900c/kg, Vetch Hay $300 a tonne and Wool at $1750c/kg clean, for example? All these prices I have pulled off the top of my head are traditionally high, and Farmers would have no trouble making a profit, say 10 years ago (in an average season) on the back of those numbers. But the game has changed, and the above-mentioned prices seem like bare minimum prices that we can't go under. What sort of prices for things do you need to make a profit? Reply to [email protected]

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