The Farmers Club

No 225 - Thursday's Club Notes

Dwain Duxson
June 06, 2024

The “Club Notes” for Thursday, the 6th of June, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

Bloody subscriptions

Once every 2 or 3 weeks, we send out our paid version to our free subscribers; today is one of those days. Before I start please read the article (two sections) at the very bottom of the newsletter. Is Agriculture too well represented? It's a bloody good question, and Corbin makes some very good points below. We can rack up some costs by being a member of these organisations, which rely on subscriptions and funding from elsewhere. These Farmer advocacy groups popped up years ago, sorta creating an industry within an industry, and ever since, the number of groups you could be a part of has grown. There is a poll you will see below that is asking if we should amalgamate all our Ag advocacy groups or keep them the same, the amalgamation vote is winning pretty comfortably. With amalgamation, the trouble starts when we have industries that need specific representation, and the amalgamated group has no one qualified to handle it. With the VFF stopping the funding of alot of these subsidiary groups, is that telling us the model is broken and potentially unfixable? Farmers dislike subscriptions (haha, I know, first hand), and that is evident with the falling membership amongst our state-based representative groups. People are sick of paying and getting nothing in return. We are fast entering a world where the good stuff ain't free anymore; if you want something that's going to be of benefit to you and your business, it won't be free, but it has to provide value. So, I don't know where our Ag advocacy groups are headed. Do you have an opinion on where these groups are going? Is the VFF pulling out on funding others only the tip of the iceberg? Reply to [email protected]

New Wool Brand - EchidnaKids

We love promoting Farmer-initiated brands, and here’s a new one developed by one of our Farmer Members. Check out the article here and also go direct to their website here. Do you know of a Brand close to your heart that was created by a Farmer? Reply to [email protected]

There's a trade-off here

Since 2019, China has increased their milk supply by 10 billion litres. Yes, 10 billion. Australia produced 8.3 billion litres in the last financial year, so with China's increase, that is over 120 per cent of our overall production. Read the article (3 sections) in the Dairy section towards the bottom of the page for clarity. So they are fast becoming self-sufficient in Milk after long being a major importer of Australian Milk. This got me thinking about how many Dairy Heifers we have exported to China over the years. It has been a brilliant and rather lucrative market for the industry. But the question I ask is, have we fueled the beast that will come back to bite us one day? Maybe. But if we didn't sell them those Heifers, somebody else probably would have. It just goes to show in international trade, there is always a trade-off. You supply a country with y, and they will produce more x. Could we be contributing to a market that will eventually see us miss out on the spoils? Will we start seeing it have an effect on our Dairy industry? Can you think of any other trade-off situations? Reply to [email protected]

Xero to hero.

It's interesting how Farm accounting software has evolved. I can remember when I was on the Farm and doing the books, and we used Agrimaster, which was a bit of a revelation and the time. I remember receiving the floppy discs in the mail so we could upgrade the software. It was a very clever program, and I am sure plenty of Farmers are still using it. I also know many would be using Xero and MYOB. We use Xero at Farm Tender, and it's a fantastic user experience, with many accountants pushing their clients in this direction. We talked about subscription models above. These guys have the ultimate subscription model because once you are in, you ain't going anywhere. They would have amazing retention rates; their customers would be as sticky as they come. It's one of those things; you're using it every day or a few times a week, and it's seen mainly as one of those necessary evils jobs, something that doesn't lift the heart rate, but you know it has to be done. What Farm accounting software do you use? Reply to [email protected]

Getting ripped off on Farm.

I was talking to a Farmer at Mathoura in NSW yesterday morning, and he said he had been duped of what could be a couple of thousands of litres of Diesel. They caught the offender at 4 am via an alert from a security camera. These guys might have a solution to a problem that might get worse through this cost of living crisis. Have you ever been ripped off on Farm? Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

Added Extras for subscribers only:

Event - FarmTender2025 - The Business of Farming event is on in SA in 2025. Take a sneak peek here.

Video - Terry Tran’s quarterly economic update is available here.

Offer - Any New Commander Ag Self-Propelled Augers - Get $1000 off RRP any new Commander Ag Quip Self-Propelled Augers through Farm Tender. Available to paid-up Farmers Club members only. Email [email protected] if interested.

Offer - Any New Munro Post Driver - Get $1000 off RRP for any new Munro Post Driver through Farm Tender. Available to paid-up Farmers Club members only. Email [email protected] if interested.

Offer - FarmTender2024 - See the VVVVV FarmTender2024 - Entrepreneurs in Farming event. 6 hours of content, so many takeaways (valued at the ticket price of $350). It’s like 11 separate Farming podcasts all in one.

Offer - FarmTender2023 - See VVVVVV FarmTender2023 - The Business of Farming event. 6 hours of content, many takeaways, and many things have changed (valued at the ticket price of $350).

Information for paid subscribers:

To go to the web version of this newsletter click on this link here. To login to your account. 1) Click on the login button. 2) Type in your email address. 3) Go to your email and click on the get access link. 4) Click on the head on the top right of the page. 5) Click on edit details and add your first and last name, please. 6) Click on Manage Subscriptions if you want to update a card, etc; you can manage it from here.

Good Ag Podcasts:

Others have said how good the Head Shepherd podcast featuring Nigel Kerin was and thought it was worth more than the 9.5/10 rating I gave it yesterday. So I am now giving it 11/10…. 1 hour and 2 minutes. Take a listen here.

Your replies:

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

In reply to our note on not being rigid in our thinking and having a curious mind - "On your subject of changing your mind, I think we need to keep a close eye on our profit drivers and the core of our business. I think it is very important to try and learn the rules of Farming and understand that every season or market environment may require different decisions or marketing. These can be tweaked each season accordingly. But I also believe that you need a simple system, know it well, and don't get distracted by fads that are not scientifically or financially proven to help profit or overall business performance. The best operators in this part of the world (King Island, Tasmania) have done just that, a simple system with small tweaks here and there, but have kept the core business and system very similar for the past 20 years, each year benchmarking themselves with all Beef producers in southern Australia to get better each year. They have not changed from Wool to Lamb to Beef or anything; they just run a lean cost-of-production Beef breeding business. Thanks for the content each morning; it gets me thinking each day".
In reply to our note about changing your mind. This is a very good way to look at it - "Hi Dwain. About 50 years ago, a very smart man who was a bank manager and father of one of my mates said never die for your beliefs son. They might be wrong".
I thought I would just chuck this compliment into the mix. We are lucky enough to get alot of favourable comments like this, and for that, I am very grateful - "Thanks for the daily start to the day – always a must-read to get the day into perspective, then tackle the world."
In reply to our note on how the Wool industry missed out on the booming activewear trend. We now have Wool that is prickle-free, but the prickle legacy is still with us, as we can see here - "Hi Dwain, I guess cost and prickle factor worked against Woollen activewear. Cotton lining would overcome the prickle factor but adds more cost".
This was about one of those quickfire gatherings that are popping up around the country, helping Farmers and the like with information on how to tackle the late break. Fantastic events, and we will write something more tomorrow - "Good roll-up today at Edenhope, easy 200 people. It is well put together and informative, with a high-quality line-up of speakers who know their stuff. Fail to see how any Producer would not get a takeaway out of the sessions, such was the diversity. Good head day to for many who are living this late start to the season. Well done to all involved".