The Farmers Club Newsletter (1)

The “Club Notes” for Friday, the 1st of December 2023

By Dwain Duxson

If you can, please get your family, friends and colleagues to sign up. See the website link here.

Dodgy no longer

We have spoken about information overload a bit lately. The internet and our readily available phones are to blame for that. I was thinking the other day that the internet has brought the Farming community closer, and it also means that it's difficult to hide these days. So that makes it harder to be dodgy from within Ag. By that, I mean in years gone by, before we were all so connected, the dodgy ones would all go from community to community, and the new community wouldn't have a clue of that person's past. Being in the Farm Tender business for over 10 years now, we have seen those people get exposed and it ends up that nobody wants to do business with them. But the internet hasn't stopped the non-farming scammers; they are alive and kicking, and we are very conscious of them. Our Farm Tender model lends itself well to not getting scammed because we have people who get in the middle of the deal, and our people are really good at seeing something suspicious. The other thing we do is the invoice on behalf of the seller to the buyer; we hold the money and only release it to the seller when both parties are happy. We recommend everyone deal this way. Have you ever been done over by a dodgy? Reply to [email protected]

Who could do Clarkson's Farm here?

I have been watching Clarkson's Farm occasionally, and it's a good laugh. For those that don't know, it's a UK show featuring motoring guru Jeremy Clarkson, who has bought this Farm with no Farming experience and tries to make it work. He gets help from his wife and a few other local characters who are just as funny as he, but they know how to Farm. It's taken the UK by storm and given Farming exposure to many city people, which is fantastic. It got me thinking, who could be the Jeremy Clarkson equivalent in Australia? The first person that came to my mind was former AFL star Brendan Fevola, who is/was a bit of a larikin, he doesn't mind playing the goose, is not shy in front of the camera and would not know the first thing about Farming. Who would you choose, and why? Reply to [email protected]

Are MLA retreating

I put an article up yesterday about MLA and how they are starting to question their commitment to the red meat industry to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. I will put it up again and make it the top image so you can have a read. Are you getting the same vibes that I'm getting that there seems to be no real demand from it at the consumer end? It's been such a commitment for them for a few years, and it will be interesting to see where it goes. CEO Jason Strong, who announced his resignation today, and the current board won't be around at, say, the halfway point to 2030, so it will be interesting to hear what the internal discussions are as to whether they keep committing or get on with some of the more pressing issues. See below. Reply to [email protected]

The old 3-on-the-tree

I am currently in Swan Hill, as I write, and there is a bit of water lying around here and there after 100+ mm on Wednesday night. I passed an old Holden Ute on the way, and it got me thinking about the old 3-on-the-tree gear shift. Some of you would, and many of you wouldn't have driven one with a setup like this. It was on the left-hand side of the steering wheel, and the gear was in an "H" shape. So 1st was bottom right and Reverse above that, 2nd was up and across and up again and 3rd straight down. Where the problems used to happen was from 1st to 2nd gear. You had to be pretty loose going between these gears, sorta a bit floppy-like. If you were too rigid, then you would jam it, and you would have to lift the bonnet to unjam it that way. I was in an old Holden Van with a guy called Ross Loats at Bendigo Country Week Cricket, and poor old Ross somehow jammed it (he was going from 2nd back to 1st) at the fountain stop lights in the middle of Bendigo. It was a bit embarrassing for old Ross, and with half a dozen cricketers in the Van, do you think he lived that one down? Do you remember the 3-on-the-tree? Reply to [email protected]

Burnout and stress webinar video

For those that want to watch the stress and burnout webinar that Farm Owners Academy put on. Here is the link. It's worth it just for the interview with the Dairy Farming lady. Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

Random and associated Ag articles and images.