The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Wednesday, the 14th of February, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

16 days to go

Our FarmTender2024 - Entrepreneurs in Farming event is not far away. Click here for more info. See the media release here. Read some of the questions we are going to ask Danny Thomas, Rob Dawes and Claire Booth.

Why are Parts so dear?

You walk into a clothes shop, and the standard markup on clothes is around 100 per cent (so they say). If your a negotiator, there's a bit of wriggle room there. Parts have become Farmer's clothes shops less the negotiation and discount sales. Have Machinery Part always been dear? I remember buying blades and belts for the Loxton Slasher and points for the Combine and the Scarifier, and I can't remember ever complaining about the price. But these days, Farmers cringe when they head to the Dealership to get a Part or 7. Why are they so expensive? Have the Dealers just thought, bugger this, what a great way to make a margin and hammer it home? Do we know what the standard markup on a Part is? I've heard if you scan the internet, you can get some of these Parts out of the US for a fraction of the price. Parts might be an expensive thing to carry for the Dealer, so we can't just assume all the blame to them. The cost to carry might be high. Whatever the case, someone is cleaning up. Perhaps we need a Supermarket like investigation as it's annoying the Farmers no end. Do you think you are getting fleeces on Parts? Reply to [email protected]

Interest in Carbon but….

I was listening to Colin Medway from LAWD, the Rural and Commercial Property group, on The Humans of Agriculture podcast just recently. You can listen to it here. He said there is ongoing interest in properties for Carbon projects, but he also noted that there are a few Properties up for sale that already have Carbon projects started (baselines measured, etc). He said there is limited demand because their Properties don't have any income from the carbon projects as yet. It's a good time to really think about how we use the Land, and I would suggest a carbon property with no income would start to get hairs on it. The feel-good investors might not feel so good anymore. It's hard enough to make a quid in Ag at the best of times, and that's why these unproven Farming methods are a real risk. Have you had any success with your carbon venture? Reply to [email protected]

Sell when it's good

In the podcast mentioned above, Colin said there were some nice Dairy Farms coming onto the market, and there was interest out there. Dairy is a shining light in the Australian Farming landscape right now, and the prolonged "good times" have meant that Dairy Farmers have been able to get themselves into a better financial position and upgrade some infrastructure. So there is plenty of confidence in the Dairy game and it was a packed house at the Dairy Conference held this month (see the video Tweet below). Long-time industry participants would know there have been plenty of tough times in Dairy. If you know you are in the market to sell, then selling when the industry is going well is a good tactic. Cash in when times are good. It should apply to everything, not just property, but sometimes we get sucked into ourselves wanting that little bit more only to see the market come off, and we then have regrets. Have you ever sold something right at the top of the market? 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:

• “The president of the VFF and CEO are not and haven’t been listening to the members who are the organisation. To use corporate Lawyers over the constitution to stay in control costs a lot of money which should be spent on advocacy for members. We, the VFF, need to get back to representing people in Primary Production”. - A Farmer scathing at the way the VFF is currently being run.

• “Not so sure that Farmers are that confident in the job. With ASW Wheat trading at only 29 cents a kg, Map at 110 cents a kg, and Urea at 80 cents a kg, the margins are becoming very tight. It is more of a case that Farmers continue to do what they do. EG. You can’t Shear the Sheep because the Wool isn’t worth much”. - A not-so-confident Farmer in reply to our Note on how confidence levels are pretty high at the moment.

• “Government intervention. We are not here to serve the Government. The Government is there to serve the people. Farmers need to stop the rot”. - In reply to our problems in Farming Note yesterday.

• “My rates will have increased 260% by the time this SRV is approved from. $7k to $ 18.5k for 1000 acres from 2019 to 2025”. - More on rate increases.

• “Staff and some Councillors love cutting ribbons that pump up their credentials. They smile, we pay”. - A not Farmer summing up what goes on in their Shire.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

Random and associated Ag articles and images.