The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Friday, the 24th of November 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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Rising up to the level of the kids

We have our mate Don Murphy's funeral today. If you’re not up with it, then take a read here. I was talking to a person about characters or the bush, and he said they are still around; it’s just that we don’t realise. It’s like seeing that sign on the road. If we drive past it twice a day every day, we don’t see it. We talked about one of old Don’s endearing character traits. He always took time out for the kids. No matter where he went or what he did, he spent as much time talking to and including the kids as he did the adults. We can all be accused of walking straight past the kids to get to the adults. But some have that knack of being able to relate to the kids. And guess what? The kids never forget that, and it’s probably why Don had mates who were 20, 30, and even 40 years his junior. So, as a challenge, let’s all go out of our way next time (and the time after that) to reach out to the kids. Reply to [email protected]

A change of plans

A TFC subscriber sent in this story in. It was a reply to our “Bush Wedding” note — My daughter got married recently in October. Back when she got engaged was smack in the middle of a state-wide flood situation, so the Molong pub was the closest accessible meeting place to discuss wedding plans. Not being the best of Cropping years due to wet weather, we were a bit anxious to find out what body parts we would have to sell to pay for it. Luckily for us, our daughter and fiancé decided to break the trend and go to an alternative plan that was less expensive by getting married at the beautiful Booroowa racecourse. The ceremony started with guests and families seated in the grandstand equipped with a drink then the bride escorted by both mum and dad to the alter. The celebrant did an outstanding job with much laughter, canapés on the lawn, and then into the old pavilion for formalities. Excellent meal catered by local Canowindra girl (old family friend), then music and dancing. Amazing the transformation of an otherwise shabby old Hall with a bit of hessian draped around walls and Aldi Christmas lights everywhere. Then, outside, around plough disc firebuckets (my main contribution) for the rest of the evening! Both the wife and I agreed if we’d had our time over, we would have done the same thing, but it would probably been frowned upon back then! Reply to [email protected]

Breaking the mould

The above wedding plans were obviously a secondary choice. A much lower budget forced them to look for something a little left of centre and to ditch the more traditional Church and reception centre cookie-cutter Wedding. And I am pretty sure it turned out to be a more memorable event at a fraction of the cost. So, I think the lesson is that when something goes wrong on the Farm, we don’t just give up; we look for a possible alternative way around the problem. And you know what? It might be the new way you end up doing that particular task. It might break the mould. Just like the wedding above, the original plans went out the window, so they thought again, pulled it off, and memories were made. They broke the mould. Have you had a time when everything turned to shit, and you all-of-a-sudden found a new and even better way? Reply to [email protected]

Where our wealth originates from

We had a reply from Trevor Mills, a newly retired Dairy Farmer. This was in reply to the Gina story we wrote in the Farm Tender “Daily”. Here it is. And here is Trevor’s take — Unlike most, Gina understands where the wealth and real money of not only this country but the world comes from. Without Farmers and Miners, the people of the world would have no wealth. Wealth (money) is only generated from either Agriculture or Mining by the stuff we produce from the earth and, if done correctly, is sustainable forever. Everything after this is simply value adding what was produced from the earth in the first place. Without the raw materials that Farmers and Miners produce the rest world would have no wealth. You only need to look back to the time before modern Agriculture and Mining to understand this. The biggest problem the world will face is when we start to run short of resources, either because the population grows too large or we fail to be sustainable. At the moment, we are nowhere near sustainable in Farming because it is all taken from the Farmers and not given back by the people who consume what we produce. By this, I mean Farmers, in general, are paid a pittance for what they produce, but worse is that what we produce is rarely recycled and returned to the Land to nourish it and continue the cycle of production. A just-retired Dairy Farmer. Trevor Mills.  Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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