The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Saturday, the 30th of December 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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

Is 2024 yours?

I want to take this opportunity to wish every one of you a Happy New Year, both from me personally and the Farm Tender team. We sincerely hope 2024 is a great year for you, your family, your work or your business. So that begs the question. How are you going to make 2024 yours? In Farming, not much comes your way if you sit back and expect it to happen. You have to go out there and make it happen. Like we said in one of yesterday's "Club Notes," you have to create the opportunities. Here's to 2023, and bring on 2024. Reply to [email protected]

$250 an acre lease

I had an email reply from a Farmer near Warracknabeal in the Wimmera area. He was saying that around the well-held and very reliable country near Kaniva, not far from the SA/Vic border, they are paying up to $250/acre to lease Cropping country. I have never heard it that high, and you would want to be confident you could make a margin at that rate. The whole leasing/renting of Land has changed in the last decade, where the rule of thumb was a lease rate was 5 percent of the land value. That had to be ratcheted down from a percentage point of view when the price of Land started going through the roof. Because at say $7000 an acre, that works out at $350 and acre. So we have had to make some changes, and it is heading very much to how the US operates, where they will rent the country to the Farmers for rates they know, whereby they can make a margin, and the Landowner will take the rise or fall in the Land value. I have heard of $150 and $175 an acre but not $250; well, I suppose we have now. Have you heard of any innovative ways to lease country? Reply to [email protected]

Age of Farmers no barrier

I read that the age of US Farmers is said to be 58 years. There is a Tweet below about it. Take a look. Is it a true indication of where Farming is at here in Australia if the average age is around the same? Or have we muddied the waters by only recording the oldest member of the Farm business in this ongoing number we like to quote? I'd argue that it's no barrier if the age of the Farmer is rising, as we clearly keep getting better at the caper. I think Farming is in a good space as far as the meshing of older and younger people and what they both bring to the table. The older guys bring the knowledge and have experienced all the good and bad times several times over. The young ones bring new ideas, a level of professionalism and enthusiasm. It's like the Local Cricket or the Footy team; it is a combination of youth and experience that usually works. Work out how many people are involved in your Farm business and send through what the average age is, please? Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

Random and associated Ag articles and images.