The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Saturday and Sunday, the 14th and 15th of October 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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Why hasn't Virtual Fencing taken off?

I was in an email conversation with a person who has been trying to get this Virtual Fencing thing off the ground and has been at it for 25 years. I guess it's like self-drive Cars or Tractors. It sounds simple enough, but It's just never gets to a point where it's commercial. My Virtual Fencing friend believes the industry needs to move away from collars to other devices like chips, tags, bolus, facial recognition, etc. He also mentioned that there is a lot of red tape involved, which is holding things back. We also have a trust issue with not seeing a fence and seeing Livestock in the same area. It's like letting the car drive itself. Where is the level of trust? Something else that is holding it back is that people love a fence. It's a very satisfying thing putting up a fence. It's hard work sometimes and expensive, but when it's all complete, it can be very gratifying. We all have different ideas on what fences to build. What fences do you like to build? Reply to [email protected]

Coromby Silo

The other day we did a "Club Note" on the concrete Silos you see scattered along the railway lines throughout the rural areas of Australia. Farmer Paul Petering sent in a series of photos of the Coromby Silo in the Wimmera are of Victoria. See the photos below. One of the photos shows it under construction, and you can get a bit of an idea of how they built them. Gee, it would have been a big job back in the 1940s. Another picture shows a Truck dumping Wheat in the hopper, with some dumping bags and some converted to bulk. How much more effort went into doing the bags? Another photo shows the lineup in 1983. I can remember these sorts of lineups back when I was a kid at our local Bolangum Silo. It brings back great memories. Another photo shows what it was like before the Silos were built and how they did the bags. What a perfect stack. Another photo shows where Coromby is. It's about 40km North East of Horsham in Victoria. Thanks for sending those in, Paul. Reply to [email protected]

Saving the world

I had an interesting chat with a Farmer who has a sidey bush accommodation business on the Murray River that attracts alot of people out of the city of Melbourne. I think it's fantastic that these people come out into the country to taste what we have on offer. But I couldn't resist telling a little story he told me. They come out, some in their Electric Cars, portraying they are eco worries and that they are saving the world. But he said they get a little bit upset when one of their creature comforts is taken away, ie the air conditioner breaks down. So, he said, "They like to say and think they are saving the world, but it's only ever done in comfort". Have a great week ahead. Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson

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