The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Thursday, the 21st of September 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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Simple marketing

Old mate Tim Neale put this tweet out, "Do yourself a favour Australia. Go and buy some Lamb. Farmers need you right now". An image of a Lamb roast (see below) accompanied the tweet. It got 112,000 views and was such a simple calling of arms. Marketing is a bit like Spreading Urea, we do it, but we don't know if it's going to work. The best thing about it was that most people who responded said they "would go and pick some up today." I reckon it was the picture of the Roast that got people in. I mean, this would be so simple for MLA to do on a regular basis. But it gets back to my point on marketing, you don't know what's going to work. They spend millions rolling old Sam Keka out each Australia Day. But boy, it's great entertainment, and it sells a few Chops too.

Working stupid hours.

We have spoken about this in the past, and it's a commonly known thing that Farmers work too hard. We call it working stupid hours. The adage that "there's always something to do" is the way many Farmers operate. Yes, things need to get done, and some are very timely. But most of us get an attack of the guilts when we are not working. I know what it's like. I have/still suffer from it myself, although, at 54, I am better than I was 20 years ago. Being called a part-time Farmer, a Collins St Farmer, a Pitt St Farmer, hobby Farmer, etc doesn't help, but you have to have a pretty thick skin in the Farming world to break the cycle. See below in the second image what a couple of Farmers are doing to "have a life". Do you feel you need to find some more non-working time?

Bring it in, and we'll straighten it……

We had a Pig Farmer who migrated to Marnoo (where I grew up) from Denmark, and his name was Bendt (pronounced Bent). He was a good Farmer, and the family were great community people. Bendt had a bit of a short fuse, and when he first arrived from Denmark, he rang the local Engineering joint, and the conversation went like this. Bendt “Hi, it’s Bendt here”. Engineering staff member (ESM), "yer mate, bring it in, and we'll straighten it". Bendt, “No, it’s Bendt”. ESM, yer we can straighten it for you mate". Bendt, "No, I'm f*#%king Bendt". ESM "Yer I can do it". Bendt "Oh FFS", and he hung up and drove into town to get what he needed. That one has been told many times over the years.

Old Woolsheds get a new life.

There are some magical old Woolsheds out there. So much history, and there are plenty of them around. Some are still in use, others have gone to rack and ruin and are beyond repair. Many are being superseded by new ones as their working condition is not up to the standards we expect these days. Many are so big and regal that they take alot of money to just maintain. But the Farm Tourism trend is bringing some of these impressive structures back to life as function centres and/or wedding venues. The "old" is what impresses people. The spider-webbed window, holes in the tin, wonky floors, lanolin-laden pens, timber beams and most of all, that Woolshed smell. People just love them.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson

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Random and associated images.