The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and 8th of October 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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

Ducks are on the pond now

For those that don't know, the "Ducks on the Pond" saying is relayed to the Shearing team when a lady is about to enter a Woolshed as a warning to the people in the shed to curb their language. However, it's not used anywhere near as much now as women start to populate the Shearing industry. It's not uncommon to see a team with more women than blokes these days. And I saw the other day that there is now a team that only consists of women in Central Victoria. The Shearing Industry is in a bit of a pickle, with Farmers reporting that it's getting increasingly harder to find Shearers and Shed staff. Go the girls. See below a picture of the all ladies Shearing team. Reply to [email protected]

New Machinery orders getting cancelled

We have been hearing around the traps that there have been quite a few New Machinery cancellations happening over the last few months. New Farm Machinery lead times have come back a bit, but there is still usually a wait. It doesn't surprise me as the season has dwindled for many in the North of the country, and the season was on the edge for many up until a week ago. It got me thinking. What is the deposit for ordering a new bit of kit? Is there a set rate, or it's just up to the Dealer or the sales rep? And is the deposit refundable if you renege, or is that on a case-by-case basis? Reply to [email protected]

Good old Baling Twine

Ahhh, good old Baling Twine. It's impressive stuff. Remember when the Wool industry had a big campaign on Baling Twine? After that campaign, most people stopped using it for things like propping up fences, creating latches for gates, and keeping Sheep Yards together, amongst other things. The most unique thing I saw Baling twine being used for was as a belt over 2 pullies. It was doing a good job. It's bloody hardy stuff. On this little Farm we bought, the previous owner must have missed the Wool Industry campaign, as he used it for everything. It's everywhere, and we are starting to get on top from the ground up. It's under the ground where it can surprise you. The Twine we have here is mainly the blue stuff. What's your relationship with Baling Twine? See a funny, and an image below. Reply to [email protected]

We hit 1,000 subscribers

On Saturday, we hit 1,000 subscribers. I love these little milestones, as I love watching metrics. With my day job (Farm Tender), we have around 25 different metrics we record daily. We wrote about how the approach is 1 new customer at a time, 1 listing at a time and 1 sale at a time, or in this case one subscriber at a time. This is how you grow a business in Ag by focussing on the power of 1. So, what is the aim for this little side hustle? I guess initially, to keep sharing information about Farming, to always back the Farmer and hopefully educate some people outside Farming. Eventually, it will be a paid subscription thing, but I'm not sure when. Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson

Random and associated images.