The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Friday, the 17th of November 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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Wool misses

I was talking to my Sheep and Wool Producer mate/expert Chippa from out Kaniva way, and he was telling me how he is looking to get a couple of bales of Wool processes through a WA business who have connections in China that does custom Fleece to Garment manufacturing. They are looking at T-shirts. Chipps said, "How good would it be to wear your own product you produced?". I said, yes that's the ultimate, but nobody else cares about that as much as you, your family and a handful of friends, and what about the other 1990 t-shirts you have to sell? It got me thinking about how the Wool industry was talking up how it was going to dominate the activewear market 15-20 years ago on the back of Wool's brilliant properties. And it has wonderful properties for activewear, but what happened? Others just ran past it with better marketing and made it appealing to the right people. Now look where activewear is as a market segment; it's huge, and Wool has missed out again. Why didn't Wool dominate the activewear market? Reply to [email protected]

Where's Icebreaker at now

Don't get me wrong, I love Wool, and I bought mostly Wool when I was in the game. I still wear those big heavy jumpers in the winter. There is nothing better. But I don't buy as much Wool as I used to. Occasionally, when I get to the big town, I make an effort to go and check out what some of the brands are doing. One of my favourite brands in the past was Icebreaker; I used to love it. Now, I go into the store, and it only occupies a small section of the outdoor clothing store. Their marketing back 15-20 years ago was next level, and I thought they were the brand that was going to take Wool to the world. They had the activewear market cornered, but it never really happened. So correct me if I am wrong, but is Icebreaker a shadow of its former self? Going by shelf space alone, it looks like it. Were or are you an Icebreaker fan? Reply to [email protected]

Get a grip

We wrote about Parts yesterday and how they have become a nightmare to source. One person wrote in saying we can be our own worst enemy, as we know something is on the way out, and we don't do anything about it until bang, it goes when we are at our busiest time. It got me thinking. I don't know about you, but when the service guy at the Car Dealer tells me that I need new Tyres on the Ute, I say, no worries, I will keep an eye on them, knowing I will get another 20,000 km out of them. And sure enough, most times, I do. So if I replaced them when the service guy said I would have needed 3 chages of Tyres at 100,000 km's rather than 2. When someone tells you your Tyres need replacing on the Ute, what do you do? Reply to [email protected]

More Snakes or is it just social media?

I reckon I have seen more Snakes around this year than we have for a long time. Was the wet 2022 a catalyst for a Snake breeding frenzy? Going by the social media platforms I follow, I have no doubt the population has risen. We get Browns and Tigers around here, and back at the Farm at Marnoo in the Wimmera, we only had Browns. The Tigers are a bit more aggressive than the Browns, so I'm not looking forward to having one close to the house. The Loddon River runs around one side of the property, and this is where the Tigers hang out, we're told. So we go very carefully when down the River at this time of year. Getting back to social media, the snakes get a good run these days, and people find them in some precarious spots at times. I saw where someone opened up the side of the Header, ready for the morning grease, only to be greeted by a Snake around head height. What's your best Snake story? See the image below. Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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