The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Wednesday, the 18th of October 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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I write you spell

We're getting into this writing caper, and it's all about a process. This is how it goes. I find a subject and just go hell for leather, and a heap of words just pop out on the screen. Writing off the top of the head is one thing, but making it readable to someone else is another thing. But I have a secret tool called "Grammarly", which has been a godsend. It's this program that underlines all your spelling and grammar mistakes that you can fix really quickly. It's got to be my favourite tool because, without it, I'd be stuffed. We have been using it for about five years now, and before, when we used to write the weekly newsletter on Farm Tender, I would have the spelling police at my door correcting every mistake. If you write stuff, no matter how good you think you are at the English language, it's just worth having a second opinion. And best of all, we can set it to Aussie speak. Reply to [email protected]

This one has baffled me for years

It's probably best to check out the two photos of the Sheep Skins (one's a chair) towards the bottom of the page before you read this story. This one has baffled me for years. How has this Merino skin thing not taken off? So back about 20 years ago, when we were on the Farm, we got a couple of hundred Merino Wether skins processed in Melbourne. They had about 30-40mm of Wool on them. They turned out fantastic, and to this day, they are still fantastic. We used to take them around to the Field Days and display them on our site alongside the Rams. It was amazing to watch how people just gravitated to the sheepskins and had to feel them. It was instant love at first touch. We had a price tag of $200 a skin on them, cheap for such luxury. But nobody was geared up to pay that sort of money for them back then. It still baffles me why they haven't turned into something bigger. Take another look at the photos below. Reply to [email protected]

Solving problems can take time

Call it a recently discovered theory. If I can't work something out, I park it, knowing that one day, the problem will be solved. Here is an example. We had this pallet load of Timber Droppers that I had to shift out of the Shed with the Front End Loader. But the strap had loosened, and every time I picked them up and drove a little, a heap of Droppers would fall off. So I left them about 20 metres away as I wanted to put them on the top of the Container. They stayed on the ground, and every time I went out of the driveway, I would see them out of place and think, how the hell am I going to get them where I want them without having to repack them fully? After about three weeks, it came to me. A ratchet strap. I then applied it, and the rest is history. See the photo below. Now, you are probably thinking that's not groundbreaking, and it isn't, but I think it's the process that might be the takeaway. Just leave a problem within sight, wait a while and voila. Problem solved.

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How are you buying your Fuel?

Fuel has become a massive expense for Farmers. And I'm just wondering when you are buying it in 10,000 or 20,000-litre licks (or more), are you ringing around for the best price? Or does your regular guy just turn up and top everything up when they are going past? I remember when on the Farm, the regular guy would just lob in and add another 5,000 or 10,000 litres of Deisel to the tank, drive off and send you the bill. This is all pretty convenient because there is nothing worse than running out. But buying in those quantities, you can save some good coin if it's 5 cents cheaper from a competitor. How do you work your Fuel purchases? Reply to [email protected]s

End of message.

Dwain Duxson

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