The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Thursday, the 15th of February, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

15 days to go

Our FarmTender2024 - Entrepreneurs in Farming event is not far away. Click here for more info. See the media release here. Read some of the questions we are going to ask Danny Thomas, Rob Dawes and Claire Booth.

Accepting yourself

As Farmers, many of us find it hard to accept ourselves. By that, I mean feeling comfortable in our skin, not worrying what others might think, or just getting on with life without any convictions. I listened to a podcast over the weekend, and someone said that once they accepted themselves for what they were, they could then get on with it and live a better life. We are very judgy in the Farming game; if we miss Seeding a bit of Crop in the front paddock, the whole district is onto it, you know the situation. Some people go through life always worrying about what others think, and it's not as if we don't completely care. I just think there are levels of how people cope with judgement. It's like asking a question at a conference in front of a few hundred people, some of us won't ask the question for fear it might be a dickhead one, and people will judge. Other people have no fear and will ask anything. Have you got to a point where you have accepted yourself or not yet? Reply to [email protected]

Are Farm Townie kids missing out?

Many of you reading this would agree there was nothing like growing up on the Farm; it was a 2nd education outside school. Some would say it was the most important one. I remember growing up, and we lived on one of the Farm blocks, which was 20km from the Farm. It wasn't until I was 12 that we moved to where all the action was. That changed me, and I started to learn more about Farming. I am hearing more and more Farming families are opting to live in town rather than on the Farm. And, of course, that is entirely their choice. But it's not the parents that miss out. I think it's the kids, they can become town kids pretty quickly and soon forget about what it's like to live on the Farm and what you get to observe and do. Missing that education might be the difference in choosing to enter the Ag space or not. If the kids aren't exposed to Farm life on a daily basis, they sort of (but not completely, though) miss out a little bit. I am sure it's not all that straight forward. Do you think they are missing out? Reply to [email protected]

The boundary fence

More often than not, we share our boundary fence with a neighbour or some authority. Let's tackle the neighbours first. Is it still the standard rule of first agreeing the fence needs to be upgraded and then putting it up together and paying half each? Or are you someone who does it and sends them an invoice for half? Or do you just do it and don't worry about the neighbour? And what about if it's a Council or Shire road? Has there been a point in time when they helped out with the cost of a new fence? Some people have mentioned that if you backed onto a Forest, then the Park Authority used to help out but doesn't anymore. How do you sort the cost of your boundary fence if it's someone else boundary fence, too? Reply to [email protected]

Your replies

Below are snippets from some of the replies you sent in. All quotes will remain nameless. See a few current ones below:

• “100% Dwain, the most important piece of gear on the Farm. It’s a priority to change over the Machine, most depreciating though and getting out of control in $”. - In reply to our Farm Tender Daily story asking if the Boomspray is the most valued Machine on the Farm. Read it here.

• “A big yes from me that the Boomspray is the most important implement but also the most used. I feel it is the last operation I would contract out as the logistics would be hard to organise”. - Another one supporting the Boomspray.

• “In 1977, we realised we needed one, so Stan Deans, a forward thinker in Warracknabeal, told us that there was a person over at St Arnaud who was making Sprayers. We went over and met John Richards and ended up bringing home a Boomspray. I think it was not much more than $2500 well and changed our Farming profitability. Several years later, we bought a bigger one as the Goldacres product had become better, and he told me he was giving away the Datsun car agency (my wife had bought a car from him). I remember telling him I didn’t think that was a good idea, but he said I like dealing with Farmers, and I reckon Boomsprays will become an essential implement on the farm. Well, how much foresight did John have? I put him up there very high in people I’ve met”. - A great story a Farmer sent in. John, or Stick, as he is known, doesn’t get enough credit for for what he has done for Ag. A great Ag entrepreneur.

• “Sprayers would be up there for us, yes. Especially being on 3m tram lines”. - Sprayer again.

• “It is an extremely important job, timing is everything, you need to be right onto it, and you can't afford any mistakes.” - Another Farming outlines the importance of the Sprayer.

• “When I was there, we often got told that there was very little margin in us Mechanics and the Machine sales for the business as a whole. But the big margins was in the sales of parts. Apparently, to them, we were just there to fit the parts. Haha”. - In reply to our story on why Parts are so dear.

• Parts margin is orders of magnitude less than 100% for Dealers. It is much closer to 0% than 100%. That is before wages for the parts staff, overheads, freight, etc. If someone is cleaning up, it’s not the dealers. - A response to our Parts question from a Dealer.

• “It’s been a good experience, and I can see a lot of opportunity for external cash flow going forward. The key is we were passionate about improving our land anyway and added this on. I wouldn’t want to recommend someone to do it if they were not aware of soil health, etc., and were chasing a quick dollar, as it is a big commitment and does take some work”. - In reply to our note on how the Carbon thing has stalled a little. This Farmer said it is working for him.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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