The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Tuesday, the 12th of December 2023

By Dwain Duxson

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

The wonder blow

As Farmers, we all have ways of doing the same thing differently. Take Shearing, for example, we are all taught to Shear Sheep the same way, but everyone has their little differences in how they go about it. So Farmers are always tailoring things to suit themselves or making up ways to get more efficient at tasks. Ex-gun Shearer and now Uruguay resident Wally O'Connor invented what he called the wonder blow in his Shearing days, which was sorta like the long blow in reverse. I watched him execute it on many occasions, it made sense and did save some time, but I didn't see anyone adopt it, even though he taught a few Shearers how to do it. I guess it didn't really suit them, and they couldn't get it to work as Wally did. He tailored it for him and owned it. What is a task on the Farm that you have adapted somewhat to suit yourself? Reply to [email protected]

Filling the knowledge gaps

We had a good reply to yesterday's story about making decisions. One person wrote this, "We've focused on building a team around us of 'advisers' that we consult with (agro, nutritionist, Classer, produce store/suppliers). We've hand-picked them after lengthy conversations about our goals and which direction we want our business to head. We're all on the same page, and they know what we want and what our end goals are when we make our decisions", they said. Farming is complex, and as Farmers you can't be over everything. Ten years ago, I would have said you could be, but not today. You are spreading yourself too thin if you are. It's interesting that the guys above have gone to great extremes to hand-pick the people they need to fill the knowledge gap. Are you happy with your 3rd party service provider team? Reply to [email protected]

A Farmers holiday

It's the time of the year when the Farming fraternity takes to the beach or wherever else for some weeks off. Is this how it works? It takes you 7 to 10 days to wind down because when a Farmer is away from the Farm, they are thinking about it constantly. They might have 2 or 3 days in the middle where they fully relax and chill out. Then they work out that in 5 days' time, they will be back into it, so they start going through the planning process of what they need to be doing when they get back. So, really, apart from what is a wonderful time with the family, Farmers really only ever switch off for a brief period of time. Some probably don't. It's just an in-built trait. Does your holiday work in a similar fashion? Reply to [email protected]

Reimagining the Ute

Haven't dual Cab Utes changed the landscape and made Utes the most popular new vehicle category in the last few years? For new vehicles sold, the Toyota Hilux, the Ford Ranger, and the Isuzu D-Max occupied the first 3 spots for the number of new Vehicles sold in November. However, the reimagining of the Ute by adding extra seats in the back has transformed how people perceive the Ute these days. Some people now have the Ute as their first Car (like we do), and years ago, that wouldn't have been considered. The Utes of today have Car-like features, and Farmers now question the hardiness for Farm use. We asked the question in another article earlier in the year. Does the modern Ute cut it? What's your take on the modern Ute? Reply to [email protected]

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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