The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Friday the 2nd of February 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

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

Ag Buzzwords

I was talking to an old mate who's a valuer, and he says it's not called a family Farm anymore. It's an intergenerational Farm. How did we come at that? It got me thinking about what sort of Farming related words that are creeping in. One that I think is wrong, is many call stock inventory now. That's a US thing we seem to have fallen into. I mentioned the word sustainable in a post the other day and got a few replies saying how people loathed the word because it means nothing. Regenerative is another buzzword that means nothing. Whilst they mean nothing, they can also mean everything at the same time. Generalist words. Pivot is another word that has become trendy since Covid. It used to be our major Fertiliser Company name. Hogget was one we spoke about the other day, but it's a good word that's making a comeback. What are some of the Farming words that annoy you? Reply to [email protected]

Leaning on the shovel

You can picture it now: the 4 Shire/Council workers leaning on their shovels at the back of the truck while one person is doing all the work. We all, at times, find ourselves on the end of those shovels. Those times when we don't really want to do something, but we convince ourselves that we are doing something. Some middle management operates in a way where they are continuously shuffling stuff around to look busy but not getting anything done. Not all, but some. I'd say it's different on the Farm because you can't hide; by that, I mean the Crop won't Sow itself, the gate won't hang itself, or the Cattle can't drench themselves. So leaning on the shovel or shuffling things around means that thing won't get done. Perhaps the 80/20 rule is right; when we really apply ourselves, it's about 20 per cent of the time (about 5 hours a day), and in that time, we get 80 per cent of the stuff done. But in Farming, we can't afford to have 4 people standing around watching 1 do all the work. During your working time, do you find, at times, you're unproductive? There is no judgment here. Reply to [email protected]

RMB 4062

When we lived at the Farm, we were RMB 4062, Marnoo, Vic 3387; now, the Farm address is 336 Glendemar Rd, Kanya, Vic 3387. I mean, where the hell is Kanya? No, seriously, can you remember your old address? I know there were other abbreviations similar to RMB, like RSD. Before that, some had Private Bags, with locks on them. I can't remember us having one, but I remember the neighbours having one. They had bigger Wheat and Wool cheques than us, haha. One person said, "We continue to buy all the local and Farmer newspapers as we prefer the paper versions to read. Another motive is to keep the mail running". It's a great service; I know at the Farm, they still get it 5 days a week, and I know others have been cut back to 2 or 3 days a week. What was your old address, or does it still apply today? 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:

• “Another thing to think about is that almost none of these rare earth opportunities will actually go through to production. Any project in Australia will be bogged down in red and green tape for years before getting close to breaking dirt - take a look at the gold mine near Blayney, NSW, for an example of that”. - In reply to our Farm Tender Daily story of whether Farming and Mining can coexist. Read it here.

• “We continue to buy all the local and farm newspapers as we prefer the paper versions to read. Another motive is to keep the mail running. We are very lucky to still have 5 days a week mail runs. If we all stop buying the papers, we may well lose the very good mail services that we rely on for package deliveries”. - In reply to our Not on what Ag media you consumed.

• “We used to attend a Complementary health Conference at which one Keynote Speaker, a Sydney Doctor, repeatedly quoted “I’ve never taken a Melanoma from a blue singlet man”. - In reply to our note on whether Sunscreen works.

• “Our media has much less content, expanded into a journalistic opinion piece. I now get our local paper as well as Weekly Times and Stock and Land and skim the headlines. If they interest me, I read 1st and last paragraph of the article”. - I’m a headline skimmer too.

• “I had a Melanoma taken from my calf in 1981. I was told it was from sun exposure, but I hated grass seeds in my socks, so I always wore long pants. A straw hat, long pants and no top was the style as we lumped small squares. Actually, lack of Vitamin D is also suspected as a cause”. - In reply to our Sunscreen Note.

• “In theory, it should work, and many use that exact argument as to whether to have private health insurance. The biggest issue I see is that few have the discipline to physically park the cash, and that is for many reasons. - On our Farm Tender Daily self-insuring article - You can read it here.

• “I think liability insurance is also a totally different ball game. If my Header catches fire and burns the district, I don’t think anyone could self-insure”. - On self-insuring again.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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