The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Wednesday, the 21st of February, 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

9 days to go - 170 tickets sold so far

10 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, Claire Booth, Andrew Weidemann, David Jochinke and John Gladigau.

Off Tap Tractors

Through our Farm Tender website, we have sold 18 used Tractors in the last 20 days. Tractors are bread and butter for us, but that would be close to a record. They are a readily tradable asset, and these days, Farmers seem to have a Tractor for every application. There's a Spraying Tractor, One for the Baler, the Chaser Bin, the Irrigation pump, the Auger, The Seeder, the Mother Bin, etc. You name it, most of these implements have their very own personally attached horsepower. And I think we are in an era where a Tractor that is between 5 to 20 years old is a pretty reliable and reasonably straightforward bit of kit to operate. How many Tractors do you have? Reply to [email protected]

The Golden 18 mile

The Country on each side of the Goulburn River from Seymour, North to Nagambie (Vic) would arguably have to be some of the most prized Rural Property in Australia. There are some beautiful properties along this stretch, which is roughly 28km or 18 miles in the old. There are Wineries, Resorts, and Horse Studs, and you will even find some Cattle, Sheep and Crops. It's well held Country, and the River's always banked up from the Goulburn Weir to the North, which means the River stays at a constant level. We screenshot a map of the area and put up an article (both below) where some Land recently changed hands there for around $50,000 an acre. I honestly thought it would be pricier than that, but I would be interested to know more from someone in the know. However, it's the sort of Country that has always taken my fancy, and I can understand why it's so desirable. Do you have any information on this strip of prime real estate? Reply to [email protected] 

Scary what you can achieve

"When you break time up into bite-sized chunks, it's scary what you can achieve"…. This was a quote from Hayley and Martin Grosser, who are Farmers near the SA/Vic border at Kaniva. I was doing a bit of research on Hayley, as she and Martin were guests on the popular Profitable Farmer podcast. Take a listen here. Hayley is speaking at our FarmTender2024 - Entrepreneurs in Farming event on March 1. But getting back to time, the Grossers have a 25-year goal, and to achieve that, they work on the fact that they have 100 quarters in which to get there. Breaking it down into increments and then looking back to see what has been achieved during one or a couple of quarters means that the big goal doesn't seem as insurmountable. We will speak more about this with Hayley at the event. Has something you are really proud of taken a decent period of time to be achieved? 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:

• “I tend to agree with you; if they're not already on the Farmer’s side, you're going to have trouble convincing them otherwise”. - In reply to our Farm Tender Daily story on educating the non-Farming public. Read the article here.

• “It's a question I often ask myself - and no, I do not think I am a control freak. However, having been reared in an age when "accountability and consequences" were the norm, it is possible that I am. The old "If it worth doing........" comes to mind, and yes, I do care about the end result”. - In reply to our Note about being accountable for something and whether it brings out the control freak in us.

• “As you say, no two Farms are the same. We had increased our acreage when the opportunity arose and later applied the proceeds of some exceptional sales to reduce the debt”. - In reply to our Note about the decision to expand or not expand during the low-interest rate period.

• “The Canberra public servant types start at around 9, have 3 “rest pauses” during the day, including 1 hr for lunch, then get out of the way when the hordes are running out of the buildings at 4”. - A Farmer observing how the public servants operate in Canberra.

• “As much as anything, there is a personal thing to consider – stress”. - In regard to taking on a big debt.

• “There is, though, a level of relativity in all of this, low-interest rates allow for higher debt ratios but also help to push up asset values, its a bit of a merry-go-round. The trick is to know when to get on… or off - In regard to our Note on gearing up to buy Land when interest rates were low.

• “Oh yes. We do need to keep telling our story. But not getting up on our soapbox and yelling (I know that turns me off immediately). We need to be amusing and clever but not loud and strident”. - A Farmer taking about how we need to educate the non-Farmers amongst us.

• “In my opinion, all Ag industries need to get off their behinds and start doing heaps to educate everyone where their food comes from and how it’s substantially produced. The days of having city cousins are long gone. As we see over in Europe with Farmers protesting with there backs against the wall. Don’t leave till it’s too late. - Another on educating others.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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