The Farmers Club Newsletter

The “Club Notes” for Thursday the 18th of January 2024.

By Dwain Duxson

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

DIY Earthmoving 

We have noticed a trend over the last few years on our Farmer Tender marketplace that more Farmers are buying Earthmoving Equipment. Things like Excavators, Bobcats, and Bulldozers are being purchased as many look to bring Earthmoving in-house. As Farms get bigger, the justification to do it this way instead of paying Contractors big contract rates. The Earthmoving industry is massive, and there are a lot of short-term contracts, and they have a relatively liquid list of Machinery they own. By this, I mean as contracts come and go, they adjust their Machinery requirement to suit the contract, which means there is a revolving market of Machines for sale and ones to buy. Farmers can tap into this and operate like Contractors and buy and sell Machines on what jobs they need done. Do you have some Earthmoving Equipment on your Farm? Reply to [email protected]

Changing the Landscape in the North

With the new Cotton Gin in the NT and with another that's under construction at Kununurra, WA, means the face of Farming in the North is changing. Both these areas aren't new to Cotton as it has been grown in these regions for years, but they had to freight it all the way to Queensland for Ginning. By having their own Gin, they can make more margin and, therefore, expand their operations with bigger acreages. We have seen Farmer investors like Ron Greentree take up tracts of Land earmarked for Cotton production. Other local Farmers have followed suit and switched over to Cotton. It got me thinking about other Farming areas that have switched enterprises. Western NSW and South West Queensland were big Wool-growing areas and now have sided with the shedding Dorpers and Goats, a completely new enterprise. The Cowra to Canowindra to Bathurst area were massive Vegetable growing areas, and now there's not a Vegetable to be seen. The list goes on. Has there been enterprise changes in your area? Reply to [email protected]

Better now or before?

I heard a lady on a podcast recently who said her community was a better place to live 30 years ago than it is today. I found that interesting, and I did some thinking about what it was like in my old community 30 years ago compared to today. For me, they are very different places; there we a lot more people around, a lot more amenities and many more opportunities. I did a mental add-up the other day of all the Farmers within about a 15 km radius of my old hometown of Marnoo and came up with around 20. 30 years ago, I estimate there was double that. Back then, my old community had a bank, a butcher, a Milk Bar, a Pub, a small supermarket, a Plumber and Electrician and a mechanic with fuel; now, there are none of those. It has a Rural Store and an Engineering place, that it. The Cricket Pavilion has been refurbished, and that is now the gathering place for the community. So I'd argue that most of the places with decreased population have gone backwards, and some that have grown are now better places to live. For my old community, I would have thought it was a better place to live 30 years ago, it was a simpler life and many more people around. How has it been for you? 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:

• “Cheaper than paying 10 men to do the same job half as well” - In reply to the story about the $28k Kelpie.

• “History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme” - A quote I saw yesterday and in relation to our human nature “Note” from Saturday.

• “What a joke it is, the Farmers here that are providing subsidies for the highly educated, unproductive box tickers. They would be unemployed if they were not burdening Primary Producers with more and more levies and regulations”. - A fired-up Farmer in reply to overseas subsidies saying Farmers here in Australia subsidise others in the community.

• “It’s a wet day job”. - One Farmer said to me about writing his eulogy.

• “Dwain, we are currently heading to a Business Group catchup 18 months after the programme finished. I should be Spraying, but I feel a group catchup is more important”. - In reply to our note about attending reunions.

• “So when my kids tell me that exams are stressful, I say, no, they’re not. They are high pressure, but it will be released when you finish, which has an endorphin release, and you will certainly know when the pressure is released.” - In reply to our note about good and bad stress.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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