Parkes and Forbes shows have now come and gone. From here the year races to harvest. I had mentioned in a previous post just how crucial the weather conditions are at this time of year. For most farmers in this area, all of the management decisions and expenses have been made and for many, only a nervous wait on the weather remains.
A few years ago during one of my long stints on a tractor, I remember a radio advertisement. It started off by asking the listener a few questions… like ‘Do you ever risk your hard-earned money by playing the odds?’. More questions of a similar vein followed and at the end of the Ad were the contact details for an organisation to help problem gamblers. The thing was, that as a farmer, I answered yes to the first four questions in that Ad!!
And thats a hard concept to communicate to those who are not farmers. If your yearly income arrives in one month with the rest of your expenses spread out across the year, there are certainly years where that month of income never arrives. How do communicate to a wage earner who perhaps has their lives and mortgages planned out over the next 25 years? It would be like working hard all year long and at the end of the year finding out that you won’t get paid because of circumstances outside your control. And when it occurs your mortgage doesn’t get paid, your credit cards don’t get paid. Exactly how do you pay for food or education expenses? It is a really strange position to find your self in and very hard to communicate to others – which is one of the challenges when discussing topics like drought assistance in the public arena.
Anyway.. So how are we tracking in our area? We have had some rain, but not as much as many had hoped for. The southwest of the state is struggling, having missed out on that really bizarre ‘northerly’ winter rainfall change which filtered down from Queensland in August. Combinations of moisture stress and frost (which is exacerbated by moisture stress) are quite common in those areas. There are also many confirmed report of significant stem and flower damage from very cold frost events (-6 C for 7 hours over 3 nights) which has now been featured on a number of ABC rural reports. That would be like putting a plant in the freezer overnight, three nights in a row and then wondering how it will grow. Grain prices aren’t great as international futures exchanges try and second-guess one another as to the eventual size of crops as demand for product. For farmers, the frustrating thing about this is that the actual people and computer systems who decide prices through the futures exchanges don know know what a grain seed actually looks like. For them its all just numbers, hedges and calls. Marketing protocols to be followed without care or responsibility.
I think that the general mood of farmers in our area is best summed up by a machinery clearance sale held yesterday between Parkes and Forbes. Machinery dealers and individuals with excess equipment all brought their gear to the one location and advertised it. Attendances were good, as were the sausage sandwiches. But on the first row of approximately 20 items, a few pallets of misc parts received a bid. Only two tractors received a bid from the public and none of the boom sprays. It seemed like everyone wanted to see how the equipment went – but no one wanted to be the first to bid – because you may have been the only bidder. There really wasn’t any of the lighthearted banter which often accompanies this type of event.
Certainly, if you were interested in an item that was passed in, you would approach the auctioneer after the sale and discuss terms – but there certainly wasn’t any great competition. And thats because the season is still on the edge in our district. The promise is there, but it will be a race to see which gets here first – rain or the hot north westerly wind from outback Queensland. That will decide between a cover costs type of crop or an actually make some money type of crop. If that same sale was held after a two inch rain event, the auction results would have been quite different.
Otherwise for us, maintenance is continuing. Machines only break when you use them, so we spend quite a bit of time trying to identify problems before they become terminal. We are also seeing the next portion of our grain shed being laid out for assembly next week, which is exciting
And so we head into September, with many looking to the sky. For us, it is a good time to catchup with a few jobs around the farm as well as some non farm time. We went and saw the local amateur theatre production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ last night. Very funny and they put in a lot of work into a challenging production. Its great to see some of the quiet characters around town come into their own on the stage. A good mix of young kids and more seasoned local performers. Go and see it.
I am also involved in organising a community mens event with the V8 Race driver Andrew Fisher from Jesus Racing for mid October. He is an interesting one – a very talented man with a passion for life as God made it to be. When he is not competing at Motorsport at the national level or running his business, he somehow finds time to talk to 30,000 young people a year in schools and prisons, encouraging them in making Courageous life choices. A message that we easily forget in our busy world – life is here to be lived. At an age of 50, I’m sick of seeing good people with heaps of God given potential lost to alcohol, drugs, depression or destructive relationships. This event’ might not change our world – but I would like to hear a positive conversation taking place in our community instead of the negative ones we often hear from the media. So,that event will take a bit of time – but will be very worthwhile and great fun.
It is a special thing to be in a rural community – none of us are at great risk of international success in our fields of endeavour, but people have a good heart out here and we feel very blessed to be a part of it.
Cheers,
NeilK