1. Simon Bedak recently posted The Age: Good farming piece today by Carolyn Webb:
Particularly pertinent for me is a story in The Age this morning by Carolyn Webb entitled “Poor wheat crop leaves farmer down, but not out.”
At our farm, we’re also bailing crops much like Mr Pollington, but our joint I don’t think is doing as badly as his is. We’re lucky in that earlier this year we spent up big putting in 15kms of pipe to run water to paddocks so that we can water our cattle if things get dusty in the dams again. Because we can run stock, as well as dabble in the cropping, if the crops fail, we can move our cattle directly onto the failed crop and have them graze it. Doing this means it’s cheaper to convert the paddock growth into a potentially saleable items because you’re not paying for people and fuel to cut the crop, rake it, bale it, cart it, store it and sell it. Broadly, it takes about 7-10kg of feed to get 1kg of beef which is presently selling for $1.60/kg liveweight for animals less than 24 months of age at a specification of apprx 385-420kg per head, so you end up with more money on the hoof than you would from a bale, provided you’ve got good condition on your animals and a bit of water handy…
A reminder of something that is otherwise a bit abstract here in the city. Read the rest of this entry »