Two trends working in reverse

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By Dwain Duxson

Two trends working in reverse - A couple of years back, I went through the exercise of counting all the current Farms in the area I grew up (Marnoo, Vic) and then counted all the Farms I knew existed but are now gone.

I should do it again, but it was something like for every Farm that exists now, there are 2 that are gone. What is the effect of Farm consolidation? Well, Marnoo used to have a General Store, Milk Bar, Butcher, Garage, Pub, Bank, etc, but now all those things don't exist. The town is a shadow of its former self, like many other (not all, though) Farming towns.

We started a subscription model for our members (Farmers hate them, read about it here). It was my idea and a pretty dumb one that never worked. And in a market where mainstream Farm numbers are shirking, what was I thinking?

But reversing the trend isn't going to happen in mainstream Farming. By mainstream, I mean those that derive their main income from Farming. But what is happening in areas close to Capital cities and trendy areas is the Lifestyle Farming boom. It's a reversal, or opposite, of the mainstream Farming consolidation trend. This is growing, and we have seen it first-hand in the area that we now live in (Central Vic). All these people, many of them new to Farming, need Sheds, Tractors, UTVs, Utes, Cattle Yards, Livestock etc. I think this particular trend is generally a good one for Ag.

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