What Farmers worry about

Extracted from the Farm Tender weekly Newsletter - Sign up and get the email every Wednesday morning before 5 am. www.farmtender.com.au

By Dwain Duxson

In this line of business, we get to speak to many farmers daily. And over a week, we can gather a lot of information. Most of it good, and we can use this information to hopefully benefit other Farmers.

So what are Farmers worried about right now?

FMD and LSD - This is interesting because it might come or might not, and we all know the consequences if it does. 

That's where it differs from Covid because all the way through, we didn't know what the consequences were going to be. 

But really, we have to pull out all stops to make sure it doesn't come here. But we can't let it affect our decision-making too much as we don't want to miss opportunities in our businesses. 

I was talking to the CEO of one of the big Cattle companies, and they said they have been building up their genetics for over 40 years and don't want to lose that. So as risk mitigation, they are taking embryos from all the best cows and storing them. They are also spreading all the Bull Breeding Cows around to other company properties rather than having them all in the one place.

Let's just all hope we can manage to keep these diseases away. 

Interest rates - Many Farmers I have spoken to aren't greatly worried about interest rate increases. One said to me that if Land prices were falling, it would be a different story, though.

The next drought - This one seems to be on the table. Many Farmers have had a few good years in a row and are philosophical that one might be around the corner. It's a good thing that Farmers are thinking about it because that means they are preparing. I get the feeling that we will be better prepared than ever when it comes.

Scammers - It's very topical right now. We wrote about intercepting invoices last week. A phone call to confirm bank account detail can be a great risk mitigation technique against these criminals. 

There has been plenty of talk in the paper about these Machinery scams and other scams associated with Gumtree and Facebook. If it looks sus and people only want to communicate through email, Whatsapp or Messenger only, I'd be taking no part. 

Finding people to work - This is another big one on the minds of Farmers from all sectors. Farmers are using innovative ways to attract staff, but generally, it's tough going. If I put a job ad out through this very network (which was smaller) 5 years ago, I would get up to 100 applications. These days I would be lucky to get 15. However, if you need people in your business, you must find a way. 

Workloads - I see this one everywhere. Farmers are working long hours because someone still has to do the work. Physical work is a part of running a Farm, it needs to be done. 

I worry for Farmers with how hard they are working. One Farmer told me some time ago that it wasn't the work that he has done that has exhausted him. It's the work he knows is in front of him that exhausts him. 

Young people buying Land - One Farming lady said the other day "the only way a young person is going to be able to get some Land behind them will be to inherit it". I don't really subscribe to this, I think the smart young people will always find a way to build up their Farming assets. 

Succession - Probably the most significant issue in Ag for me. I only heard yesterday that 2 brothers that worked together successfully for years are now only talking through lawyers, and one has a restraining order against the other that they can't drive past his place.

We could cover so much more, but that will do for now.

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