OK, well I'm still here.
I'm now a successful farmer - I have an off-farm job.
The intervening three years since I last posted anything have been far from uneventful, and at least the drought has broken.
All those doomsaying environmentalists must be squirming. I believe in climate change, but the impacts, although potentially large, will not be as simple as "it will never rain again".
I used to be a lifelong labour voter, but they lost me with the live export debacle. They were more willing to support a few cows in the last minutes of their life than desparate refugees who brave leaky boats and death to escape a war that Australia helped prosecute. I don't know who now. I really can't take to the libs - too smug and self-interested. The greens just want to destroy my livelihood, because they have no concept of scale (something for another day). Labour are now hollow at the core. The Nats have a passing appeal, but there is something - perhaps an inherent conservatism in the party - that still keeps me away. Perhaps we need the american "write in" system. Vote 1 me.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Vegan madness
I heard someone commenting on a report about the sequencing of the bovine genome on AM on Friday. To quote from the transcript:
Apparently, Dr Sparrow is a "Senior Lecturer, Centre for Human Bioethics" at Monash University, with a whole lot of publications about the ethics of this, that and the other thing. It seems that none of his papers cover the ethics of blindly pushing a vegan philosophy without connecting it to reality, and the ethics of saying someone's livelihood is an unnecessary luxury.
The reality is that cattle are actually an efficient converter of low quality feed into higher quality protein. As well, if they were a luxury foodstuff, the value of the animal would be much higher, and farmers would not need to be so "efficient" in their production methods. It is fair to say that cattle farming is not the most environmentally sensitive system but this is largely due to economic pressures. (I think dairy farming is worse.)
Most beef production is on unirrigated pasture, with lower use of sprays and chemicals. Dairy farming is more intensive and reliant on irrigation. The other major users of irrigation in victoria are fruit orchards and vineyards. For all the hot air about rice farming, the fact is that rice farming is only really undertaken when there is an excess of water. From what I can see, the worse excesses of irrigation and spray usage are in the cotton industry.
All these activist vegetarians pushing their "eat more mung beans" need to get a handle on the realities of farming today, the industrialisation of the production of their favourite pulse and the impact on the land of the irrigation and chemicals necessary to produce it at a price that the tightwads in Australia will pay (or the chinese have difficulty beating.) Don't try the "Organic" argument - the only reason the world can produce enough food is because of the use of chemicals to manage pests that eat those foods and diseases that destroy those foods. 100% Organic production would require more land, labour and water than can be provided.
Bah. I hope they all suffer iron and vitamin deficiencies.
Dr Robert Sparrow from Monash University says the development won't spare animals any needless suffering and he says genetic breakthroughs in the livestock industry are not the key to sustainable food production.What planet is he on? He can try running a plough and harvester up and down the rocky, hilly country we farm - our beef cattle are NOT taking land that could be used for anything except growing grass and kangaroos. (And we don't feed them grain.)
ROBERT SPARROW: The beef industry essentially takes land and grain that could be used to support human beings and feeds them to cows.
Cattle are an incredibly inefficient way to produce food. They are a luxury food and if we were really concerned about the environment we would be eating a much more vegetarian diet.
Apparently, Dr Sparrow is a "Senior Lecturer, Centre for Human Bioethics" at Monash University, with a whole lot of publications about the ethics of this, that and the other thing. It seems that none of his papers cover the ethics of blindly pushing a vegan philosophy without connecting it to reality, and the ethics of saying someone's livelihood is an unnecessary luxury.
The reality is that cattle are actually an efficient converter of low quality feed into higher quality protein. As well, if they were a luxury foodstuff, the value of the animal would be much higher, and farmers would not need to be so "efficient" in their production methods. It is fair to say that cattle farming is not the most environmentally sensitive system but this is largely due to economic pressures. (I think dairy farming is worse.)
Most beef production is on unirrigated pasture, with lower use of sprays and chemicals. Dairy farming is more intensive and reliant on irrigation. The other major users of irrigation in victoria are fruit orchards and vineyards. For all the hot air about rice farming, the fact is that rice farming is only really undertaken when there is an excess of water. From what I can see, the worse excesses of irrigation and spray usage are in the cotton industry.
All these activist vegetarians pushing their "eat more mung beans" need to get a handle on the realities of farming today, the industrialisation of the production of their favourite pulse and the impact on the land of the irrigation and chemicals necessary to produce it at a price that the tightwads in Australia will pay (or the chinese have difficulty beating.) Don't try the "Organic" argument - the only reason the world can produce enough food is because of the use of chemicals to manage pests that eat those foods and diseases that destroy those foods. 100% Organic production would require more land, labour and water than can be provided.
Bah. I hope they all suffer iron and vitamin deficiencies.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Still Dry...
Hangind out for rain again. Some is forecast for tomorrow (friday), but I'll believe it when I see it (or at least can measure it in the gauge.)
I've been contemplating takeover and change. Why do people buy up something good, then alter it? (Or why don't people recognise success when they see it?) I was reading about Hummers (you know, the big military vehicles), and how the rights to a civilian version were sold to a US car company (GM?) They had the H1 - very similar to the original, totally impractical but with the appeal of the original. Then there was the H2 - toned down, a bit easier, but still like the original. Now there is the H3 - which is really not a Hummer. But you can't buy a proper Hummer now, because the car company has the rights and doesn't make one. The fact that the original was not a big seller is obivously why they brought out the subsequent models - but they have now cut off the niche market that wanted them in the first place. (OK, they are also an awful gas guzzler, I don't really want one and I am in Australia - but I am attracted by the original, and not the later versions. I'll never buy an H3, but I might have bought an H1.)
I'm also worried by the cavalier attitude toward farming and food production in Australia. We can't all be niche sellers and the market is not made up from niche buyers. However, the average beef farm seems no longer able to support itself without the farmer having outside income. Corporate farms seem to do OK, but that is a scaled up, margin-oriented exercise, and seems to be targetted at either a) niche markets (eg Wagyu) or b) mass market, undifferentiated meat (McDonalds, Supermarkets, frozen hamburgers, meat pies etc.)
I had a friend who tried to do small volume quality beef - but transport costs killed the business. He couldn't charge enough for the beef to cover his transport costs, and he couldn't grow the business enough to get the economies of scale.
Where does this leave us? Facing a future with far too little quality produce - because the bulk of Australia will not (cannot?) pay for the cost of producing quality.
I've been contemplating takeover and change. Why do people buy up something good, then alter it? (Or why don't people recognise success when they see it?) I was reading about Hummers (you know, the big military vehicles), and how the rights to a civilian version were sold to a US car company (GM?) They had the H1 - very similar to the original, totally impractical but with the appeal of the original. Then there was the H2 - toned down, a bit easier, but still like the original. Now there is the H3 - which is really not a Hummer. But you can't buy a proper Hummer now, because the car company has the rights and doesn't make one. The fact that the original was not a big seller is obivously why they brought out the subsequent models - but they have now cut off the niche market that wanted them in the first place. (OK, they are also an awful gas guzzler, I don't really want one and I am in Australia - but I am attracted by the original, and not the later versions. I'll never buy an H3, but I might have bought an H1.)
I'm also worried by the cavalier attitude toward farming and food production in Australia. We can't all be niche sellers and the market is not made up from niche buyers. However, the average beef farm seems no longer able to support itself without the farmer having outside income. Corporate farms seem to do OK, but that is a scaled up, margin-oriented exercise, and seems to be targetted at either a) niche markets (eg Wagyu) or b) mass market, undifferentiated meat (McDonalds, Supermarkets, frozen hamburgers, meat pies etc.)
I had a friend who tried to do small volume quality beef - but transport costs killed the business. He couldn't charge enough for the beef to cover his transport costs, and he couldn't grow the business enough to get the economies of scale.
Where does this leave us? Facing a future with far too little quality produce - because the bulk of Australia will not (cannot?) pay for the cost of producing quality.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Ups and downs
It's been a few weeks since my last comment. I hope you've all missed me!
The ups: It rained last weekend, and we were singled out for a special thunderstorm with an extra 15mm. Thank You. (And we have some water in the dams again.) 100% positives on preg-testing today - 1st time for us!
The downs: Still pretty dry, with a few more weeks to worry about yet. We tried to sell two thoroughbreds two weeks ago in Adelaide. Total disaster. Bad price for one (above reserve, but the one we would have kept!) and no bids for the other (the "Good" one, plenty of viewings, paid for x-rays etc. ) Anyone want to buy a yearling? Now we have to find something to do with him. We're $30k down the tubes on these two. Bloody financial crisis.
We work too hard. To "Live the dream", we are dreaming about doing the living. we share 1/2 day off between us. It stinks.
The local wine group tried to organise a "restaurant walkabout" tonight in town. It seems to be a complete failure - at 7pm, you could have shot a cannon down the main street. I feel both saddened and pleased in a schadenfreudy way. People put so much effort into these things and it is sad that it is poorly rewarded. But there are too many of these things on, and it is too easy to get wrapped up in the hype and forget it is a discretionary expenditure.
Until next time.
PS - it is great that the fires are out. No more smoke, and people can move forward.
The ups: It rained last weekend, and we were singled out for a special thunderstorm with an extra 15mm. Thank You. (And we have some water in the dams again.) 100% positives on preg-testing today - 1st time for us!
The downs: Still pretty dry, with a few more weeks to worry about yet. We tried to sell two thoroughbreds two weeks ago in Adelaide. Total disaster. Bad price for one (above reserve, but the one we would have kept!) and no bids for the other (the "Good" one, plenty of viewings, paid for x-rays etc. ) Anyone want to buy a yearling? Now we have to find something to do with him. We're $30k down the tubes on these two. Bloody financial crisis.
We work too hard. To "Live the dream", we are dreaming about doing the living. we share 1/2 day off between us. It stinks.
The local wine group tried to organise a "restaurant walkabout" tonight in town. It seems to be a complete failure - at 7pm, you could have shot a cannon down the main street. I feel both saddened and pleased in a schadenfreudy way. People put so much effort into these things and it is sad that it is poorly rewarded. But there are too many of these things on, and it is too easy to get wrapped up in the hype and forget it is a discretionary expenditure.
Until next time.
PS - it is great that the fires are out. No more smoke, and people can move forward.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Trumped my king
Don't get me wrong - I think that it is awful that people lost their lives, homes, relatives, friends, pets, livestock et al in the terrible fires of this month. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
But we are running out of water. We've had the driest start to the year since Adam was a boy. Cattle prices have tanked. And noone gives a shit - 0thers have a better claim. Instead, we get whiney articles in The Age worrying about the fact that cattle fart. Let me tell you, move over to living on mung beans and cattle farts will be the least of their worries.
I read somewhere that the smoke currently hanging around is bad for you. Well, shit - what are we meant to do? Apparently, Melbourne is really worried. Who worried when the north east had 3 months of smoke in the 06/07 fires? There were times when visibility at home was 50m or less.
And lessons learnt? None - everyone was just lucky that the north-east fires in 06/07 didn't coincide with a bad north wind. You would have seen the same death tolls then. Instead, we still build houses in forest areas. Any council with half an ounce of legal sense would not issue a building permit for anyone with forest within 2 km of their planned back door.
I've concluded that the complaints about lack of burning off are misguided. I am sure that in the pre-white (and probably pre-human) times in Australia, there were wildfires (and obviously, no "controlled burns".) However, the fires that started on february 7th were effectively lit by humans. (Electrical fault is suggest for kilmore. Firebug/thrown cigarette butt for Murrindindi. Cigarette for Bendigo.) None were from lightning strikes. Really, we're all too cheap (lack of maintenance on power lines) and stupid (cigarettes) to be allowed out on fire risk days. The fires wouldn't have started in pre-human times, and hence fuel-reduction burns are only useful to protect us from ourselves.
But we are running out of water. We've had the driest start to the year since Adam was a boy. Cattle prices have tanked. And noone gives a shit - 0thers have a better claim. Instead, we get whiney articles in The Age worrying about the fact that cattle fart. Let me tell you, move over to living on mung beans and cattle farts will be the least of their worries.
I read somewhere that the smoke currently hanging around is bad for you. Well, shit - what are we meant to do? Apparently, Melbourne is really worried. Who worried when the north east had 3 months of smoke in the 06/07 fires? There were times when visibility at home was 50m or less.
And lessons learnt? None - everyone was just lucky that the north-east fires in 06/07 didn't coincide with a bad north wind. You would have seen the same death tolls then. Instead, we still build houses in forest areas. Any council with half an ounce of legal sense would not issue a building permit for anyone with forest within 2 km of their planned back door.
I've concluded that the complaints about lack of burning off are misguided. I am sure that in the pre-white (and probably pre-human) times in Australia, there were wildfires (and obviously, no "controlled burns".) However, the fires that started on february 7th were effectively lit by humans. (Electrical fault is suggest for kilmore. Firebug/thrown cigarette butt for Murrindindi. Cigarette for Bendigo.) None were from lightning strikes. Really, we're all too cheap (lack of maintenance on power lines) and stupid (cigarettes) to be allowed out on fire risk days. The fires wouldn't have started in pre-human times, and hence fuel-reduction burns are only useful to protect us from ourselves.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Fires & weather
Hottest day yet. Stepping outside was like stepping into a fan-forced oven. Can't wait for the end of summer.
The fire situation is just awful. We're sort of safe, but the pissy change that came through is now pointing one of the major fires our way. (A few towns and kilometers to get through first though.)
Perhaps this, the 3rd serious fire season in 7 years might finally bully the government into doing something about things. Remember recently the case where a local council said "no you can't build on a block because of sea rises related to global warming"? Well, I reckon the councils should be considering saying "you can't build in the bush because of the risk of global-warming related wildfires."
Its a tragedy that people have lost their lives, that homes have been burnt and livestock and pets killed. But in some cases, they shouldn't have homes in the forest. I don't. Deliberately.
(It also appears some of the fires may be deliberately lit. Its depressing. Flogging is too good for the sort of scum who light a bushfire - especially on a day like today. I am sure they are mentally ill - nobody in their right mind would do it. But they need to be punished as well as stopped from ever doing it again.)
The fire situation is just awful. We're sort of safe, but the pissy change that came through is now pointing one of the major fires our way. (A few towns and kilometers to get through first though.)
Perhaps this, the 3rd serious fire season in 7 years might finally bully the government into doing something about things. Remember recently the case where a local council said "no you can't build on a block because of sea rises related to global warming"? Well, I reckon the councils should be considering saying "you can't build in the bush because of the risk of global-warming related wildfires."
Its a tragedy that people have lost their lives, that homes have been burnt and livestock and pets killed. But in some cases, they shouldn't have homes in the forest. I don't. Deliberately.
(It also appears some of the fires may be deliberately lit. Its depressing. Flogging is too good for the sort of scum who light a bushfire - especially on a day like today. I am sure they are mentally ill - nobody in their right mind would do it. But they need to be punished as well as stopped from ever doing it again.)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Do they think we are morons?
Watching the news tonight, there were comments about Melbourne's transport and power issues - how the current exceptional heat wave is causing widespread disruption. Some idiot commented that "we are unwilling to pay the cost" of setting up system that runs. So....
Last year and the year before, people were saying that the state power infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth of the state. Hey presto, this year it fails and "they" say ""Oh, we didn't know". Bollocks. Too damn macho keen on keeping the budget positive and bugger trying to actually develop the state.
Furthermore, what about the wonders of privatisation? Perhaps if we didn't take 5% out of the power companies as dividends to the private investors, but instead had kept it in public hands and reinvested the money in infrastructure, we would not be in the shit.
They are also saying that "the rails are buckling with the heat because of the wooden sleepers". Are they suych a new invention? What happened 100 years ago when the only choice was wooden sleepers? What about the Indian Pacific railway through the nullarbor? This was originally built on wooden sleepers, and regularly gets days over 40C. Argghh....
It was 40 again today, and projected 43 with north winds. Bad fire day. I think it is just a drought, but I wish the world would get its shit together on global warming and try to do something.
Last year and the year before, people were saying that the state power infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth of the state. Hey presto, this year it fails and "they" say ""Oh, we didn't know". Bollocks. Too damn macho keen on keeping the budget positive and bugger trying to actually develop the state.
Furthermore, what about the wonders of privatisation? Perhaps if we didn't take 5% out of the power companies as dividends to the private investors, but instead had kept it in public hands and reinvested the money in infrastructure, we would not be in the shit.
They are also saying that "the rails are buckling with the heat because of the wooden sleepers". Are they suych a new invention? What happened 100 years ago when the only choice was wooden sleepers? What about the Indian Pacific railway through the nullarbor? This was originally built on wooden sleepers, and regularly gets days over 40C. Argghh....
It was 40 again today, and projected 43 with north winds. Bad fire day. I think it is just a drought, but I wish the world would get its shit together on global warming and try to do something.
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