- Farm Tender Daily
- Posts
- Farm Tender Daily
Farm Tender Daily - All the news from Friday, the 3rd of November, 2023.By Dwain Duxson - Click here to go to the Farmer Tender website.
Before we start. Take a look at my new side hustle newsletter. Sign up to The Farmers Club here.
Agree agree agree agree agree - Yesterday, we did a report card on the NFF and have had a huge response from Farmers. We will park it and come back to it next week. Today, I want to focus on this article, which outlines the findings of Nuffield Scholar Charles Downie.
Read the article first. My take on it is that he is spot on. We are looking for technology to solve our Farming problems, but it’s not happening. Tech or Ag Tech can't and won't. But it can solve a small part of the problem but not the problem itself.
We wrote about when the lack of people starts to affect Farm Business performance the other day. Take a read here. So it comes back to who we have working in the business and what they do. Farms are physical things, and physical things need people. Getting that Sheep Crutched required a person to do it. The tech advantage is that we have a Sheep Handler to make it easier, as opposed to dragging it across the board. We also have an electric handpiece as opposed to a set of Shears. That's the tech. But it still requires a skilled person to Crutch the Sheep. That's not changing in our lifetimes.
So the Sheep Handler and electric Handpiece make the job easier, and we can bang out more, but the job doesn't change. Placing more emphasis on upskilling and looking after the people will trump the tech most times. In other words, having a nicer House for staff members to live in will get you more productivity than buying a fancy Drone every time. Ag Tech may solve our people problems one day, but not anytime soon. So let's keep turning up for work. Has a piece of tech replaced a complete job on your Farm? Reply to [email protected]
Win, win, win - Last year, it was a Toyota Hilux. This year, we are at it again with something different. The giveaway starts on Melbourne Cup Day, next Tuesday. More to come….
Auction next week - It starts next Tuesday, Melbourne Cup Day. See the link here.
Today’s trends - Wagga ——Today’s sales trends included Lucerne Hay, Vetch Hay, Barley Straw, Seed Choppers, Draper Fronts, Pick up Fronts, Mobile Air Compressors and Offset Discs
National Cattle prices: EYCI 365 (+6), WYCI 394 (-49), Feeder Steer 208 (+5), Heavy Steer 209 (+4), Processor Cow 166 (+8). National Sheep prices: Trade Lamb 482 (-1), Heavy Lamb 508 (+2), Restocker Lamb 339 (+11), Mutton 109 (+6). Goat prices: 207 (NC). All prices are up until Friday, the 3rd of November, and are cents/kg. Ranges are from a week ago. Source MLA.
End of message.
Dwain Duxson
P - 0427 011 900
E - [email protected]
What was listed today
What was sold today
