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Posted
That's probably because of you FT, we're all seeing psychologists trying to cope with the endless one liners

I might just hang out my shingle....

 

 

 

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Guest Andys@coffs
Posted
Could be good idea?Bit different to a retired Airforce Captain and people having to march to his band, and old mate ignoring what we are all asking.

The farmer could be a better listeners. There are some very bright farmers about and they do not need a structured aorganisation to ram system and process down our throats.

 

Lets have a fresh start, with a new direction and not have these leaches dreaming up a grander system and process whcih makes their employment postion very secure.

 

Regards

 

Keith Page

Good grief!!!! 2nd time ever I wholeheartedly agree!

 

For too long in Australia "Farmer" is used as a synonym for "bit light on between the ears" or the opposite of sophisticated city dwellers

 

When reality is that they are small to medium enterprise business owners that operate in a market where the buyer dictates price, not a great place to operate if it can be avoided!

 

As a result of the last point survival is a constant battle and anyone whose been doing it for years and surviving is worth listening to in my opinion!

 

But all that said there is no one individual who can bring all points of view and life experiences to the table and as such a truly diverse team (which is not the same as a group of people who are almost the exact clone of each other) can often be better as long as someone rides roughshod over the team to ensure progress is made and deliverables delivered! A project manager in in other words

 

Andy

 

 

Posted

Farmers fail the test of good risk management and have a gambling addiction. ( Otherwise they wouldn't be farming) Nev

 

 

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Posted

LOL FH this is the EXACT reciprocal of all crashed light aircraft being Cessnas.

 

An atrocious slur on Australia's agribusiness in general, and reminiscent of Dad and Dave.

 

 

Posted

Oi! Andy

 

Have you ever considered that you and I have the same destination in mind, however we are on different roads to get to that point.

 

One is on the scrub road and the other via the hills. Could be?

 

There are many ways to kill a cat other than choking it with butter.

 

Regards

 

Keith Page.

 

 

Posted
Ok I'm just about retired full time and have moved out of Sydney so don't really give a crap about useless town planning etc.Trucks..... get rid of those

killer dog trailers.

 

Flying.... lets nail the raa old boys club to a tree and put casa up against the wall and lets all go flying!

What about developing a rail net work, those towns I did mention are on major rail lines, (once) those lines transported cattle to the markets these days others avenues have developed. Why not redevelop "rail"?

 

Do not worry about the old boys and casa... leave them to argue with themselves.... we just go """"flying""""" winter up here is the time.

 

Regards

 

Keith Page.

 

 

Posted

Keith, there's not a lot of point to think tanking here when the subject matter is so vast.

 

One good idea can be knocked out by another, and you must have a market before you come up with a product.

 

For example we stopped for lunch at Mitchell one day and the train arrived, maybe 6 carriages of it, with six people on board - you don't want to add any of those.

 

And as far as freight is concerned, it has to be cost efficient.

 

You might have heard about the fights between primary producers and Queensland Rail some years ago where QR kept on increasing the rates up to the pork and beef abattoirs.

 

It came to a head where one producer hired a limo, put his pig in the back, bought it a bottle of champagne, and STILL got it into Rockhampton cheaper than QR.

 

The biggest issue we have today is we don't have an overview, and with the mining boom declining, we need one fast.

 

 

Posted

Unless rail is really carrying a lot it is uneconomic. There is too much capital tied up in the infrastructure.

 

Re farming and risk. I've done it and what certainty do you have? The weather the price, bird damage, insect (Locusts etc) When it is a good season the produce is worth nothing. Only the banks and the chemical sellers, and Monsanto make money anf the agents.. Farmers stay there because they love it or they feel responsible to maintain a Farm property, that has been in the family for generations and don't want to be the one that loses it. Peasant means farmer in the whole world.. Nev

 

 

Posted

Multiple year budgeting was around in the 19th Century; you're always going to get dry/wet/insect plague, so if you don't allow for it you pay big time.

 

Being successful at farming starts with not being undercapitalised.

 

Then you have to be a clever marketer.

 

Like all markets and industries, a substantial number fail because they didn't have an edge, not necessarily because they didn't work hard.

 

 

Posted

The Hunter has a fantastic rail network that has been just upgraded. Unfortunately you have to be a chunk of coal to use it. New freeway from Branxton to Newie opens in a few weeks.

 

 

Posted
Multiple year budgeting was around in the 19th Century; you're always going to get dry/wet/insect plague, so if you don't allow for it you pay big time.Being successful at farming starts with not being undercapitalised.

Then you have to be a clever marketer.

 

Like all markets and industries, a substantial number fail because they didn't have an edge, not necessarily because they didn't work hard.

Sounds like all businesses , cash flow, capital, marketing smart and hard work. Only difference is in a shop or warehouse the weather generally doesnt matter much.

 

 

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Posted

A country town I know well has lots of aged farmers and lots of young men on the dole. There is not enough money in sheep to pay the minimum wage and anyway the cost of Occupational Health and Safety regulation compliance adds a lot to the cost of the already too-expensive employee. So the poor old 70-year old farmers struggle on without help and the young men vegetate on the dole. The minimum wage is about 3 sheep a day.

 

This is how it works when there is too much regulation and too much "welfare".

 

 

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Posted
...it came to a head where one producer hired a limo, put his pig in the back, bought it a bottle of champagne...

Pig farmers eh.

 

 

Posted
A country town I know well has lots of aged farmers and lots of young men on the dole. There is not enough money in sheep to pay the minimum wage and anyway the cost of Occupational Health and Safety regulation compliance adds a lot to the cost of the already too-expensive employee. So the poor old 70-year old farmers struggle on without help and the young men vegetate on the dole. The minimum wage is about 3 sheep a day.This is how it works when there is too much regulation and too much "welfare".

They were saying that in the mid 1800's Bruce.

 

I can recommend the book "Kidman, the forgotten king" by Jill Bowen

 

When sheep farmers were going broke, Sid Kidman bought their land, laid off the 20 or 30 employees and kep the two or three best, rolled up the fence wire and carted it to Adelaide to sell for scrap metal, and ran cattle.

 

He became one of the world's top five land holders, and at his 70th birthday celebrations in Adelaide almost half the City came to the party.

 

The people in the town you know are no different to the few in the Cities still trying to run video shops and photo stores - if there's no market there's no point.

 

Having said that, there is good money in Prime Lambs but you have to farm very scientifically. In the last week I was stunned to see British stud rams selling for more than $3000.00, so clearly there are viable niches there.

 

 

Posted

I don't buy lamb any more . It's too fatty, shrinks when you cook it and often has a lot of bone. IF you allow for the loss and only count the meat, it's pretty expensive meat.

 

Regarding OH&S Farming is a rather accident intensive occupation . SOMEONE has to account for the injury. It can't just be ignored..

 

People who advocate the removal of minimum wage rates so you can't even live on them should consider whether it is reasonable expect to renumerate someone , who has to put in a fixed time at such an unsustainable rate. Even SLAVES were expected to be sheltered fed and clothed. Also would they be happy for their own siblings to be employed under the conditions they propose. Perhaps they already use them for nothing... Nev.

 

 

Posted

Australia's unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent might still be relatively low by world standards but it is projected to rise to near 6.5 per cent in 2014. By then, it is likely to have exceeded unemployment levels in the US and Britain. Almost one million Australians are still classified as "underemployed" by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

 

From The Australian

 

ANYONE who wanted to dine out on Christmas Day or Boxing Day would have struggled to get a table. Many restaurants close their doors to honour religious customs for public holidays, but for many others it is Australia's high mandatory penalty rates that make trading uneconomic. In such cases, every relevant party loses: the workers who don't get the opportunity to accept a shift and earn a wage, the owners who don't have the chance to make a profit, and of course the consumers who go without a restaurant meal. Even the government loses out from foregone revenue: income, company and consumption taxes.

 

 

One of my best mates runs a local fast food business that is supposed to serve the public and tourists and despite his employees wishes and his own wishes he now shuts every public holiday and every Sunday and despite his biggest trade being selling to drunks late at night, he now closes because the penalty rates make it uneconomic to open. He has had his employees beg him to stay open and offer to work for cash or for normal rate. When the minimum wage increased this year he cancelled about 40 shifts for workers. Yet McDonalds and Subway can remain open because they have enterprise agreements with their employees that make it economic to operate in these times. He cant have an enterprise agreement because his employees operate on minimum wage. Its a crazy system that ruins it for both Australian businesses and workers.

 

 

Posted

I think you'll find that many restaurants don't open on Christmas day due to lack of demand. I used to work in hospitality and the only places that where open where places catering for tourism, specifically international tourism.

 

 

Posted
I think you'll find that many restaurants don't open on Christmas day due to lack of demand. I used to work in hospitality and the only places that where open where places catering for tourism, specifically international tourism.

Hospitality,,,,,mmmm seems at odds with your trolling ways FT

 

 

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Posted

Fish rotting from the head down, watermelons etc. f t gets under my skin at times too, but there are quite a few times when he makes valid supported points, but lets not get like this here on this forum . Attack the logic of the argument, if needed, not the person. It takes all kinds... Nev

 

 

Posted

Ozzie, What's with this newie? The silly Sinney people call it that. (ONLY the silly ones so don't all get upset) They think it's a northern suburb. Are you from Homebush or somewhere? A genuine Novocastrian would not refer to it as newie. Be advised, before it is too late. Nev

 

 

Posted

Its so ironic that the arguments used to support the case for minimum wage increases turn around and badly affect the exact people that minimum wage increases are supposed to protect. The arguments used are based on security and living standard, yet minimum wage increases mainly affect the employment status and employability of the low paid , low skilled and young inexperienced workers.

 

When we make Australia and its businesses uncompetitive by constantly increasing minimum wages with no regard for our competitors, its not the CEO's that suffer or the lawyers or the doctors or the Radiologists etc. Its the lowest skilled people on the employment ladder that lose their jobs or shifts. Or dont get a job, because its now unviable to put a new position on. Just like Holden, just like Ford, just like Qantas, SPC, King Gee, BHP Steel and the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that employ 49% of Aussies but you never hear of their circumstance. And shortly after they get their wage increase its useless anyway because the minimum wage just made everything more expensive to buy to transport to manufacture ....and soon increases the price of rent and property indirectly. So no one benefits other then a very short temporary reprieve and the countries that get a competitive advantage against us.

 

Its simple economics. High minimum wages exports employment, business and innovation.

 

A healthy minimum wage is a great thing, but one disproportionately high is terrible.

 

 

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