Thread: Crisis in the bush. Drought forcing graziers to consider doing the unthinkable

Not all farmers are doing it tough

look at the sale results of the working dog Auction, Lot 48, $22,200 record price for a Kelpie a couple of days ago.

http://www.castertonkelpieassociatio...-catalogue.pdf

my own Kelpies uncle sold for $12,000 at Jerildirie Auction a few years ago.

No, the drought is not everywhere.

We haven't had a "Normal" Wet Season in the Northern Gulf for years.
We were cut off for 2 weeks this year, 4 weeks last year & not at all the year before.
Normal years we are cut off for at least a couple of months.
The longest period of sustained rain we got this year was 4 days, normally we have a couple of sustained rain events of 2-4 weeks every Wet.
The weather; She's a changing!

Jonesfam

Originally Posted by JDNSW

No, the drought is not everywhere.

Not in my stomping ground.

Originally Posted by goingbush

Not all farmers are doing it tough

look at the sale results of the working dog Auction, Lot 48, $22,200 record price for a Kelpie a couple of days ago.

http://www.castertonkelpieassociatio...-catalogue.pdf

my own Kelpies uncle sold for $12,000 at Jerildirie Auction a few years ago.

A good dog is worth its weight in gold, for a man alone. I will tell a story about my Uncle Gordon, a bit of a rogue. Back in the day Dad and Gordon went to town , to wet the whistle. Can't remember which town, could have been Quilpie, Ilfracombe, Hughenden, or a couple of others. The local squire came to town, with his champion Kelpie. Long story short, same kelpie left town with them. Now Gordon told Dad he bought it off a man down on his luck, in the local pub. Some time later, said squire came to visit where the kelpie was working, under Gordon. He took one look at the dog, and went to talk to the boss. Boss came down, and said " Gordon where did you get the dog, Gordon?" to which Uncle replied " why, I bought him off a bloke down on his luck at the pub, paid 10 pounds for him " To which the squire replied " my good man that is my champion dog. I will give you your 10 pound back, and take him." So uncle had 3 months work out of a top dog, and ended up 10 pound better off.

Graziers grasp bittersweet opportunity to sell up and leave outback after late summer rain - ABC Rural - ABC News

I was just talking to a young farmhand earlier this evening. He's up Narrabri way, and while we were talking about his 130 chassis rust, it started raining. I said to him, I wish that bloody rain would stop here.... he was praying for it.... hasn't had any for months.

He's concerned there'll be no work soon. His boss has 3000Ha, and most all of it is under fallow.

I can't imagine not being able to plant, because there's no rain, and then 6 weeks later, when it's too late to plant, get the needed rains. Then, because it's rained, you can't plant for another 4-5 weeks, because you can't get a machine onto the paddock.

It's not a straightforward argument. Makes no difference what line of business the farmer's in. If you're stuck in a drought, you're at the mercy of the rains. When it breaks, you're almost guaranteed a flood.

There's nothing predictable about the seasonal changes anymore, even with the detailed forecasting and modelling from the met burearu.

Originally Posted by Mercguy

.............
There's nothing predictable about the seasonal changes anymore, even with the detailed forecasting and modelling from the met burearu.

I'm not sure there ever was! Certainly not in my experience, which really only goes back about sixty years since I started paying any attention to it.