Injury means sell now for one part-time farmer

WELL done to community and business for support to drought areas.

Rain is eagerly awaited across Eastern Australia. Picture: Gerard Walsh

DRY AS A BONE with Gerard Walsh

PEOPLE often say a week is a long time in politics - the same could be said about farming.

There has been little good news on the weather front in the past week but plenty of good news with businesses and the community in general wanting to help to keep the national herd alive and support our farmers.

We might be dry here but it is scary to see photos from some western Queensland and New South Wales farming country.

I have even spotted a few grain crops coming up between Warwick and Toowoomba. I am not a grain grower but reckon a fair drop of rain is needed in the next 14 days to give these crops some hope.

I wrote last week about driving to Toowoomba with a son for junior football and seeing the dry fields.

This week, it was different as I was driven by the CEO (my wife) to Toowoomba on Thursday and home on Friday for an ankle operation.

Anyone getting up in the night or early morning should get their bearings before they walk. I was in a bit of a daze and definitely not from grog and fell on EastWest Drive in our house.

I was on holidays and did some farm work with a broken ankle and then returned to work Sunday week ago and walked up and down the sidelines at the Cowboys taking action photos.

The worst moments were stepping up into the tractor and when I put pressure on the ankle to turn a round bale over.

I was thinking of selling a few more cattle before the feed ran out and having a plaster on my ankle for a month helped make the decision.

So 21 head are heading to Sale Corner this week and I can add praying for a good sale to praying for rain and praying that my ankle heals well. I hadn't heard of fibreglass casts until I had one.

It didn't occur to me that breaking a right ankle or foot for that matter means you can't drive the car or ute.

I have found another good reason to be fit. If you end up on crutches or a walking frame and are unfit, it makes hopping around on one leg a lot harder.

I even said to myself if I went to WIRAC at 5.30am that morning for a swim it wouldn't have happened but you could say the same with every injury and every accident.

I felt sorry for myself for two days while I got used to a cast and one leg but let's be serious, there is always someone worse off.

It will now take a bit more planning and securing a bit of help to feed all our breeder cattle.

Originally published as Injury means sell now for one part-time farmer