Produce bill almost beats cattle income on farm in drought

COLUMNIST recognises the battle fulltime farmers face with huge produce bills.

Hay string after being chewed by a beast at Greymare. Picture: Gerard Walsh

DRY AS A BONE - Opinion by Gerard Walsh

DOING figures for our accountant for GST brought up some interesting tallies.

In the July to September quarter at our property at Greymare, we sold cattle worth $14,756 and in the same period bought produce and supplementary feeds to the value of $13,012.

To make a proper comparison, I need to add that we had about $4800 worth of produce and supplements that hadn't been used as at September 30 so not all the $13k was used.

That still means more than half of the income from cattle sales in the three months was gobbled up by cattle.

You can see why I am pretty keen to open the mail and not leave the produce bills sitting on the kitchen table for the CEO.

Before someone thinks I have forgotten, we had a $3000-plus farm rates bill as well as plenty of other farm expenses.

I provide these figures to show how tough it is to make ends meet in drought conditions.

I have a media job so have an additional income that can go to cost of living, school fees and towards the produce and supplements bill.

It just wouldn't add up if I wasn't working for the Daily News and was living fulltime off farm income.

The reality is, help is needed down on the farm.

Hay twine

WE have had one cow die this year and I still suspect hay twine as the reason.

I have kept driving past her carcass to see if there is any hay twine nearby but haven't found any yet.

Around the farm I picked up a piece of hay twine that had been chewed by a beast and you can see what happens to the string..

Luckily, this piece wasn't swallowed.

With the holiday season coming up and many going back to the farm for Christmas, please pick up any twine you see around the family farm.

Drought planning

DRY As a Bone reader Douglas Bryce saw me in the past 10 days and commented on my words on preparing better for the next drought.

He suggested we stockpile a heap of silage and said he was going to keep asking me.

When I said we didn't have a front end load, he acknowledged it would be a bit harder to implement.

I am not sure why but I don't believe a heap of producers in our area use silage.

Water deal

LAST week I asked for suggestions about how on a mobile phone I could be watching the Barrett Shield at Father Ranger Oval and see a 5pm photo of our trough to make sure the water float was still working.

One reader sent me information on a company from Wagga Wagga and I will make a phone call when on holidays next week.

Seeing as I get paid more when on holidays, I can invest a bit more in the farm.

I just want to be able to check water in a trough without driving 80km. My guess is everyone with a farm could use the same sort of technology.

Any more ideas from fellow primary producers or businesses are most welcome to gerardw@warwickdaily news.com.au.

Originally published as Produce bill almost beats cattle income on farm in drought