Who said farmers have to be price takers?

This is a rhetorical question, because for broad-acre farmers, we are price takers. We therefore have to find opportunities for production efficiency.

But for Julie Bateman and Over the Moon Organics, west of Albany, a different business model has been achieved. Julie spoke at the ABARE outlook day in Albany on August 21st. They have set up a dairy on 30 acres, with 24 cows. 

In itself, a unit of that size would not be viable producing for a mass market. Instead, by processing the milk themselves, and usually selling direct through farmers markets, they have built a profitable business.

The Facebook site for the business is worth a look to understand how they have achieved this -
https://www.facebook.com/overthemoonorganics
It makes the point that good profits are available beyond the farm gate. Obviously farming itself is not the only way to make a living.

Farming worth less to Western Australia than mine rehabilitation?

At a recent update in Albany by Microblitz - the soil bacterial survey of Western Australia -
http://www.microblitz.com.au/
- the statistic was shown that the gross value of farm produce in the State was $5 billion a year. In comparison, the "industry" of mine rehabilitation was spending $4 to $6 billion a year. I will try to confirm these figures, but if correct, they are a reminder about the relative importance of farming to the State's economy.
The point is that we need to find our own opportunities in a farm business. Everyone else has their own challenges, so in reality, nobody really cares about farm issues. Fortunately, most farms can easily find ways for improvement, albeit from long term investment.

Our South Coast native garden

Our South Coast offers an amazing native garden, that probably only few people are aware of. Stephen Hopper described some recent discoveries about our flora at a recent Albany UWA lecture. One species described was Eucalyptus virginea, a tree up to 22 meters tall, found only in a small population at Mount Lindesay near Denmark, and only recognised as a distinct species in 2004 -
 http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/nuytsia/article/425

On the way to finding this tree, with the keen eye of a local enthusiast, during a walk of perhaps some two hours, we saw seven species of flowering orchid, and another one with an unopened flower. Most were quite inconspicuous, and few people would be aware of this richness of our flora.

Little Pink Fairy orchid

Helmet orchid

Jug orchid