Are the Chinese better farmers than us?

I now have a couple of newspaper stories suggesting that the Chinese think they can farm better than the locals. The latest one was this one, targeting the dairy industry -

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/business/dairy/chinas-dairy-churn-we-can-get-more-milk-out-of-your-cows/story-fnkeqg0i-1227061082840


Presumably they will not be constrained by lack of capital - that will be a good start to doing a better job. The other key seems to be their plan to bring in Chinese workers, who may work harder for less money, which would also help.

A similar story was published about the Beidahuang Group's Ongerup plans -

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/24193062/china-riding-on-sheeps-back/


Again, with plenty of capital to achieve the economies of scale, together with their own labour force, they would be off to a good start.

From previous attempts by outside investors, we might have the advantage of local knowledge, but this may not always be the case. You could argue that sometimes outsiders have been more innovative than locals such as newland farmers in Western Australia several decades ago, who pioneered innovation such as no-till. Our challenge will be to continue such innovation, without abandoning lessons already learned.

No horses for Albany parade

Apparently, public safety now demands that horse representing the Light Horse Brigade will not be able to participate in the Albany Anzac centenary celebrations on November 1st. Yet local politician, MHA Peter Watson has some 30,000 signatures to support including the horses.
Billy Kingston (pictured below) has been parading on his horses for years in Albany parades up York Street. Now this has become a public risk.



This decision may seem absurd, but such concerns about public safety have become established in all parts of society. Farming has been relatively isolated, but the new corporate investors are much more attuned to what is required, and may help with guidance for locals.

University of Western Australia - research proposal?

For the last year, I have been working on a research proposal to the University of Western Australia, titled "Farmer engagement in the development of innovation". I think it is of major importance to farming in Western Australia, but it is a moving target, and I am happy to share with anyone interested, as it takes shape.

Why we can now handle stubble

Following a previous post about stubble problems -
Previous post about 2013 stubbles
- an interesting point from a farmer at the Newdegate field days was that over the last nine years, they have upgraded their harvester four times, and increased horsepower from about 300 HP to 550 HP. They could now harvest at "beer can height", as well as being able to handle damp straw an hour earlier and an hour later each day.
This explains why the heavy stubbles of 2013 were rarely a problem at seeding for the 2014 crop, based on roadside observation. Most farmers have been slowly upgrading harvest machinery, and can now cope with heavier stubble loads.
How do you add that to your cost-benefit analysis on up-grading the harvester?

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