Quirky Archives - Page 24 of 25 - Clover Hill Diaries

Determining the ultimate in dairy excellence

My family has been showing dairy cattle and judging dairy cattle for over 110 years. When I was girl ( mmh I do remember that far back) I began showing horses when I was seven and by this time we had moved from the dairy farm to a beef and sheep farm at Cowra and we showed steers as well at the Cowra Show.

The highlight every year has always been taking the show team to the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

“And nothing beats getting a blue ribbon at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Its Royal. Its blue. Its beautiful.”

RAS Councillor Downes, the blue ribbon winner Tangalla Leduc Fond and proud Nick Strong

Winning a champion ribbon well that takes the cake

Since we have been milking three times daily finding time to prepare our cattle for a show is pretty tricky

But this doesn’t mean my involvement in the judging arena has ceased. For the past two years I have been a judge of the Junior District Exhibits at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and how clever are these kids

LtoR Runner Up and the winning Junior District Exhibit at the 2011 Royal Easter Show

You can see it wasn’t easy to pick between these two, Just as well I have my good friend Wendy Taylor who designs the Central District Exhibit to “train me up” to do the role justice

Wendy is the genius behind this display in 2010

This year I have an exciting new gig and I am officiating as a steward in the Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show This competition is held annually in the second week in February. Attracting between 900 and 1,000 entries in 130 classes, the Sydney Royal Cheese & Dairy Produce Show hosts the most prestigious and competitive events on the dairy show calendar. As well as butter, milk, cheese, cream, dips, dairy desserts, gelato, ice cream and chocolate, products judged also include sheep, goat and buffalo milk….

The judges start with mild cheeses in the morning and leave the likes of chilli cheese to the very last.

Cheese judges chew and then spit into buckets, just like their wine colleagues.

Because cheese is so “cloying” on the palate, green apples and olives help freshen the tastebuds.

This year the world renowned French Fromager and Affineur Herve Mons will be doing the honours. This is his first ever visit to Australia

The ‘big cheese’ when it comes to this art of affinage, is French Fromager and Affineur, Hervé Mons

The art of affinage, or cheese maturing, is gaining momentum in Australia as cheese lovers demand quality food experiences. Those who are serious about cheese want to know how, and for how long, a cheese has been cared for to maximise its flavour potential. Artisan cheeses are complex and unique depending on the conditions in which they are made and kept.
.

And how excited am I just love Australian cheese and I cant wait to tell you all about my experience . But my lips will be sealed about who wins what (I probably wont be be told anyway – it will be a big secret)

Young people telling it like it is

I caught up with the dynamo Mike Stephens at the NFF Roundtable last Friday and introduced him to Stephanie Coombes. We were then lucky enough to catch up with Associate Professor Peter Sale from La Trobe University over dinner where the conversation centred on nurturing young people in agriculture and how we identify them, engage them and provide them with the skills sets to empower them to lead Australian agriculture into the future.

Mike sent me this quote this evening. Don’t you just love it

I crave human beings who understand the world, who gain sustenance from such understanding, and who want–ardently, perennially–to alter it for the better. Such citizens can only come into existence if students learn to understand the world as it has been portrayed by those who have studied it most carefully and lived in it most thoughtfully; if they become familiar with the range–the summits, the valleys, the straight and meandering paths – of what other humans have achieved; and if they learn always to monitor their own lives in terms of human possibilities, including ones that have not been anticipated before. Source: Gardner, The Disciplined Mind – Penguin – pages 19/20

This week Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champion and Clover Hill Dairies team member Emma Visser is one of “ 36 young, thoughtful and opinionated Australians who will come together in Canberra today, February 5th to attend Heywire – a “Tell It Like It Is” Regional Youth Summit. The 2011 Heywire winners from across regional Australia will engage in a five days of discussion and project idea pitching. They will speak directly with government decision makers, Australian youth sector leaders and key ABC staff.”

Emma and fellow Heywire winners tackling the Marshmallow Competition

Emma joins talented young people of the ilk of Melody Pedlar for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

The challenge for agriculture is how do we build on these opportunities our shining stars are being given.

Bindi Turner commented on my previous post “The world is run by those who show up” by saying “I struggle with a) the apathy when its an open invitation and b) who gets the tap on the shoulder when its not”

Bindi you have inspired me to put this forward. I would like to suggest to all those people out there who get a tap on the shoulder – ask if you can bring a friend. Then identify an exciting inspiring YOUNG person in agriculture who deserves to be heard and take them – you have nothing to lose and agriculture has everything to gain.

The National Farmers Federation Blueprint is our chance to define the farming landscape. Lets make it a legacy we can all be proud of

Emma’s winning Heywire video can be watched here

When art becomes the voice

Our eco warrior Erin Lake is leaving us to take up her placement in the Graduate Program for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC). This department is responsible for a lot of things including a commitment to conserve Australia’s environment and to promote sustainable living within Australia.

Erin is perfect for this position which is offered to people who demonstrate leadership potential, enthusiasm and initiative

Erin is particularly hoping to work in the Land and Coasts division (which look after initiatives such as Caring for Our Country), where she will be able to apply the fundamental knowledge she has gained while working on ground, to achieve the best outcomes for managing Australia’s natural resources.

See previous posts about Erin here

Custodians of the Land

Next Gen Giving our Farm lots of TLC

Start the day with the perfect cocktail

Erin and Megan Rowlatt who heads up Illawarra Youth Landcare are the driving force of a group of young people who are not only passionate about the sustainability of the planet they are actually doing something about it.In fact Megan is the current NSW Young Landcarer of the Year.

Megan and Erin in full flight

Together we have been coordinating a number of activities which include film and social media and now art to engage, enthuse, educate and empower both farmers and rural landholders who care about their land but don’t necessarily have the skills sets to ensure the best outcomes for the landscape and the native animals.

We are using art to reinvigorate Landcare messages and Erin has left us with these superb artistic reminders ( made from 44 gallon drums) of her time with us..

Drum Art is now protecting endangered and treasured native species at Clover Hill

The drum artworks are Erin Lake inspired masterpieces painted by artists from La Division. This is a highly motivated group of young people who showcase the talent of local artists and share their passions through art, film, photography, surf and skate.

Visit LA’DIVISION Facebook page here

The label, La Division, is an outlet to produce clothing to help support local artists. La Division artists have been supporters of many community events including Landcare Illawarra’s Dune Day festival and the recent KISS arts festival.

LA’DIVISION artist at Dune Day

One of the great things about art is it enables participation from people of all ages and backgrounds. Its highly visual. It captures attention. It ensures people stop and think and appreciate

LA’DIVISION artist Trait said “Painting tawny frog mouths and fleshy fruits on 44 gallon drums is not exactly traditional street art but it was a great challenge and an even greater cause”

Erin Megan and Anna plant our special trees

Each drum lists the botanic name and the common name of the species it is hosting and providing shade and shelter for

This drum has the prestigious role of hosting the endangered Illawarra Socketwood

What a great idea Erin and what great outcomes

We finished the tree plantings with a celebration party to say a big thank you to Erin and wish her all the best in the “Bush Capital

Erin will be christening her new job with a bottle of the delicious Clover Hill Champagne 2001 Vintage

The Art

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Special thanks to LADIVISION artists

Trait

Mirko Sossai

Boyd.e

Chris Anderson

Farmers call to arms

Each year the Readers Digest does a poll to determine Australia’s most trusted professions. Last year as you can see farmers came in at number 7.

Top ten most trusted professions in 2011

1. Paramedics

2. Firefighters

3. Pilots

4. Rescue volunteers

5. Nurses

6. Pharmacists

7. Farmers

8. Medical specialists

9. GPs

10. Veterinarians

Four years ago when farmers were at number 9 I showed the list to a group of farmers and posed the question “ why aren’t farmers at the top of the list”. The farmers around the table replied “ the majority of the professions in the top 10 save lives”. My reply was without farmers supplying people with food, their most basic of needs, there would be no life and we need to find away to remind people just how important farmers are.

At that time I received mostly blank looks to my suggestion from the farmers around the table. I thought this was very sad and recognised we also needed to find a way to make farmers realise just how important they are. After all if you don’t believe in yourself how can you expect anyone else too.

So I began a crusade to fix this lack of appreciation of farmer self worth and initiated the Art4Agriculture programs to provide opportunities for farmers to share their stories with the community and in turn get a greater understanding of the community’s expectations of the people who supply them with food and fibre. The aim was to create a two way appreciation between rural and urban communities and an understanding of how much we rely on each other.

This year is Australian Year of the Farmer. A once in a life time opportunity to remind people (farmers and the community alike) just how important our farmers are.

Australian Year of the Farmer is an opportunity for every primary industry, every rural community and every farmer to invite their urban cousins to join them in a 365 day celebration.

Beyond Art4agriculture’s activities I am having a dinner party once a month for my urban friends. They will receive a copy of an Australian rural showcase like Fiona Lake’s books which my first guests were lucky enough to get.

We will celebrate local produce, drink local wine and I will be encouraging them to wake up each morning and say “I thank a farmer today”

There is no shortage of great food on the South Coast. And just to prove it we recently won the 100 mile challenge

What do you have planned?

Well known Australian author Fleur McDonald– the voice of outback has pledged to get hold of 52 Farmers and post a blog a week from a farmer. From every part of Agriculture; grain, stock, mixed, fishing, dairy, viticulture, communications and so on and so forth!

This week I am very honoured to say I am farmer no 4. You will find my blog on Fleur’s site as well as at the bottom of this post.

CALL TO ARMS

This is my challenge to Australian farmers. Farmers are currently number 7 on Australia’s most trusted professions list. How can we work together to make 2012 the year Australia votes to put their farmers at number 1?

I look forward to working with each and everyone of you to make this happen

Fleur McDonald – Australian Year of the Farmer – a farmers story No 4 by Lynne Strong Clover Hill Dairies

Firstly I would like thank Fleur McDonald for giving me this opportunity to share my story and congratulate her for taking the lead in Australian Year of the Farmer by sharing 52 farmers’ stories. For too long food has been about cooking and eating and recipes and restaurants with little attention paid to the origin of the key ingredients. It’s time for everyone in the food value chain to follow Fleur’s lead and put faces to the product and give our customers real farmers they can relate to

1. Summary of your family and farming enterprise

My name is Lynne Strong and I farm at Clover Hill Dairies in partnership with my husband Michael and son Nick in what I refer to as paradise – the beautiful Jamberoo valley on the South Coast of NSW.

Jamberoo is the birth place of the Australian dairy industry and the cooperative movement and my family has been farming here for 180 years.

I am actively involved in the day to day running of our two dairy farms where we milk 500 cows that produce milk to supply over 50,000 Australians daily.

The highlight of my farming journey to date has been winning the National Landcare Primary Producer Award. This award recognises farmers who have a holistic view of farming and are committed to achieving the delicate balance between sustainable and profitable food production, and the health and wellbeing of people, animals and the planet

2. Why I farm

· I farm because the people I care about most in the world farm and they are in it for the long haul

· I farm because I believe feeding, clothing and housing the world is the noblest profession

· I farm because I like the mental intensity, the constant review process, the drive to get up each day and do it better. The fulfilling challenge of balancing productivity, people, animals and the planet

· I farm because inspirational people farm. Feeding, clothing and housing the world now and in the next 50 years is going to require an extraordinary effort. This means we need extraordinary people to take up the challenge. When I work with inspirational people, they light my fire, feed my soul and challenge me to continue to strive to make a unique contribution to agriculture and the community.

3. What do you foresee as the biggest short term and long term challenges in farming?

Sadly Australia is complacent about the challenges to food security. There is a lack of appreciation by society in general of the interdependence of environment, agriculture, food and health.

However if we are to progress and fuel the mushrooming food needs of the cities while meeting the community’s expectations for environmental sustainability and animal well-being, then both rural and urban communities must have greater mutual empathy and respect.

This I believe is the real challenge facing farmers in the immediate future -How do we fix it?

As I see it we can do one of two things. We (farmers) can sit back and lament that we are victims or we can actively acknowledge that farmers are business people selling a product and successful businesses recognise marketing is a strategic part of doing business.

Marketing doesn’t mean every farmer needs to have a logo, spend money on advertising, write a marketing plan, write a blog, join Twitter or Facebook – it simply means being customer focused. This means you have to understand your customer and their values and your business has to BE the image you want your customer to see.Then whenever you get a chance, put that image out there. It may be at the farmgate, at a local farmers market, a community meeting, a media interview or whenever you are in contact with consumers.

Every sector of the food system whether they be farmers, manufacturers, branded food companies, supermarkets or restaurants is under ever increasing pressure to demonstrate they are operating in a way that is consistent with stakeholder values and expectations. Farmers cannot expect to be exempted from this scrutiny just because we grow the food.

Businesses are built on relationships. This means we (farmers) have to get out there in our communities and start having two way conversations with our customers

Excitingly I know that once farmers embrace the concept they will discover like me that it can be very rewarding talking to your customers. They are interested and they do care.

There are so many ways farmers can share their stories. To help achieve this I initiated the innovative ‘Art4Agriculture’ programs which started with Picasso Cows and is now the Archibull Prize. The Archibull Prize uses art and multimedia to engage thousands of students in learning about the valuable role farmers play in Australia’s future.

With the Art4Agriculture team I am working on establishing an Australia wide network of ‘young agricultural champions’ who are trained to tell the great story of Australian agriculture to the next generation of consumers – students.

This program connects young people from different food and fibre industries. They get to see their similarities, they find common ground, they realise each has issues that are just as challenging, and they learn how they can help each other.

Art4Agriculture’s Young Farming Champions program for 2012 will train a team of 24 young farmers from regional Australia to actively engage with students in schools around Australia. The students will focus on a particular food or fibre industry, receive a unique insight from their Young Farming Champion and then enter their project work (their Archie) to vie for the ‘Archibull Prize’.

Our Young Farming Champions will also have the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive and diverse array of initiatives offered by our supporting partners. These events will provide a platform from which to develop, build and strengthen the capacity of the Young Farming Champions and allow primary industries to develop key farmer-to-stakeholder and farmer-to-consumer relationships.

Through their involvement in Art4Agriculture school programs our Young Farming Champions will be able to directly market their food or fibre industry and its diverse career pathways to a captive and relevant audience. The legacy of the Young Farming Champions program is to create an Australia wide network of enthusiastic young professionals and build their capacity to promote Australian agriculture as a dynamic, innovative, rewarding and vibrant industry.

We believe this program will not only help build the capability of young rural people to farm with resilience and confidence it will provide a great platform to spark the next generations’ interest in an agricultural career.

4. What is my vision for the future?

My vision for the future isn’t too difficult; it just requires a different way of thinking. I believe a profitable and sustainable healthy future for the farming sector is achievable – the health and welfare of all Australians and many people around the world depends on it.

To drive the process of change requires champions and leaders. But to change grass roots perceptions, we need grass roots action. Farmers care about the country, their livestock and the people they provide with food and fibre. Beyond best farming practices, farmers have to be out in communities, walking the talk – from paddock to plate, from cow to consumer – and building trust between rural and urban communities. I want farming men and women to go out and sell the message that feeding and clothing the world is an awesome responsibility and a noble profession, and that it offers great careers. Just imagine if we could achieve my vision of an Australia-wide network of trained, passionate farmers talking directly with the communities they supply!

5. What do you wish non-farmers / city people & the Australian Government understood about farming?

Australian farmers proudly feed and clothe 60 million people. If they were doctors or nurses or pharmacists or ambulance officers or firemen there would be a moment in most people’s lives when they would be reminded just how important those professions are.
But farmers, at less than 1 per cent of the Australian population, are almost invisible and with food in abundance in this country, there is little opportunity to remind Australians just how important our farmers are.
I am hoping Australian Year of the Farmer starts a very long conversation and a new appreciation for the land that produces our food and the hands that grow it

6. What would I like to see on a billboard?

Billboard – across Sydney Harbour Bridge

“If you want safe, affordable, nutritious food forever love the land that produces it and the hands that grow it.”

You can visit us at the following websites:

Clover Hill Dairies www.cloverhilldairies.com.au

Art4agriculture www.art4agriculture.com.au

Read our blogs at:

Clover Hill Dairies Diary http://cloverhilldiaries.com/

Art4agriculturechat http://art4agriculturechat.wordpress.com

Follow us on twitter:

@chdairies and @art4ag

Follow us on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clover-Hill-Dairies/211850082224503

http://www.facebook.com/art4agriculture/

You can find links to our Flickr, Slideshare and YouTube accounts on our websites as well as my email address. Looking forward to hearing from you

Wow what a cow

This is one amazing dairy cow. Her name is Murribrook Lieutenant Tina 2EX and she is a superb example of a Holstein dairy cow.

Tina is 16 years old and has had 12 calves and has just gone into the resting paddock waiting to have her thirteenth calf.

In her lifetime she has produced a whopping 153000 litres of milk. That means Tina provides 1500 Australians with milk each year

Up until recently Tina has always taken pride of place leading the cows to and from the dairy. She has this knack of knowing when milking is due and lines up at the paddock gate to notify the herd its times to walk back to the dairy.

Wise dairy farmers select and breed from cows who have a number of qualities that ensure healthy and contented cows.

These qualities include:

longevity
compact udders that allow cows to carry their milk comfortably
good “feet and legs” which help them to walk comfortably. This is very important on our farm as we milk three times daily and our cows walk a lot. For more info see previous post “ when too much walking is not a good thing “
Feed conversion efficiency. The aim here is to breed cows who can turn grass into milk as efficiently as possible. This has a number of advantages including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and all livestock owners know how important that is. Our cows have a feed conversion efficiency rating of 2.7 which is very high. This means they can turn 1kg of feed into 2.7 litres of milk which means not only high productivity but little eco footprints

There is lots of science to cow breeding and genes that deliver these qualities have all been identified through genomic mapping

A mature cow like Tina is a product of both her genes (15% genetics) and how she was raised (85% environmental influences)

Tina is a great example of this proven science. Tina is a direct descendent of a very famous imported cow called Walkerbrae Triple T Toni, Ex 24*. Toni was imported by Murray Sowter .

How gorgeous is she and how much does Tina look like her.

Murray was involved in the first live exports from Canada. See his website here http://www.murribrook.com/cow-families/toni.html

We are very pleased to have a number of Tina’s decedents in our herd such as Lightening Tina who is her granddaughter and just about to have a calf of her own

Lightening Tina – Tina’s granddaughter they are all peas in pod

These days Lieutenant Tina has a life of luxury. She lives in a paddock close to the dairy and doesn’t have to walk very far to access water and shade. She is just adorable and she has a special place in our hearts.

Read about Tina in the Illawarra Mercury here

Eileen stars at International Dairy Week

My family has been showing dairy cattle since the late 1800’s. In those day the premier breed was Ayrshires. Today the Ayrshire is listed as rare breed with Holsteins the predominant breed not only in Australia but also world wide

This is Honeycomb who belonged to my great great great Grandfather John Lindsay

She is an example of the best of the best Ayrshire of her era. According to www.illawarrasqld.com.au she carried the Champion Dairy Cow of the world title in the early eighteen nineties, she was also invincible in the show ring and winner of all the milk and butterfat awards. Honeycomb is also the cow that inspired Australia’s own breed of dairy cattle the Illawarras,

As point of interest note her very long teats – in those days this was a huge positive as cows were milked by hand. The introduction of milking machines has seen cows bred with a much shorter teats like in this picture of one of the show stars from our Holstein team

Tangalla Leduc Fond.

Another interesting aside on this is Fond holds the milk production record for her age in NSW and produces 50% more milk than Honeycomb who produced the most milk in one day in the world at that time. It doesn’t take much to see that Fond has a much more compact udder than Honeycomb which flies in the face of the animal activists who say dairy farmers are deliberately breeding cows with huge udders and forcing them to produce huge volumes of milk. This is rubbish. All good dairy farmers are doing the opposite. We are selecting and breeding cows with the genes to indeed produce large volumes of milk but in vessels (udders) that sit as snuggly and comfortably on the cow as they possibly can. Just like Fond

Off my soap box and onto the centrepiece of this story. We have regularly exhibited Holsteins at International Dairy Week (IDW) the premier stud cattle show in Australia. See previous story here “Gearing up for the Countdown”. We have only exhibited on and off since we began focusing on the milk business including moving to milking 3x daily in 2005 and less on breeding stud cattle.

This year was a first for us and we took our one and only Jersey cow who we have nick named Princess Eileen

This is the flyer which our professional cow fitter at IDW Brad Gavenlock created for Shirlin ILB Eileen to tell visitors all about her. As you can see has previously starred at a number of high profile Jersey shows in NSW.

Eileen handled the 800km journey to IDW with no effort and apparently alighted the truck bright eyed and bushy tailed and scoffed down grains and hay that awaited her as she joined Brad’s team of stars

Eileen enjoying the luxury conditions show cows are afforded.

The big day arrives and Eileen enters the ring looking fantastic. What a great job Brad has done preparing her. By the way that is Brad leading her.

How excited were we when the judge pulled Eileen in 2nd

The judge eventually had a rethink and placed Eileen 6th but when you think this is the final line-up and there were 45 cows in Eileen’s class she did very well and we are very proud of her

Eileen proudly shows off her ribbon.

Maybe next year we will have a whole team of Jerseys. There is no denying they are just adorable to look at.

Why I farm

I am often asked why I like being a farmer and to be honest it was never my lifelong dream to farm. I farm today because the people I most care about in the world farm and they are in it for the long haul.

I grew up on a farm and even though I enjoyed being hands on in the day to day running of the farm and the lifestyle that comes with it the idea of being a farmer was most definitely not on my list of top 10 professions.

I have been back on the farm for ten years now and I will be the first to admit farming is a highly rewarding profession for a multitude of reasons.

Today I will list just a few

Firstly farmers are an essential service, they feed people and whether people admit it or not everybody wants to be needed.

Secondly farming today is a very risky business and I like the mental intensity, the constant review process, the drive to get up each day and do it better. The fulfilling challenge of balancing productivity, people, animals and the planet

Thirdly inspirational people farm. Feeding, clothing and housing the world now and in the next 50 years is going to require an extraordinary effort. This means we need extraordinary people to take up the challenge. When I work with inspirational people, they light my fire, feed my soul and challenge me to continue to strive to make a unique contribution to agriculture and the community.

and then there is this

the satisfaction you get when you have managed to farm in a way that balances the needs of the rainforest and the animals who live there

with farm productivity that allows you to supply 50,000 Australians daily with milk whilst at the same time ensuring your cows cow remain happy and healthy.

the buzz you get when next gen share the passion and commitment

the fascination of watching generations of cows tread the same path each time they walk into the paddock

the amusement you get when the cow who detours to the water trough

then charges down the paddock like a teenager to ensure she doesn’t miss out on the sweetest grass

and the special relationships you develop with the people and the animals in your team

the satisfaction of working with next gen

Why I farm

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to turn this

into this

then this

and today

Picasso Corner a triumph for community partnerships, biodiversity and the farm

and then the raw reality of watching the circle of life each day. When the chickens you nurtured from eggs are killed and eaten by a goshawk (thanks to twitter verse for identifying my nasty bird) and wake up next morning and remember the chickens got three weeks of a great life they wouldn’t have had without you interfering with nature. Even if in the end it was nature who decided they would play a different role in the food chain .

I love to farm because its real, there is a true sense of place and time. There is an purity and an innocence that comes with a respect of the land that feeds us that living and working in the city will never deliver

Clover returns–she just keeps coming back

Back in December I told you the story of Clover the python and her near death experience and her relocation to places quite far away

Well we recently had a visit from a Russian farmer delegation and whilst visiting the dairy they spotted something in the big Figtree that had them quite fascinated

Well blow me down if it wasn’t our good friend Clover

The dairy is only 100 metres from my house and I will keep my fingers crossed Clover decides to make the dairy her new home.

Russian latte–opening the farmgate has many advantages

We have been opening our farm gate to international delegations for over ten years.

There is no denying hosting visitors to your farm is a lot of work. It can also be very rewarding and enlightening

I grew up a country town in NSW. I met the first person who couldn’t speak English when I was ten. I was fascinated by the new girl at our school who was Italian and didn’t speak one word of English. How brave was she. We didn’t mean to but I am pretty sure we all made her feel like an alien.

I learnt French at school so was very comfortable travelling to France when I went overseas but I must admit sadly I have favoured visits to overseas countries where the majority of people speak English.

So hosting delegations of farmers who speak no English is quite an eye opening learning experience. Whilst they always come with a translator invariably the translator knows little about farming.

Dimitry the translator knew little about farming but he made up for that with lots of personality and good humour

The farmers always take lots of notes

take hundred of pictures

not only video cameras but and Ipads as well

and ask a lot of questions

and like all farmers love big pieces of machinery

and love to share their farming stories and this weeks visitors from Russia were no different.

Our consultant Dr Neil Moss was on hand to explain the technical details

Come to think of it I don’t think I have meet a Russian before and these farmers where so Russian. Why was I so flabbergasted when the bottles of vodka were bought out for morning team

There was vodka for the Russian Lattes

Straight vodka and vodka on the rocks

Russian and Aussie icons go down well together

This Russian delegation was from the Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) region and they were very proud of their heritage presenting me with a replica of the famous Motherland Calls statue.

The history of this statue is fascinating. Briefly in 1967, the Soviet Union dedicated a towering monument to one of its great World War II triumphs. The Motherland Calls stands 170 ft., hoisting a sword to the sky that measures another 108 ft. 200 steps lead to the base of the statue to commemorate the 200 day battle of Stalingrad where the Red Army broke a German siege, only to surround and defeat the invading army. Motherland is not fixed to her base, though, and seeping groundwater has caused the plinth to lean nearly eight inches.

I also received a bottle of Russia’s finest and I have since had a few Cosmopolitans to remind me of our new Russian friends

салют

Two way conversations are the key

As anyone who knows me will tell you I have very strong opinions about the way forward for sustainable agriculture.

Today my post reflects on the importance of both talking and listening.

Sadly Australia is complacent about the challenges to food security. There is a lack of appreciation by society in general of the interdependence of environment, agriculture, food and health.

However if we are to progress and fuel the mushrooming food needs of the cities while meeting the community’s expectations for environmental sustainability and animal well being, then both rural and urban communities must have greater mutual empathy and respect.

This I believe is the real challenge facing farmers in the immediate future – how do we fix it?

As I see it we can do one of two things

We (farmers) can sit back and lament that we are victims or we can actively acknowledge that farmers are business people selling a product and successful businesses recognise marketing is the strategic part of doing business.

Marketing doesn’t mean every farmer needs to write a blog, join Twitter or Facebook it simply means being customer focused. This means you have to understand your customer and their values and your business has to BE the image you want your customer to see.

Every sector of the food system whether that be farmers, manufactures, branded food companies, supermarkets or restaurants is under ever increasing pressure to demonstrate they are operating in a way that is consistent with stakeholder values and expectations. Farmers cannot expect to be exempted from this scrutiny just because we grow the food.

Businesses are built on relationships. This means we (farmers) have to get out there in our communities and start having two way conversations with our customers

Excitingly I know that once farmers embrace the concept they will discover like me that it can be very rewarding talking to your customers. They are interested and they do care.

There are so many ways farmers can share their stories. This one is very quirky and I just love it. Check it out you will too

Cobargo Dairy Farmer Stephanie Tarlinton shares her story via YouTube