The drought..

[drron]

I haven't really commented on the latest drought push, but this story has a lot of content I agree with .

‘Drought Survivor’ shouldn’t chase ratings

A good read.Really is a lot of cough being sprouted by the talking heads in the media with obviously no idea of the real problems.
Then MT in his akubra.

 

[love_the_life]

A good read.Really is a lot of cough being sprouted by the talking heads in the media with obviously no idea of the real problems.
Then MT in his akubra.

I agree, it is a good read. I also read several articles over the past week or so which indicated that quite a few farmers (possibly the large corporate ones?) had reduced stock numbers over the past year or so and had been stockpiling feed as the current drought was on the horizon even then. It is the smaller ones with no financial 'slack' who seem to be the ones in the most trouble, but then again in a free economy, should they be subsidised or should they be helped to get out. If climate change has made such an impact, will they ever be able to recover? I always think about Goyder's Line although this of course refers to the limit for cropping. Not coming down on any side here, but I think it's a conversation that should happen.

 

[juddles]

I went to Dan Murphys yesterday, and at checkout the girl asked me if I wished to donate to a fund for the farmers. She was asking every customer.

I find it ironic that Woolworths dares to collect charity for the same primary producers they grind down.......

 

[vetrade]

On any other day of the week many of the media types (mostly city slickers who've never set foot on a farm) would probably be finding some reason to criticise farmers & farming practices. They are usually so far detached that farmers and livestock welfare would never enter their consciousness....................except when they want to hijack the farmers' plight to sell their narrative of climate change. "Let's throw a few bucks at the farmers, or have a big booze up (in a capital city, of course) in the guise of a charity event & auction off some signed cricket bats & footballs or the Incredible Hulk's jock strap" - show them how compassionate we are but, best of all, get some attention and then hammer the No Coal / we are destroying the world rhetoric.

In a few weeks time there will be a new fashionable cause and they'll shift their attention back to the GBR, polar bears or something else. Farmers will become invisible again to all but other farmers and their rural communities. Farmers all over the country face hardships on a regular basis; lousy prices for their produce like milk and crops because the big supermarket chains exercise their market dominance; if they have a good year you can bet there will be over-production resulting in weak prices so often times the farmers never get ahead of their debts.

 

[samh004]

It is the smaller ones with no financial 'slack' who seem to be the ones in the most trouble, but then again in a free economy, should they be subsidised or should they be helped to get out.

I find it ironic that Woolworths dares to collect charity for the same primary producers they grind down.......

Both of these messages, exactly!

I'm hesitant to say it too loudly, but everyone kicked up a stink when the banks were bailed out, so how is this any different, after all, inland Australia has been a dry and inhospitable place for thousands of years, it's not like there haven't been droughts before. I realise this is a sore point though and it is not my intention to attack the farmers, especially as farms need to be somewhere to support a growing population.

I would have preferred to see money going into programs to help farmers modernise their farms like this tomato farm and this salad green farm. Yes, both examples take things to the extreme, but so is the weather in this country. Both require a large investment of capital, but by using the latest technology they probably have low overheads. The tomato farm in particular powers it's own desalination plant... no drought there!

It runs almost entirely on solar thermal power, courtesy of the 15ha array of mirrors that feeds the tower with heat energy, rather than using the more common photovoltaic light-converting panels.

The steam-generated power drives a large desalination plant, turning constantly circulating seawater from the nearby Spencer Gulf into fresh water.

The thermal energy harnessed here powers 20ha of adjoining glasshouses, which in turn produce about 350 tonnes of tomatoes each week.

And as @juddles mentions, the race to the cheapest groceries to "help consumers" only hurts the farmers. I loved a certain milk brand and always chose it for years, but when I found out about the ways Coles and Woolworths beat down their suppliers I started reading up, and eventually chose a brand that costs me an extra $1 but provides for the farmers better. We do this with other products too.

I'd rather the supermarkets stopped screwing the farmers with decreases in price for home brand sourced stuff and perhaps donated some of their profit themselves, instead of placing the issue on me.

So rant over, I do support the farmers, but in unorthodox to the masses ways!

 

[rock86]

Both of these messages, exactly!

I'm hesitant to say it too loudly, but everyone kicked up a stink when the banks were bailed out, so how is this any different, after all, inland Australia has been a dry and inhospitable place for thousands of years, it's not like there haven't been droughts before. I realise this is a sore point though and it is not my intention to attack the farmers, especially as farms need to be somewhere to support a growing population.

I would have preferred to see money going into programs to help farmers modernise their farms like this tomato farm and this salad green farm. Yes, both examples take things to the extreme, but so is the weather in this country. Both require a large investment of capital, but by using the latest technology they probably have low overheads. The tomato farm in particular powers it's own desalination plant... no drought there!

That is the point of that article though, many farmers have drought proofed their properties to the extent they can, and (those with stock) have stock plans in place for when it inevitably get's dry - because as you have said, drought is nothing new for Australia.

With the risk of being flamed, whenever it gets dry (close enough to Sydney) enough for news outlets to take notice, a lot of the farmers who cry out are those that haven't adjusted or tried to implement new farming practices and stay stuck in their ways. People ridicule millennial's about a lot of things, but when it comes to farming that generation looks to embrace new farming techniques and practices when they return to the land, when a lot of their parents (or grand parents) do not. Is this a generalisation, probably, but it is something I have noticed from clients I deal with on the land, and from friends/family who have property.

 

[Pushka]

If it wasn’t for the animal misery I’d agree that farmers are no different to any other business that faces tough times. We certainly didn’t get a bail out a few years ago. Nor should we.

 

[VPS]

Interesting response from Qantas

Drought Relief

 

[tgh]

‘Drought Survivor’ shouldn’t chase ratings

The plight of the starving dying animals doesn't rate a mention in the above.
The media use a dying sheep as a prop and then return to discussing their fellow humans.
I opine that rather than propping up their keepers , there is a greater need to help the voiceless animals both domestic and wild.
Humans have a choice , than animals do not.

 

[love_the_life]

‘Drought Survivor’ shouldn’t chase ratings

The plight of the starving dying animals doesn't rate a mention in the above.
The media use a dying sheep as a prop and then return to discussing their fellow humans.
I opine that rather than propping up their keepers , there is a greater need to help the voiceless animals both domestic and wild.
Humans have a choice , than animals do not.

Then my view is if they are starving/suffering and there is no feed then put them down and often the most humane way is to shoot them. I'm not into anthropomorphism. YMMV.

 

[tgh]

I'm not into anthropomorphism. YMMV.

Know the word very well , don't see the relevance.
Are you implying/suggesting that my welfare concerns are somehow anthropomorphistic ?

You could always donate bullets to put in the food baskets….

Had some hay delivered today ; my old mate opined that the way it is spinning out there may not be any/enough feed to buy regardless of the money donated…bullets may indeed be an increasingly valued commodity.

 

[love_the_life]

I'm not into anthropomorphism. YMMV.

Know the word very well , don't see the relevance.
Are you implying/suggesting that my welfare concerns are somehow anthropomorphistic ?

You could always donate bullets to put in the food baskets….

Had some hay delivered today ; my old mate opined that the way it is spinning out there may not be any/enough feed to buy regardless of the money donated…bullets may indeed be an increasingly valued commodity.

Only that your posts seem to concentrate on the animals and not on the humans. If this is incorrect I apologise. I grew up on a farm and I know from first hand experience that farm animals are commodities; if they can't be kept then they will be disposed of.

 

[Pushka]

Only that your posts seem to concentrate on the animals and not on the humans. If this is incorrect I apologise. I grew up on a farm and I know from first hand experience that farm animals are commodities; if they can't be kept then they will be disposed of.

I could not cope growing up on a farm. I’d be a vegetarian.

 

[love_the_life]

I could not cope growing up on a farm. I’d be a vegetarian.

It’s in the way you look at things. Stock are not pets. There is no room for keeping non producing animals - can’t afford it. We had a small flock of killer sheep to provide most meat and even the chickens ended up on the table when they stopped laying. As a girl though I was shielded from a lot of the messy stuff,

 

[tgh]

Only that your posts seem to concentrate on the animals and not on the humans. If this is incorrect I apologise

Indeed , in the context of this thread, they do..mea culpa…

Farmed animals are (imo) defenceless sentient beings who are habitually used and sometimes abused by humans.
This perspective is not however,( by most judgements ) anthropomorphic.

There are belief structures that support a concept of animals as chattels (dumb), and incomparable to the Imperial Animal(smart).
There are also academic arguments that do not support such beliefs.

Finally , this has all drifted way off course, and is almost certainly counterproductive to the intent of the thread.

I entreat those of you with pets to spare a thought for their brethren in the bush.

 

[juddles]

This is a very hard topic that touches on many things - from economics to personal animal welfare feelings.

I am not a vegetarian, but understand those who choose that path, and also those that are big on animal welfare. I also get that the farmers are producing product (meat) that is needed by society. And they need to do this on a continent that has forever suffered droughts.

A couple of random thoughts.

In nature (ie without human intervention) many things happen that are horrid to animal lovers - plagues and droughts often mean many animals die of starvation, etc. So all creatures suffer unnice things, irrespective of what we as humans do.

Another thought is that "we" all get upset that a lamb loses its mother to drought, but are we happy that in good times that lamb just grows up a bit before being butchered for consumption??

 

[drron]

And this drought is not a product of "climate change".This has always been a continent of droughts.

.

.

.

So figures from BOM.If anything the climate has been a bit wetter since 1970.

 

[Pushka]

This is a very hard topic that touches on many things - from economics to personal animal welfare feelings.

I am not a vegetarian, but understand those who choose that path, and also those that are big on animal welfare. I also get that the farmers are producing product (meat) that is needed by society. And they need to do this on a continent that has forever suffered droughts.

A couple of random thoughts.

In nature (ie without human intervention) many things happen that are horrid to animal lovers - plagues and droughts often mean many animals die of starvation, etc. So all creatures suffer unnice things, irrespective of what we as humans do.

Another thought is that "we" all get upset that a lamb loses its mother to drought, but are we happy that in good times that lamb just grows up a bit before being butchered for consumption??

Yes, all true. I try to compartmentalise the food I eat and where it comes from. . The older I get the less meat I eat.

 

[turtlemichael]

I went to Dan Murphys yesterday, and at checkout the girl asked me if I wished to donate to a fund for the farmers. She was asking every customer.

I find it ironic that Woolworths dares to collect charity for the same primary producers they grind down.......

I'm sure you didn't skip Marketing 101.

 

[Deleted member]

Climate change has been occurring since earth was created. That has never been in dispute for me. What is in dispute for me is the contribution that mankind makes in comparison with natural events like volcanoes and the like. Space events. All of which are completely out of our control. We try to stop climate change but we simply can’t. Mother Nature is far more powerful. What we have to do is try manage and adapt to it.

Originally it was deemed ‘global warning’. Then that didn’t fit the reality so it became climate change.

I agree with your sentiments, I also reckon that a much bigger issue is just the out and out pollution we are responsible for.
But banning plastics isn’t sexy, so we are stuck with what we have.