Farmer Roy's Random Thoughts - I never said it was easy.

[CornishTone]

You are right @Steel. The scammers are still at it today. Every time there is an upsurge in deer farming they crawl out from under their stones, rip a few people off then disappear til next time. Within the last few weeks a new entrant was sold some hinds that turned out to be diseased and they all need to be shot. I wont go into details in case it becomes a court case. The first question you need to ask is if the advisors are so s--t hot why are none of them farming deer themselves?
All people need to do is get a list of long established deer farmers and go round an talk to them. I bet nobody would charge you for a visit and you would have range of farm types from which to choose a system that would suit you.
Or you might just get told enough truth for you to decide it's not for you. Either way a cheap education.

Reckon I know the couple you refer to here. An outrageous example of a new entrant being taken advantage of. I hope it does go to court and I hope they get taken to the cleaners.

I had the privilege of being shown round a new deer enterprise whilst home for a couple of weeks. Having never seen a deer set up before it was a real eye opener. They’re doing some great work and have big plans ahead. They’re lucky to have a retiring deer farmer as a mentor who’s kept them clear of the industry rogues!

 

[hendrebc]

Reckon I know the couple you refer to here. An outrageous example of a new entrant being taken advantage of. I hope it does go to court and I hope they get taken to the cleaners.

I had the privilege of being shown round a new deer enterprise whilst home for a couple of weeks. Having never seen a deer set up before it was a real eye opener. They’re doing some great work and have big plans ahead. They’re lucky to have a retiring deer farmer as a mentor who’s kept them clear of the industry rogues!

View attachment 718756

Welcome back

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Hmmm, not the best 24hrs

This at least didn't involve bàstard bovines
The Irrigation outlets use a piece of 4 inch steel purlin for the walkway between the wings. Of course they get slippery when wet.....and of course it was a frost again.....not much fun with gumboots....so of course had a nice slip at 5.30am, landed on the purlin with my shoulder (luckily) and hit the concrete wing on the other side face first. I say luckily, because if I had missed and took the full brunt with my head, I dare say I would have been out cold. And since I had just opened that outlet, probably would have drowned hence why I never waste my money buying lottery tickets

 

[Farmer Roy]

Bloody hell, you're a real pin up boy for an OH & S case study . . .

Yeah, I think you're using up all those lottery tickets

 

[Samcowman]

Hmmm, not the best 24hrsView attachment 718788 View attachment 718790
This at least didn't involve bàstard bovines
The Irrigation outlets use a piece of 4 inch steel purlin for the walkway between the wings. Of course they get slippery when wet.....and of course it was a frost again.....not much fun with gumboots....so of course had a nice slip at 5.30am, landed on the purlin with my shoulder (luckily) and hit the concrete wing on the other side face first. I say luckily, because if I had missed and took the full brunt with my head, I dare say I would have been out cold. And since I had just opened that outlet, probably would have drowned hence why I never waste my money buying lottery tickets

You really ought to have a minder with you for your own safety.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Satan the steer. (photo taken in 1984)
Satan was a Brahman-Shorthorn cross steer or bullock, born in 1968. At 16 years of age his weight was 4600 lbs or 2086 kg. He was 10 feet tall at the horns and 13 feet 8 inches in length. He was owned by Jack Mericle from Idaho, USA.

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

You trying to frighten me Roy

 

[CornishTone]

Welcome back

Thanks @hendrebc. Had a fortnight back in the old country and it’s taken me a week to catch up with this thread. You lot need to get out more![emoji57]

 

[Kiwi Pete]

They say the ones who like a scratch and are friendly are most dangerous ‘cause you trust them. Never trust a bull.

I have to add that my bucket reared bulls were the first ones to go.
A year old and it was like a switch flicked in their bony heads, and tried their crack at "the title" so they went, before they tried it with my kids.
Got $750 for them and they owed me $150 so it wasn't all bad!

 

[Farmer Roy]

If any of you actually care about the way the UK is going (& why would you really) then this blog sums up why we're desperate to leave. To really find out what an area is like talk to the local police and/or GP service (family doctors) as they see it "warts and all".

This blog describes the modern UK from a serving police officer perspective, far more eloquently than I can.

https://arrestingconversations.wordpress.com/2018/09/13/the-state-of-policing-september-2018/

not a happy situation . . .

 

[CornishTone]

not a happy situation . . .

If you looked too closely into the funding issues and problems surrounding UK emergency services (police, fire, ambulance and coast guard) you’d rapidly come to the conclusion that it’s not a healthy country to reside in. The poor buggers on the front line are in an impossible situation. I don’t envy their lot at all!

But, if you look at police numbers, England and Wales have 1 officer per 444 people, but Australia has 1 officer per 616 people (in round figures). Yet I know which country “feels” safer when I trot between the two!

Trouble is, you only ever hear the bad stories. No one ever makes a fuss when the cops get it right.

 

[Farmer Roy]

So, having a foot in both camps so to speak, how do you explain the differences? If you can ?
Are things really that different?
We have the luxury of low rural populations ( like @Blaithin ), but is the situation any different within our broader society ?
It seems all western countries are facing similar issues. I know we certainly have problems with drugs, violence, generational unemployment, a generally more selfish attitude . . .
It certainly seems here that the Police are far more focussed on revenue raising & traffic offences than they are on actual "police" work. My personal dealings with police, reporting crime or behaviour, have been very negative experiences, to the extent that I now think of them like I do GP's & the medical industry ie - they're a waste of time so what's the point . . . ( ps - I have friends who are front line police, so not anti police as such )
Is it a sign of the decline of our society / culture ? After all, every previous civilisation has collapsed & succumbed to the barbarian hordes, why should ours be any different ?
Or, being optimistic, is there hope or a way out of this ?
Dunno . . .
TBH, I'm too tired & too brain damaged & too pessimistic to really give a f**k . . .

 

[CornishTone]

Interesting question. The Police in the UK are also very traffic focussed I think, but I suspect there is a colonial (I know you hate that term) pragmatism that is absent in the UK. I know a front line police sergeant and a Constable here and I think there seems to be a little more license for an officer on the ground to act as they see fit in a particular situation.

There is also the pay scale. Officers here get paid allot more here than the UK. I suspect this attracts a different caliber of candidate when the prospects are better. But, there are assholes in any profession. As the sergeant I spoke of put it, “How many work in your company? How many are assholes? There are 3,500 cops in SAPOL, some are bound to be strokers. We’re not all like that though.”

Also, the UK has this thing called “Policing by consent”. The premise being that we, the public, allow ourselves to be policed and offer ourselves willingly to their justice. Therefore they are possibly a little more beholden to the public’s whims. It’s also why they are not routinely armed. A brief look at the SA Police website and they openly describe themselves as a “Paramilitary Police Force”. Very different language to the UK and a very different premise.

Despite lower numbers, I see a greater rural Police presence here than the UK. Back home the only time I’d seen a cop near the farm was when the armed response and dog unit got their facts wrong and surrounded Mum and dad’s house instead of the house down the road. They spent an hour with their guns pointed at the house despite myself and my uncle telling they were in the wrong place. They were too afraid to go and knock on the door. My parents were in watching East Enders, blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding outside. So I have no confidence in Devon and Cornwall Constabularies ability to keep us safe. What could’ve happened in the hour they were in the wrong place doesn’t bare thinking about! Fortunately it was drunken idiot that sparked it all off and there was no real danger. By what a joke!

As was said in the blog, top heavy management rather than front lines cops with an intimate knowledge of community and landscape are the problem I suspect.

 

[CornishTone]

Here in Birdwood, there’s a manned police station 10 minutes north in Mt Pleasant and 10 minutes south in Gummaracha. Our “local cop” is the president of the footy club, knows everyone, drinks in the pub, eats in the cafes, socialises in the community, we all know him by name etc etc.

In the UK, there’s a police station 10 minutes north in Liskeard and 10 minutes south in Looe. Neither are manned, there just a phone on the wall with a direct line to either Bodmin or Exeter (depending on the time of day) and the person at the other end wouldn’t have a clue about the community of landscape you’re referring to.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Interesting

Not really relevant, but apparently the NSW police are one of the largest forces in the English speaking world with something like 16000. Admittadely they have to cover both major population centres & a wide geographic spread
But Gunnedah has 5 Highway Patrol cars based out of it, a new multi million $$ police station being built, but despite requests for as long as I can remember, we still don't get 24 hour policing . . .
Part of the trouble is, just like GP's & school teachers etc, is attracting people to work inland, away from that narrow strip on the east coast

 

[Farmer Roy]

Here in Birdwood, there’s a manned police station 10 minutes north in Mt Pleasant and 10 minutes south in Gummaracha. Our “local cop” is the president of the footy club, knows everyone, drinks in the pub, eats in the cafes, socialises in the community, we all know him by name etc etc.

In the UK, there’s a police station 10 minutes north in Liskeard and 10 minutes south in Looe. Neither are manned, there just a phone on the wall with a direct line to either Bodmin or Exeter (depending on the time of day) and the person at the other end wouldn’t have a clue about the community of landscape you’re referring to.

Yeah, big difference

 

[CornishTone]

Weird isn’t it? I’d much rather be a small town, country cop than have to live and work in the big smoke. Each to their own I guess.

 

[Farmer Roy]

As I keep saying, we are the most urbanised country in the western world. Our population generally wants to cram itself into that increasingly congested narrow strip about 100km wide between Brisbane & Melbourne.
Being in SA you are thankfully seperate from that

 

[Blaithin]

I don't know how clear defined police forces in Canada would be.

You have the RCMP which cover the more rural areas with remote detachments and the smaller cities. And they are the main crime investigative body. They will pull you over for traffic violations too so it's not like they avoid that. They're the ones who generally respond to 911 calls.

Then there's the larger cities who have their own police forces. Calgary Police Service (CPS), Toronto Police Service, Vancouver Police Department, etc.

Then there's city and town bylaws, County bylaw officers/Peace Officers, Department of Transportation (DoT) officers and the Sheriffs. Sheriffs mainly patrol highways for traffic violations, DOTs are the ones that pull over big trucks and check for overloads, run the scales, etc. Bylaws are the ones that run the things like noise complaints, fire bans, etc.

They're all law enforcement.

So the county I graduated in only had about 6-8 RCMP's for a population of around 2000 in a geographical area of 3, 287 sq km. But you could still receive tickets from the Peace Officers, Sheriffs, DOTs and town bylaws. The more serious crime is dealt with by the RCMP but they're hardly the only law enforcement around.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Yeah, we only have 2 levels of police.
Federal - who are mainly interested in terrorism, international & ambassadorial / diplomat security

State - who are responsible for all day to day policing, traffic infringements, dog squads, mounted police, marine, aviation, criminal investigation etc NSW is broken down into various Regional Area & Local Area Commands, but they are all part of the same organisation & ultimate command structure.

RMS ( Roads & Maritime Services ) do have power & do conduct heavy vehicle inspections & weigh stations, but they don't have "police" powers of arrest etc