Home thoughts from Abroad

Bojangles

Member
Location
Scotland
Well its been a while since I was on here and I hope my old contacts are still on the go?

As anyone who remembers me will know I have been in Australia for the last couple of years with my wife and it has been a great experience for me although the city is not home for me. I have tried to enjoy city life and have been doing reasonably well but seem to always end up back in the bush looking longingly at the cattle although the flies are more than a little annoying.

I have been very lucky with work and get paid to help farmers solve design problems on their machinery and have been designing new style tillage points for direct drills along with some larger items for other agri uses. All in all its been a huge privilege to spend so much time on a huge range of farms all over the country and I have seen a great deal of new ideas that I would implement should I return to UK agriculture. I have also seen a great deal of not so good ideas too!!

Anyway its all very interesting and spending time at steelworks in china has been a huge eye opener BUT

The call of home is always there. Thats what this is all about. I am more than a little out of touch and wanted to dip the toe with all you wise folk. How are you all fairing with the loom of Brexit almost upon us?

I have the opportunity to return and farm in my own right but the reality has to be commercially viable so are the beef and sheep farmers making any money? I know these are broad questions but it would be good to get a feel on what is going on and who better to ask than all of you.

By the way if anyone has sons or daughters or even yourself under 35 and would like to come out here to do seeding or harvest then send me a message. I would help in any way I can and could probably put you in touch with some good farms who need help for a few weeks. Also any questions are welcome on the reality of pay, conditions and hours
 

Danllan

Member
Location
Sir Gar / Carms
Well its been a while since I was on here and I hope my old contacts are still on the go?

As anyone who remembers me will know...

Are you a Brit who has moved to Oz or an Ozzie who was rural but is now urban? I ask because I'm unsure whether you intend to come 'back' to the UK or go back to the Ozzie bush.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Good to hear from you @Bojangles (y)

Brexit? Aus is the best place right now. There's a whole TFF forum devoted to Brexit if you fancy reminding yourself why you left Blighty! I'd recommend not reading the threads in there for a long time if you're feeling a bit down. By the end you'll be seriously depressed. There's a big change coming. Many are afraid but some are relishing the opportunities it will create.

How are you finding the distance from the bush to the city? You don't just "pop into town" Is your missus still based in Sydney?
 

Bojangles

Member
Location
Scotland
Good to hear from you @Bojangles (y)

Brexit? Aus is the best place right now. There's a whole TFF forum devoted to Brexit if you fancy reminding yourself why you left Blighty! I'd recommend not reading the threads in there for a long time if you're feeling a bit down. By the end you'll be seriously depressed. There's a big change coming. Many are afraid but some are relishing the opportunities it will create.

How are you finding the distance from the bush to the city? You don't just "pop into town" Is your missus still based in Sydney?

Hello stranger!

We live in the centre of Sydney still but I travel all over with work. It really is vast and so very different to farm. Friend of mine out here has had 26000 acres of total crop failure this year. Had to buy in stock and graze the lot before it was completely knackered.

I will have a look at the Brexit thread thanks.

How are you getting on anyway
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Bad drought again? Which part of the country was that?

All good here, fella. @Farmer Roy keeps posting pictures of northern NSW which makes me a bit nostalgic for my days near Moree.

Occasionally we get questions on harvest work in Aus by young farmer travellers - I'll tag you in those if that's ok
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Well its been a while since I was on here and I hope my old contacts are still on the go?

As anyone who remembers me will know I have been in Australia for the last couple of years with my wife and it has been a great experience for me although the city is not home for me. I have tried to enjoy city life and have been doing reasonably well but seem to always end up back in the bush looking longingly at the cattle although the flies are more than a little annoying.

I have been very lucky with work and get paid to help farmers solve design problems on their machinery and have been designing new style tillage points for direct drills along with some larger items for other agri uses. All in all its been a huge privilege to spend so much time on a huge range of farms all over the country and I have seen a great deal of new ideas that I would implement should I return to UK agriculture. I have also seen a great deal of not so good ideas too!!

Anyway its all very interesting and spending time at steelworks in china has been a huge eye opener BUT

The call of home is always there. Thats what this is all about. I am more than a little out of touch and wanted to dip the toe with all you wise folk. How are you all fairing with the loom of Brexit almost upon us?

I have the opportunity to return and farm in my own right but the reality has to be commercially viable so are the beef and sheep farmers making any money? I know these are broad questions but it would be good to get a feel on what is going on and who better to ask than all of you.

By the way if anyone has sons or daughters or even yourself under 35 and would like to come out here to do seeding or harvest then send me a message. I would help in any way I can and could probably put you in touch with some good farms who need help for a few weeks. Also any questions are welcome on the reality of pay, conditions and hours


interesting
who do you work for, where are you based ?

oh yeah, gday :)
 

Bojangles

Member
Location
Scotland
Bad drought again? Which part of the country was that?

All good here, fella. @Farmer Roy keeps posting pictures of northern NSW which makes me a bit nostalgic for my days near Moree.

Occasionally we get questions on harvest work in Aus by young farmer travellers - I'll tag you in those if that's ok

That’s fine I would be glad to help.

Closest I go to Moree is Narrabri.
There have been some real problems in parts of NSW this year. Some places north west of Dubbo have had a real flop so thank Christ they had a good one last year. There was a huge amount of crop grazed in some parts.
Vic seems to be ok and SW Western Australia was saved by late rain after a very poor start with dry sowing.
 

CornishTone

Member
BASIS
Location
Cornwall
Oh , is it the "family" issue?:rolleyes:

Yes. Having a 6 month old man cub in the mix puts a slightly different perspective on things, especially for the OH. She misses the support network of her parentals and siblings, which is fair enough.

It’s an emotional mine field let me tell you!

The head says, better healthcare, education and prospects for the little one. The heart says should I deny her her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins etc, and equally, should I deny them her?
 
Location
Devon
Well its been a while since I was on here and I hope my old contacts are still on the go?

As anyone who remembers me will know I have been in Australia for the last couple of years with my wife and it has been a great experience for me although the city is not home for me. I have tried to enjoy city life and have been doing reasonably well but seem to always end up back in the bush looking longingly at the cattle although the flies are more than a little annoying.

I have been very lucky with work and get paid to help farmers solve design problems on their machinery and have been designing new style tillage points for direct drills along with some larger items for other agri uses. All in all its been a huge privilege to spend so much time on a huge range of farms all over the country and I have seen a great deal of new ideas that I would implement should I return to UK agriculture. I have also seen a great deal of not so good ideas too!!

Anyway its all very interesting and spending time at steelworks in china has been a huge eye opener BUT

The call of home is always there. Thats what this is all about. I am more than a little out of touch and wanted to dip the toe with all you wise folk. How are you all fairing with the loom of Brexit almost upon us?

I have the opportunity to return and farm in my own right but the reality has to be commercially viable so are the beef and sheep farmers making any money? I know these are broad questions but it would be good to get a feel on what is going on and who better to ask than all of you.

By the way if anyone has sons or daughters or even yourself under 35 and would like to come out here to do seeding or harvest then send me a message. I would help in any way I can and could probably put you in touch with some good farms who need help for a few weeks. Also any questions are welcome on the reality of pay, conditions and hours


Personally I wouldn't come back here to farm beef and sheep for at least 18 months and not until you know the score ref the effect Brexit/ New AG policy will have on these sectors, at the moment the outlook is very uncertain....

I wouldn't be surprised to see subs go/ farm gate prices drop 30% and input costs rise by 20/30%..
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,291
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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