Spraying near a walker who wasn't on the footpath

[Kidds]

British farmers seem to hate dog walkers, horse riders, cyclists, ramblers, gypsies, townies, people who drive 4wds, immigrants, environmentalists, foreigners, anyone else who may want to enjoy the great countryside . . . basically anyone who doesn't work 26 hrs a day as an all round mixed farmer

But they still want everyone to support them . . .

I can't get my head around that

See if you can get your head around this. Based on your location there are 93,000 people within a 100km radius of where you are.
Based on a UK location there would be 17,000,000 in that same area. So for every person you came across in your area (including towns etc) there would be more than 180 people here.
It's sh!t!
I have been to Oz and places like where you are and it is heaven in comparison (and I was one of those bloody tourists you and yours probably gripe about)

 

[Kidds]

Or, centre the 100km radius on Tamwoth UK and you have 12,000,000 people.
Centre it on Tamworth Au and you get 120,000 people.

You list the kind of folk you think we hate, dog walkers, cyclists etc. That's a little unfair as far as I am concerned as I hate everyone.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Well, personally, I'm not a people person & I like solitude - my wife's idea of a holiday is to go to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, surrounded by people. My idea of a holiday is to head west into the desert on a motorbike 1000km or more away from major population centres . . .

However - I would have thought having that many people on your doorstep would open up so many marketing / selling opportunities for your products. I am a grain / cotton grower who basically grows & sells a bulk commodity in the world market, with little chance of brand differentiation, direct selling, or niche marketing, due partly to what I produce & partly due to my location & lack of population.

In your situation, surrounded by people, POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS, I would be that excited about the possibilities of direct selling, niche marketing etc etc to those people, your neighbours. Food miles, local produce, paddock to plate, knowing the " story " behind your food rather than just bland generic supermarket stuff . . . The possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination & enthusiasm. I'm sure fellow antipoden & occupier of a low population area @Kiwi Pete would agree.

I remember yrs ago talking to a US farmer who grew sweet corn & turkeys. ( the yanks love eating both corn & turkey ). He farmed between 3 large cities, with a population of millions within a not terribly large radius ( forgive me, I forget most of the actual numbers, but the gist of the story is accurate ). He basically parked a semi trailer ( or arctic, HGV ) loaded with sweet corn / corn on the cob, beside the road & sold it straight to the public, he sold his turkeys ( processed, ready to cook ) direct to the public. He was taking the money in, his customers knew exactly who / where their food was coming from, & felt some connection to it.
Will Harris ( google him, very interesting bloke ) in the US is a bit of a poster boy of this sort of stuff.

Don't resent your high population, embrace them as an opportunity. With that sort of population density, it's not niche marketing like it would be here, every farmer should be able to find opportunities to do this

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Well, personally, I'm not a people person & I like solitude - my wife's idea of a holiday is to go to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, surrounded by people. My idea of a holiday is to head west into the desert on a motorbike 1000km or more away from major population centres . . .

However - I would have thought having that many people on your doorstep would open up so many marketing / selling opportunities for your products. I am a grain / cotton grower who basically grows & sells a bulk commodity in the world market, with little chance of brand differentiation, direct selling, or niche marketing, due partly to what I produce & partly due to my location & lack of population.

In your situation, surrounded by people, POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS, I would be that excited about the possibilities of direct selling, niche marketing etc etc to those people, your neighbours. Food miles, local produce, paddock to plate, knowing the " story " behind your food rather than just bland generic supermarket stuff . . . The possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination & enthusiasm. I'm sure fellow antipoden & occupier of a low population area @Kiwi Pete would agree.

I remember yrs ago talking to a US farmer who grew sweet corn & turkeys. ( the yanks love eating both corn & turkey ). He farmed between 3 large cities, with a population of millions within a not terribly large radius ( forgive me, I forget most of the actual numbers, but the gist of the story is accurate ). He basically parked a semi trailer ( or arctic, HGV ) loaded with sweet corn / corn on the cob, beside the road & sold it straight to the public, he sold his turkeys ( processed, ready to cook ) direct to the public. He was taking the money in, his customers knew exactly who / where their food was coming from, & felt some connection to it.
Will Harris ( google him, very interesting bloke ) in the US is a bit of a poster boy of this sort of stuff.

Don't resent your high population, embrace them as an opportunity. With that sort of population density, it's not niche marketing like it would be here, every farmer should be able to find opportunities to do this

I would give an awful lot to have a few (Just a few, mind) more locals.
Cut flowers here are wilted before they get to the airport, or trust me, I'd be growing them.
Must be awfully frustrating having folk tramping across your paddocks thinking they're in the right and you're in the wrong.

Ahh the joys of hippie hobby farming, you can drink my weedkiller of choice and it just makes you want a beer to chase it down

 

[Kiwi Pete]

British farmers seem to hate dog walkers, horse riders, cyclists, ramblers, gypsies, townies, people who drive 4wds, immigrants, environmentalists, foreigners, anyone else who may want to enjoy the great countryside . . . basically anyone who doesn't work 26 hrs a day as an all round mixed farmer

But they still want everyone to support them . . .

I can't get my head around that

I'd still hate my neighbours more - direct competitors - than the duckfick making a noise on facebook about farmers - a potential customer?? Or, the local horse riding contingent, who buy baleage at any price in winter.. or want me to weld a bracket on their float etc etc etc.
They say one man's trash is another man's treasure... quite happy here....

 

[Farmer Roy]

Glass half empty or half full ?

As stated before, some people just seem negative about everything, rather than seeing possibilities or opportunities

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Glass half empty or half full ?

As stated before, some people just seem negative about everything, rather than seeing possibilities or opportunities

Alot of them around me here too.... it's the opportunity thing IMO, some folk only get the one, taking over the family business.. and never see another one, not while father is watching....

 

[caveman]

You do make some valid points. But much as we wish to appear amiable and considerate to the public, and so we should, we must also temper our philanthropy and goodwill with a touch of realism.

If we benignly smile upon all trespassers and wave them on by, we could be perceived as condoning unfettered access to our fields, which can all too easily set a precedent and be perceived as a given right of way for all and sundry to roam as they please.

You won't stop the bad ones and the good ones do no harm.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

You won't stop the bad ones and the good ones do no harm.

+1 easy for me to say.

 

[czechmate]

See if you can get your head around this. Based on your location there are 93,000 people within a 100km radius of where you are.
Based on a UK location there would be 17,000,000 in that same area. So for every person you came across in your area (including towns etc) there would be more than 180 people here.
It's sh!t!
I have been to Oz and places like where you are and it is heaven in comparison (and I was one of those bloody tourists you and yours probably gripe about)

View attachment 594934 View attachment 594936

Interesting. 4.7 million here

 

[Mdt]

Having been in this situation a few times now I have stopped talking to them as the abuse I get is unfair as I talk to them politely and reason with them but as soon as they start raising voices I turn round and go back to machine. We have people that have cut an arch in some bushes and hedges so they can walk through! There isn't even a public footpath nearby! I leave it to the manager and game keeper now to sort out.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I think the OP has a duty of care to someone who comes onto his land, even a trespasser (I think).

Unless it’s lurcher lads...then he should of ran over them then sprayed them in their eyes

 

[Kidds]

Well, personally, I'm not a people person & I like solitude - my wife's idea of a holiday is to go to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, surrounded by people. My idea of a holiday is to head west into the desert on a motorbike 1000km or more away from major population centres . . .

However - I would have thought having that many people on your doorstep would open up so many marketing / selling opportunities for your products. I am a grain / cotton grower who basically grows & sells a bulk commodity in the world market, with little chance of brand differentiation, direct selling, or niche marketing, due partly to what I produce & partly due to my location & lack of population.

In your situation, surrounded by people, POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS, I would be that excited about the possibilities of direct selling, niche marketing etc etc to those people, your neighbours. Food miles, local produce, paddock to plate, knowing the " story " behind your food rather than just bland generic supermarket stuff . . . The possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination & enthusiasm. I'm sure fellow antipoden & occupier of a low population area @Kiwi Pete would agree.

I remember yrs ago talking to a US farmer who grew sweet corn & turkeys. ( the yanks love eating both corn & turkey ). He farmed between 3 large cities, with a population of millions within a not terribly large radius ( forgive me, I forget most of the actual numbers, but the gist of the story is accurate ). He basically parked a semi trailer ( or arctic, HGV ) loaded with sweet corn / corn on the cob, beside the road & sold it straight to the public, he sold his turkeys ( processed, ready to cook ) direct to the public. He was taking the money in, his customers knew exactly who / where their food was coming from, & felt some connection to it.
Will Harris ( google him, very interesting bloke ) in the US is a bit of a poster boy of this sort of stuff.

Don't resent your high population, embrace them as an opportunity. With that sort of population density, it's not niche marketing like it would be here, every farmer should be able to find opportunities to do this

Just prior to the crash in 2007 it felt that people were picking up on the food miles thing and also taking an interest in what food they were eating. Along came the crash and instantly the emphasis was put on food as cheap as possible. This was taken to such an extreme that the supermarkets ended up mixing horsemeat into the food just to get that price even lower.

I grow apples, I have to compete with apples from all over the world. You'd think local apples would have the edge on sales but they don't (fact, not me being negative).
Having been to Oz a few times I always come away dreaming of having my produce for sale at the same prices your consumers pay. I could probably make a profit from buying Australian apples in a UK supermarket, ship them back to Australia and sell them for the prices in your supermarkets. No idea how I can buy apples from Australia in my local shop for less than you can in your local shop and I mean suburbs of a major city rather than outback grocery store.

Ah well, at least we can export a few people over there if we can't export some apples.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Just prior to the crash in 2007 it felt that people were picking up on the food miles thing and also taking an interest in what food they were eating. Along came the crash and instantly the emphasis was put on food as cheap as possible. This was taken to such an extreme that the supermarkets ended up mixing horsemeat into the food just to get that price even lower.

I grow apples, I have to compete with apples from all over the world. You'd think local apples would have the edge on sales but they don't (fact, not me being negative).
Having been to Oz a few times I always come away dreaming of having my produce for sale at the same prices your consumers pay. I could probably make a profit from buying Australian apples in a UK supermarket, ship them back to Australia and sell them for the prices in your supermarkets. No idea how I can buy apples from Australia in my local shop for less than you can in your local shop and I mean suburbs of a major city rather than outback grocery store.

Ah well, at least we can export a few people over there if we can't export some apples.

Food in supermarkets and shops in oz wasn’t always as hideously expensive as it is now. I blame the duopoly (coles and woolies) that basically has been allowed to have a stranglehold in urban oz.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Just prior to the crash in 2007 it felt that people were picking up on the food miles thing and also taking an interest in what food they were eating. Along came the crash and instantly the emphasis was put on food as cheap as possible. This was taken to such an extreme that the supermarkets ended up mixing horsemeat into the food just to get that price even lower.

I grow apples, I have to compete with apples from all over the world. You'd think local apples would have the edge on sales but they don't (fact, not me being negative).
Having been to Oz a few times I always come away dreaming of having my produce for sale at the same prices your consumers pay. I could probably make a profit from buying Australian apples in a UK supermarket, ship them back to Australia and sell them for the prices in your supermarkets. No idea how I can buy apples from Australia in my local shop for less than you can in your local shop and I mean suburbs of a major city rather than outback grocery store.

Ah well, at least we can export a few people over there if we can't export some apples.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying

Unfortunately, it's not the apple growers here who make the money, but the supermarkets. We basically have a duopoly of Woolworths & Coles who pretty much control everything, they screw things down pretty hard
It's a race to the bottom, a real classic here was the $1 / litre milk which really hurt the dairy sector . . .

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Glass half empty or half full ?

As stated before, some people just seem negative about everything, rather than seeing possibilities or opportunities

Thing is tho in this country vast majority of people think they have a right to walk across your land without any responsibility to their own animals. Nice people are few and far between. Most of them are really horrible foul mouthed imbaciles who couldn't give a flying sh!t what happens, as long as they can get what they want. Not a lot of them even care about or support your products/produce, most want it for free or at a knocked down price. If it was up to these idiots farming would be non existent, it's looking like it's going that way anyway, cause they don't see or value the importance of it. They think that everyone who is a farmer is a loser, they snigger at your job title and critisizing you for being a rich barsteward if you get a newish car given to you or get it on finance. By British standards all farmers are wastes of space. This is the reason why I don't like the British public, toffee nosed absolute hard nailed barstewards I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Some of my customers on the other hand are lovely and absolute jewels