Sydney State of Mind ......

Spent a long weekend with my brother (Hamish) in Sydney and his wife Susan, my neice and nephew. My brother is my oldest friend but we are both equally useless at keeping in regular contact.

I talked corporate finance with stockbrokers with 8 hours drinking under their belts (my chat was on fire as you can tell - see picture: left to right is Blanchie (Hamish); Blanchie (Bearded - looks good doesn’t it? (cough cough) - and obviously slightly sweaty); Walshie and Clarkie - stockbrokers just add “ie” to the end of a surname it appears. You can see I was using my own personal style to secure financial sector funds.

Saw the best example of meat marketing .. like .... ever .... at Victor Churchill’s butcher shop (yeah, I don’t get out much but see second picture). Hamish beat me at golf and also at the game we play - how long can you go without catching a fish before you give up.

The last night in Australia I sat in a glass fronted restaurant, with the part of my family I see far too seldom, over looking Bondi Beach with a cold beer in hand. Admist the screaming and vomit (Hamish, not neice and nephew... ho ho). I pondered on what had just been these last few weeks as I watched an archetypal symbol of Australia meet the wider world (beach meeting sea - still need to work on those analogies!). As the Tasman stroked Australia it was also stroking the land of the long white cloud and the next day - by the power of Quantas - I’d be meeting New Zealand too. Its the place of worship for many a sheep farmer lets see if I get born again. Thanks Australia and all those I met - you have taught me well!

Sheep ..... probably the best animal in the world...

A huge proportion of my followers (50% of all two of them) have requested more detail on the sheep that I’ve come across here. Always keen to respond quickly to feedback, I have waited a week and finally got round to this - this ones for you Timothy....

Damarra and Dorper - wool shedders. The Damarra is a fat tailed sheep that isn’t too popular with processors as a pure bred. It is smaller than the dorper, hardy and has the ability for polyoestrus (Sp?) lambing (ie twice a year) I hope I’ve attached a photo of some cross Damarras; the Dorper - I saw mostly white faced - is a big sheep with a good carcass. A cross of the two is common with Garry Hannigan really pleased with a Dorper (50%); Damarra (25%) and Wiltshire Horn (25%) cross. Amazingly for all you Wilt breeders out there (Ok lets be honest that just means Tim...) the Wiltshire was added to increase prolificacy!!!! He was also using Meatmasters which from a hazy memory were cross Dorper/Damarras.

Though the Merino still rules in the pastoral country of the Outback there is a big shift toward the wool shedders. A Merino can add $15-20 of wool and $7-14 for its skin but its labour demands, huge risk of flies and poorer meat product make shedders a more attractive option in rangeland Australia due to the logistics and costs of mustering. This step change in production was symbolised by the Browns at Reola station home to one of the biggest and efficient wool sheds in Australia. It has the capability to allow shearing of 2,800 ewes a day. The Browns have since gone 90% toward wool shedders and the wool shed lies quiet for most of the year.

The Australian sheep flock has reduced from 180 million ewes to under 80 million and as a result their lamb price is probably better than ours ($120 for decent 50kg lambs). But down in South Australia pure Merino and first cross Merino ewes (with Border Leicester, White Suffolk or Poll Dorset) are almost the only way to go. Easier managed country and the financial importance of wool and Merino type skins make it the logical choice.

Graham Clothier at Lucindale taught me alot in terms of focusing on the essentials and keeping systems simple. Feed according to need, ensure good shelter to limit post lambing mortality and get as many lambs out of them as possible. This seems obvious but Graham was doing things beyond what I had actually considered. He also took me to Naracoorte market which was a bit different to UA Stirling! (see left)

I did go and see the the Breed president of the Wiltipolls near Strathalbyn. Wiltipolls are Wiltshire Horns crossed with a polled breed followed by four back crosses, with only the hornless selected (see below left). If you thought it was impossible to improve on a Wiltshire Horn, this is it and the yellow van will be coming to get you very soon using the Mental Health Act as an enforcement tool.

On my last visit in South Australia, I met an interesting man (Lynton Arney) who bred Border Leicesters - like our Border Leicesters but they looked far less like rabbits exposed to unhealthy levels of radiation. His branding was really impressive (sweatshirts, caps and even cooking aprons) and his method of client care - genuine but not intrusive; factual rather than hype - seemed really effective.

I am sorry for my poor photo placement and quality but I cannot accept liability for any dissatisfaction on anyones part especially those that play the banjo and are from Wiltshire.

Big Sky, Big Picture....

The Outback of Australia is a truly magical place about as far away from home as its possible to be - in more ways than one. The sky is huge, the roads are long and the pride of the sprinkling of people that survive here, wondrous. This is a tough land for tough people, that work with nature - not against it - in its toughest form.

On reflection in Scotland we have wet years and less wet years but here the extremes in climate are horrendous. They have only been out of an 8 year drought, for 12 months and today the rain is such that the road just travelled may have been washed away.

With Chris Ferguson as tour guide - a debt I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay - I’ve visited five first generation farmers and two established farm businesses. Each story was different but there were significant common threads and shared principles between all those I spoke to: their focus; endurance of hardship and willingness to embrace sacrifice; their resilience; self reliance; their low tolerance for whinging; their determination; ambition, adaptability and, vitally, what seemed a compulsory sense of humour.

From Bourke, to Wanaaring, to Wilcannia, to Broken Hill the big sky was ever present. With the day off today at Broken Hill I went to see their main tourist attraction - a 100 metre long acrylic painting. Its called The Big Picture but thanks to seven families in seven days, I’ve already seen the real big picture - a sight I will never forget.

By the Power of Qantas .....

With still things on the to-do-list .... undone; with still things to say to people .... unsaid - I’ve packed all my bags and left on a jet plane to the other side of the world. Four kids, a wife, two dogs, two clown fish and a hamster were all accounted for when I left - just hope they’re there when I get back! But this is it - the start of my main Nuffield trip - 3 weeks in Australia; 3 weeks in New Zealand.

The first leg in Oz is to meet up with Chris Ferguson, a 2010 Australian Nuffield Scholar (and first generation farmer) to tour the Outback from Bourke to Wilcannia to Broken Hill (roughly speaking the top left corner of New South Wales). We are meeting first generation farmers all along the way. I doubt Chris has realised that after ten minutes my chat gets a bit dull .... she has 6 days (that’s over 8,000 minutes) in my company - poor, poor girl.

I get the impression that parts of Australia have very few new entrants; but I am excited by the Outback. With its marginal land and tough lifestyle its where first generation guys might have more opportunity.