When the small stuff bites, think big.

By: "Farm Tender" News
US & World News
Oct 07, 2018
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By Caroline Welsh - BGC Chairman

Not a single drop.

That’s what fell at our place for September.

In August I was pleased to see we passed our worst ever year according to our farm records, the 95mm we received in 1982. However since then it has been windy and getting warmer and the BoM have just released data showing it was Victoria’s second driest September and the minimum temperature anomaly for the month was -2 and -3 degrees so we’ve had more frosts than normal and the maximum temperature anomaly is 1 to 2 degrees. No wonder people have started those terrible jokes along the lines of “if the lack of rainfall doesn’t get you the frosts will….”

As one smart tweeter put it, “Mother Nature is definitely off the Christmas card list this year”.

With the short-term outlook so negative it is a good time to reflect on the improvements we’ve made on our farming practices over the years. When talking to people outside Ag, I often explain the many changes made on our farm in the almost 20 years I’ve been a part of it. (I can get pretty frustrated with ignorant ideas about farming being a slow, relaxed lifestyle choice). Over a pretty short period of time and during a decade-long drought period we, like many others, made some massive changes. We switched from conventional tillage farming, sheep and an intensive piggery to 100% no-till and no livestock.

In my last eNews article, I wrote about the 50 year anniversary of the introduction of no-till farming in Australia and the many benefits its adoption has enabled. Heading into what is predicted to be a long hot summer, I know there will be days with areas of raised dust but nothing like the dust storms of the early 1980’s thanks to the widespread adoption of no-till farming.

Precision agriculture, robotics on farm, sensor technologies, automation and the collection and use of vast amounts of data are all technologies with the potential to transform how we farm. Like the no-till of 50 years ago, these technologies have their proponents espousing the benefits of early adoption such as increased yields, labour savings, cost reductions (eventually), fertiliser efficiencies, greater traceability, etc.

There are also people unsure or against increased technology on farm, a lot of it based on cost, uncertainty or degree of difficulty. We all know how expensive new farm machinery is. We are unsure or against increased technology on farm, a lot of it based on cost, uncertainty or degree of difficulty. We are also unsure of which piece of technology, let alone which brand, is the one that might suit our situation best and it all seems too complicated and too hard.

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With these new opportunities, there also seems to be a greater threat, or not just of being left behind and becoming uncompetitive but with digital disruption, do we risk being kicked out of the game altogether? We are being asked questions like “Is this your Kodak moment?” or “Are you going to be the taxi industry or the Uber?”

But as with no-till farming, many of these barriers will disappear once it has been demonstrated how much each of these technologies can be used on farm in a practical, cost effective way that actually helps the farmer and the business. These are highly-regarded, complex technologies many of which have been developed by people from a non-Ag background. There is a reason we prefer to RD&E (Research, Development and Extension) and in cases like this where the research is very complex, the D and E part of the equation becomes even more important. So as farmers, we can decide what technologies best suits our farming systems, our rotations, our families, our risk appetites, our finances and our aims for the future.

One of the upsides to a drier year for croppers can be that there are fewer jobs and the farm is less frenetic. If you have a bit of time up your sleeves, I recommend reading “Sapiens. A brief history of humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s a fascinating history of how humans and our cultures have evolved and whilst it might not be the page turner for the beach holiday, it really kept me enthralled and I found the hardest part to read was the author’s name.

He has some pretty confronting things to say about modern agriculture – which I’d love to challenge – but he certainly makes the point that progress and change are an inevitable part of our lives.

Whether those changes make our lives better, well, therein lies the challenge.

www.bcg.org.au