A SIMPLE phone conversation can set the mind to work.
I had a conversation last Monday with John Hulland, who farms at Patchewollock, in north-west Victoria.
Our conversation stemmed from my comments in last week's Stock & Land on succession and retirement planning. Mr Hulland is a farmer who has five sons, one at home, and others scattered over properties in Victoria and NSW.
What triggered my brain into action was our talk on Mr Hulland's family, which related more to where his sons farm, and the variations between their properties relating to rainfall. I quote, or pass on quotes about rainfall regularly, but how accurate is it? My source is the Bureau of Meteorology or producers and agents I come across at livestock sales.
I live in the small rural community of Ellinbank, which is 10 kilometres south of Warragul, or 110km east of Melbourne.
We are one of the wettest areas in Gippsland yet we don't have an official weather station. While this is being rectified, the nearest official weather station is at the Royal Australian Air Force's base at Sale, a place with up to only half the rain of our area.
It is a mixed farming area of small and lifestyle farms, but I have the State Government Dairy Research Farm as one of my neighbours.
This is one of many dairy farms in my area, but there is also a bio-dynamic farm, an organic dairy farm, beef farms, both stud and commercial, and one substantial sheep property.
However, good soil coupled with our "guaranteed rainfall" also sees one of the largest flower and bulb farms in Victoria nearby, as well as seed and commercial potatoes.
Most of broader Gippsland is a medium to high rainfall area, and although it is usually considered a very safe farming district, it too is subject to the varying degrees of weather to which Mr Hulland was talking about.
I was born and bred on the eastern side of Melbourne, and have spent most of my life here except for a very short stint in Camperdown in the mid-1980s.
Would I move from here? Probably not. Farming land here ranges mostly between $2500 and $4000 per hectare. So selling up and relocating is an option, but you would have to purchase more land to equal the dollar turnover.
Mr Hulland said his property at Hillston "looks a treat" this year with grass up to your knees, and ample water, while his other properties further away are struggling for rain. Over the past few years this has caused the Hulland family to re-think what and how they farm.
Moving across the broader reaches of the Western District and the Wimmera you can see how the very mixed weather patterns have an effect. A very dry and extended summer, autumn and early winter left a lot of farmers struggling, which impacted on dairy, beef, sheep and cropping producers.
While the rain came late, it came by the bucketful and while it was good to some it adversely affected many others. If the climate change pundits have it correct then we can expect these weather patterns to continues – with longer spells between rain, some isolated thunderstorms drenching some areas, but missing others, with no defined guidelines.
So if you are planning a move, or considering getting into farming, where do you choose? The first decision is what type of farming is planned as this could decide your destination. Then you need to assess rainfall, and that is becoming more difficult. Usually a guaranteed rainfall comes with a big price tag, irrigation country is cheaper but water costs are high, and dry land farming is generally cheaper, but the outcome can be very unpredictable.
At the end of all this you need accurate information, and a lot of the time it is the locals who know the best.
