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1 FARMGATE NEWS Written & Published By MAY-JUNE 2014 A BI-MONTHLY NEWSLETTER TO INFORM AND ENTERTAIN YOU FREE Money-Making Info For Switched-On Grain Farmers P6 Beat the Steel Price Rise. Order by Friday 13th June to Save! 50 HECTARES SOWN IN ONE HOUR! Find Out How P4-5 Strategic Farm BUSINESS PLANNING P7 Farm Visits P3 DISCOVER A Most-Versatile Tool The Pleasures Of A HOUSEBOAT HOLIDAY P8 P2 Prize Draw WINNER P3 FARM GATE NEWS The Farmer s Newsletter PHONE info@grtsheds.com.au GRANT SHEDS PO Box 29, Monash, SA 5342 FAX WEB

2 What Makes Country Life So Good?... FAMILY & COMMUNITY See You At The Field Days Eyre Peninsula Field Days at Cleve, SA 12th -14th August Tues-Thurs Riverld Field Days at Barmera, SA 19th - 20th Sept Fri-Sat Family Celebrations - Birthdays Family is importt to us so we try to always have a family meal together on y family member s birthday. All of the littlies join the birthday person d help blow out the cdles. This way, they all join in the excitement. If you d like some help with your shed plning we are happy to assist. Or just call in for a chat. We d love to see you. Ali s birthday in March. Easter Brenton s birthday on Anzac Day. You ll often talk with Brenton when you phone our office. The weekend before Easter we had a family lunch. We did it the week before Easter because we were heading off on a house boat with friends for the Easter break. It also leaves our adult children free to do their own thing or visit the partner s families on the Easter weekend. Every year we have the much ticipated Easter egg hunt. Beforehd, the kids play together, make Easter Bunny nest, d use chalk to draw on our concrete verdahs d carport floor. It keeps them amused until Easter Bunny arrives d spreads the easter eggs throughout the garden. May is birthday time for our son in law, Matt d for Dny. Delightful squeals followed as the kids raced ahead of each other to collect as my eggs as possible in their little Easter baskets, d later pool them to make sure they each get equal qutity each. Riley, Ayden & Kallie at our Easter lunch. Our family easter lunch. Held outside where we could watch d be involved with the kids playing. We love watching these little cousins enjoying each others compy d seeing them have such enjoyment from simple, outdoors fun d games. Turn off those electronic gadgets d the TV d turn em outside for some good, old fashioned, run-around FUN! Enjoy the stories in this edition of FARM GATE NEWS. It s a beauty! Ali & Dny Halupka Owners, Grt Sheds Easter On The Murray Dny enjoying the captis chair. Having enjoyed a house-boating weekend at Easter last year, our interstate friends were keen to do it again this year. We enjoyed a wonderful 7 days on the River Murray with a lovely houseboat from RiverFun Houseboats at Renmark d headed upstream. If you ve never done this yourself before, we highly recommend that you put it on your holiday list. The river is just so beautiful d so serene. It is unbelievably relaxing. A great way to wind down. And there s plenty of activities if you wt them including coeing, water skiing, bush walking, fishing etc. We had to laugh though as our city friends were surprised to find there were areas where we had no TV or internet reception. Turn it all off I say, but then I m not much of a TV watcher yway (Ali). But we all had a laugh as one of our friends scaled the cliffs, laptop in a bag on his back, to get internet access so he could make some internet bking payments. If you ever wt some advice on hiring a River Murray houseboat, sing out d we ll be happy to share some suggestions with you. P2

3 You Little Ripper... Grt Sheds Local Aussie Legends WINNER of the Grt Sheds Chce To Win $50,000 Prize Draw Greg Klopp from Maitld SA was the lucky person drawn for the Chce To Win $50,000 Prize Draw in April. Greg was unable to attend the final draw because he was fulfilling his promise to attend the live show, Mrs Brown s Boys, in Adelaide on the day of the final draw. So instead, Greg selected envelope number d our independent competition scrutineer from Sydney, oversaw the prize draw. Unfortunately Greg didn t win the $50,000 Big Prize (which would have paid for his new carav) but he did win a $1000 consolation prize which certainly should have given them a good time at their show in Adelaide. Congratulations Greg. Even a $1000 Cash Prize is a nice surprise when all of us think I never win ything! FREE BEER For Builders Thk you to the following wonderful people who sent us details of local shed builders that we requested in the last issue. Justin Modra, Ungarra SA Renee Fulwwod, Tintinara SA Ben Schutz, Eudunda SA Fraser & Kristen McEvoy, Warooka SA Trevor Colliver, Cleve SA Shawn Klose, Cambrai SA Peter Wallis, Pinnaroo SA These 8 people, received cartons of beer for the 11 shed builders that they referred to us. Now we ll set to work contacting them all to line up more, exceptional d dedicated shed builders to join our team. We know that these referred builders will be of much higher calibre th if we d found them via advertisements in newspapers or through employment agencies. People generally only refer people that they believe are good. We hold very high stdards for our builders, in quality of workmship d also in being well orgised, d sticking to their schedules. We do not allow them to slip other work in between scheduled jobs. We also require them to be neat, friendly d helpful. So when you have a shed built by a Grt Sheds builder, you c rest assured your shed will be well built d, importtly, you ll have no hassles. Beat the Steel Price Rise. Order by Friday 13th June to Save! Builder Steve has worked with us for around 25 years! Here s the equipment he brings with him to build sheds quickly d safely. Cre truck, Scissor-lift, Bobcat d Hydraplat, plus of course all his power tools d staff. MARK & JULIE BIGG - Balaklava We ve just completed their new shed. Here it was still under construction. It may be a bit hard to see here, but there is a partition wall in the shed (yet to be clad). To the right of the partition wall is the Machinery Shed area, open on the front, with 2x9m bays. To the left of the partition wall is Mark s Chemical Shed area. The 4.5m enclosed bay on the left will be where chemicals are stored d the 9m bay to the right of that will be a drive- through bay for his spray unit. While not yet installed in the photo below, the drive-through bay has sliding doors each side so it s fully lockable d secure. Chemical Shed end Partition Wall Phil Arbon s new 10m x 18m x 5.1m drive-through shed with pit for vehicle servicing. PHIL ARBON - Balaklava Though he may not even know it, we called into Phil s farm late in the arvo after seeing the Bigg s. Phil & Trish weren t home so we took a few photos of their new Grt shed d left again. Phil & Sdy Kernich at Yamba, d their daughter Chelsea (in the seat of the bulldozer). That s Phil on our front cover this month d we ll have a story on them in our next edition. Machinery Shed end Chris Bigg, also at Balaklava, to discuss his new shed. Chris d Mark are brothers. Mark Bigg s new 18m x 31m x 6m Machinery & Chemical Storage Shed made with super-strong UB columns d webbed roof trusses. P3

4 NSW Rice Growers Explain The MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT T John Pocklington, Dny Halupka, Grt Sheds owner, d Peter Pocklington view the rice block back in November A poramic view of part of the area sown to rice. Elsie Pocklington d her two sons, John & Peter, are rice d wheat growers from Bunnaloo in NSW, between Echuca d Deniliquin. Between them they farm over 5000 acres d include sheep d cattle in their farming mix, along with wheat d rice. Elsie was born in Drouin, east of Melbourne, to a father with itchy feet so they moved around a bit. It wasn t until Elsie was married that she settled in one place. This was on her current ld almost 60 years ago, which her husbd Eric had already just purchased. Son Peter now lives on the original Pocklington piece of ld from 1900, which was John & Peter s great grdfather s original selection. Peter s children are fifth generation. That s on the Pocklington side of the family d on their grdmother s side the family goes back other two generations in the district to the 1860 s. Today, they have approximately 50 hectares of rice growing. They have water to grow a lot more rice but they c t physically grow it because of restrictions in soil use. People c t just plt rice wherever they like. It is the most controlled crop growing in Australia (apart from Opium). Farmers are controlled on how much water they c use, what soil types they c grow it on d rice is the only irrigated industry where they are routinely monitored for chemicals exiting the farm via water. Soil tests have to be done where rice is to be plted. They have to be bored to 20 feet, or now they c do what is called EM34 survey which electronically checks the soil. They just drive over the area with some electronic gear d that charts the soil types, says John. The soil has to come up to a certain spec where it doesn t allow the water to go through. The permeability has got to be below a certain figure. The water is on the soil for 5 months, up to 200 mm s deep, d the amount of water lost into the soil over that period would be only.1 or.2 of a megalitre per hectare. There s very little water going into the soil. The rice season starts around the beginning of October d most growers try to have their crop in before November. The water is on the soil from sowing time d is switched off in March, with the crop ready to harvest in April. The sowing is not done like a conventional grain crop would be sown. Almost unbelievably, it is done by air! 50 hectares of rice c be sown by air in less th hour! The ple is loaded with a tonne of seed d is sown at around 150kgs per hectare, covering about 6 ½ -7 hectares per ple load. The seed is pre-germinated by soaking it in a tk filled with water for 24 hours, then drained d sown within hours, when it is already starting to germinate. It has a tiny little bud on it d has a head start before it even hits the cold water in the paddy. Spraying is even quicker th sowing because they don t have to refill, they just do a whole block in one tk. Rice is a very reliable crop, explains Peter, Apart from the duck problems we ve had in the past 2 years, where massive numbers of ducks ate our growing crop, we ve only ever had one other failure since when the crop was so heavy it fell down. With the machinery back then, we couldn t get it off the ground. The Pocklington s have increased their nual harvest from average of 2.5 tonnes per acre up to about 4.5 tonnes per acre in that period. There is much misconception of the rice industry in South Australia. The Pocklington s argue it should be one of the main irrigation crops because it s opportunity crop. When water is available they grow it d when it s not available, d the environment needs it, they don t. Just about every other crop has to take the water or the crop dies. Another interesting fact that John adds: During the drought, when there was no water allocation, the rice that was grown was used to keep our premium export markets d quartine area supplied. The rice grown here is superior to most rices in the world. It s got a better shelf life d restaurts c keep P4

5 HEIR INDUSTRY The Polkington s from Bunnaloo, NSW, tell their fascinating story about rice growing in Australia plus their experience with direct drilling vs conventional for wheat crops. it for longer after it has been cooked, whereas the imported rice must be served or thrown out within 30 minutes of it being cooked. Rice harvesting is done with a conventional grain header once the rice block has dried out, but for harvesting rice the header is fitted with a peg drum rather th the stdard brass bar drums. And Peter adds, If they have rotary headers, they ve got rotors d quite often stainless steel enhcement because rice is very abrasive. Where you might get hours out of a cereal only machine it is likely to be less th half this for a machine that harvests rice. So don t buy rice headers second hd, warns Peter, The sheet metal through them is worn out. The rice gets delivered off farm with the husk still on it. The growers are paid on milled grain content. The buyers like it to be harvested at 18-20% moisture content. If it goes under 18% the mill out rate falls off d then you get more brokens, then they have to store it d in storage they take it down to around 16% d when they mill it they take the moisture up to 18% again. It gets stored in aerated sheds rather th ordinary silos so they c control the moisture. The Pocklington s also grow wheat but c be affected by the rainfall for the district. Their average yield is ½ tonne to the acre, or 2 tonnes to the hectare. If they get 10 at the right time of the year they c have a really bonza year. The Pocklington s have been direct drilling for about ten years d they claim it s starting to show. It s got a lot of faults, Peter claims from his experience. We re having a lot of disease problems - crown rot s a big one this year. Some of the bigger players in the area are looking at more conventional ways burning the stubble d long fallowing. It s great for the chemical compies but we re not getting a good enough season to make these chemicals work the way they re supposed to work. When you get a chemical breakdown, your paddock s no good to you. We re doing all sorts of things to stop the growing bridges or the residues, Peter adds. And we don t get a reliable enough season to take opportunity of rotational crops. Everyone spruiks cola but I work on the theory that if you c t have it germinate d out of the ground by the end of April it s not worth doing. Instead, John tells us, We ve been sticking pretty hard with cereals d just spreading the rotation. And that s one of the problems where the Greens have nailed us yet again. We operate on long rotation. When we walk out of a paddock it will be out of crop for 3-14 years. The NSW government introduced that if a paddock hadn t been cropped for 10 years you couldn t crop it again it became a native pasture. That s according to the Vegetation Act, adds Peter. Because we were nursing our country the native grasses always came back. We figured our regime was friendly yet the law said it wasn t, so we got hammered with that. The Pocklington s 1984 Grt Sheds Machinery Shed. 40 x 75 x 12 was big enough then, but too small now for their header. 5 Super-Strong GRANT Farm Sheds Of course, we are talking with Elsie, Peter d John because they are part of our Grt Sheds family. Here are the Grt farm sheds they have purchased over a 47 year period x 30 x 12 Mouseproof Barn x 60 x 12 Workshop & Machinery Shed x 75 x 12 Machinery Shed x 60 x 12 Shearing Shed x 90 x 17 Machinery Shed (12m x 27 x 5.1m) Apart from the 1st, they have built them all themselves. Here are their swers to why they keep buying Grt sheds: You re more th competitive. Your sheds have stood by us in the past d I had a look at the shed specs (with this newest one) d you over-specified compared with your competition. For example, the columns in your shed are 20mm bigger compared with a similar size shed from others we contacted. John Pocklington We ve always had good results with the sheds you ve supplied. Elsie Pocklington The steel materials used in Grt Sheds are much more robust d stronger th what John saw with other brds. And of course, Grt Sheds has exceptional Year Guartee! P5

6 Grain Farmers... INCREASE YOUR PROFITS WITH ON-FARM GRAIN STORAGE On-farm Grain Storage Sheds Allow FAST storage of grain at harvest time. This reduces stress & allows savvy Grain Farmers to increase their Grain Profit by selling when Grain Prices are best. Get Your FREE Info Pack To Learn How Smart Grain Growers MAKE MORE MONEY Having on-farm grain storage sheds takes the problem out of maging the delivery of grain at harvest time. It helps increase your income because you have marketing flexibility d it reduces harvest time stress d wasted time travelling to d waiting at silos. Andrew Cass, Loxton SA Annette & Andrew Cass have 3 Grt Sheds Bulk Grain Sheds on their Loxton property that hold 6000 tonnes of grain. And with their smart farm business practice of cycling grain through their sheds during harvest, it c equate to 12,000-15,000 tonnes or more of on-farm storage. Kier Hayter of Linga, near Underbool, Vic, owns a 12m x 36m x 5.1m Grain shed that holds up to 1250 tonnes of wheat. I c pick up $30-$40 per tonne with grain stored in it. Multiply that by 1000 tonnes d it s extra $30,000 pocketed. We re committed to holding grain over for 3-6 months after harvest because we always gain price increases. With a Grain Shed we ve actually gained quite a bit of money by holding over the grain when prices are low. It adds up pretty quick. Michael & Dine Anderson, Karoonda, SA Get Your FREE Bulk Grain Shed Info Pack Money-Making Stories From Switched-On Grain Farmers Valued at $47 FREE! Start your plning early if you wt to build a Bulk Grain Shed for next harvest. You really need to be making your profit-making decision now. So don t wait. Get the FREE Information Package d get your ball rolling now. Phone Brenton on Freecall Or brenton@grtsheds.com.au And ask for the Grain Sheds Info Pack P6P6

7 Discover The Benefits Of STRATEGIC PLANNING Steel Prices To Soar BEAT THE PRICE RISE AND SAVE * Steel prices are set to increase. Order Your New Shed Before June 13 to SAVE! Be Quick Our Building Schedules Fill FAST! Our building schedules are filled on a 1st in-1st served basis so don t wait until the last minute to place your order. Do it now to beat the rush. Order your new shed d pay your deposit by Friday 13th of June to save money. We ll assist you with your plning, council approvals d building. But you ll need to hurry! June 13th will be here before you know it! Freecall A wise m once told me that timing of a decision is not just something, it is everything, so getting things done on time is just other part of magement that the top 20% of farmers get right. Completing things on time is usually outcome of the quality of preparation d plning that go into a decision beforehd d is all within our control. In my early farm magement days I had it drummed into me that a week of delay from the optimum sowing date met a decline in yield of up to 250 kg/hectare from the potential yield. This met little to me until I came to understd the French Schultz model of potential yield which linked yield potential to growing season rainfall. What this highlighted to me was that my of the best operators only averaged between 60-70% of their potential d only on exceptional seasons did it ever go close to reaching the potential. By understding all the factors that go towards reaching potential it became clear to me that this was a good tool for alysing d diagnosing the areas of your magement that needed more attention. Getting your crop in on time is a pivotal factor behind yield potential d it is no surprise that croppers have a steely focus when it comes to pulling the trigger on seeding. With such a focus my other things in the business c be put out of their minds, d when seeding finishes a mountain of other jobs await their attention. One area that should have taken priority before seeding was the taxation review d if this has not been done I suggest this to be the first job on the list when you pull the tractor out of the last paddock. With post emergent weeds about to rear their ugly heads d much time required on the boom spray you cnot expect the accountt to drop everything to see you a day or two before the end of *Conditions Apply GET YOUR TAX PLANNING DONE EARLY the fincial year. Note: This is also importt for grape growers d all other farmers-talk to your accountt before the end of the fincial year. It is not just the time taken in the appointment but there may be follow up work to be done as well before the June 30 deadline. Meeting with your accountt is no longer just about minimising your tax. It also involves decisions on supernuation, business structure magement d strategic investment. There is nothing like a tight deadline to result in a poor decisions. Rushing a decision is not a good practice. When I visit my accountt I spend the weeks prior making a list of questions that I wt to ask. I type them up d leave a couple of lines of space under each question which allows me to write the swers or make additional notes. At the start of the appointment I give my accountt a copy of the questions so he has a clear idea of what I am seeking from him. By doing this, not only do I have a good reference document, I don t have to remember all the detail d at the same time I am more confident that I getting good value for my money from my accountt s fees. Earning money is hard enough, let alone paying more tax th you should due to your inability to get the job done on time. If bookwork is not to your liking, then I suggest you discipline yourself hard to get good systems in place to reduce the perceived pain that you experience, d maybe things will get done on time. Who knows, it may eventually become enjoyable. Printed with approval of Ken Solly & Stock Journal newspaper Where s That Bloody Invoice...?! Do you experience overwhelm, frustration d despair whenever you have to do your paperwork or whenever you go into your office? Are you in a constt state of xiety because you c t find ything in your messy office? Well... Understd it s not your fault d you are not alone. From my experience with farmers over about 33 years, most farmers are a mess when it comes to their paperwork. There is mail to open, wages to pay, bills to sort out, bk statements d credit cards to orgise, BAS statements to complete, invoices to file, spray diaries to complete...the list just goes on d on... Where are you supposed to find the time to sort it all out when you haven t even got time to get through all your farming work d family commitments? It s exhausting d you ve learnt to HATE PAPERWORK! Am I right? For the easy solution to Farm Office Bill Filing, see this month s flyer included with this newsletter. The Farm Office Bill Filing Solution mentioned above is a good start d the beginning of the new fincial year is a great time to get started. Ken Solly runs his own Agribusiness Consulting at Naracoorte in SA. He runs Lifetime Ewe Magement d Best Wool Best Lamb groups across the South East of SA d Western Victoria. He delivers training workshops in farm magement d sheep production d is a conference speaker. Ken writes the feature article Mind your Business for the Stock Journal newspaper d contributes to a wide rge of other magazines. Coaching d mentoring young people in Agribusiness, in particular kensolly@rbm.com.au or P7 P7

8 GRANT SHEDS For Mother s Day Grdma s Apron I don t think our kids know what apron is. The principle use of grdma s apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was easier to wash aprons d they used less material. But along with that they served as a pot holder to remove hot ps from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children s tears d on occasion was used for cleing out children s dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks d sometimes halfhatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When compy came, those aprons were ideal for hiding places for shy kids d when the weather was cold, Grdma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped away my a perspiring brow bent over the hot wood stove. Chips d kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. And when the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the autumn the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected compy drove up the road, it was amazing how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grdma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron d the men knew it was time to come in from the fields for dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that old time apron that served so my purposes. Send this to those who would know d love the story about Grdma s aprons. It c be a good history lesson for those who have no idea how the apron played such importt part in our lives. Remember Grdma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her grddaughter s set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now, trying to figure out how my germs were on that apron. I don t think I ever caught ything from that apron... but LOVE! Thks Gr xoxo MONTHLY HUMOUR VER-WORKED, FOR ALL THE O S OUT THERE! TIRED MOTHER one but a wom s job, Housework was m work to fro e m ho arrived of evening, Jice ad lo bathed, one in the find the children r he ot d sher the d laundry in the wa e, s on the stov dryer. Dinner wa! ed sh ni s asto table set. She wa article that Dave had read d to do their It turns out that ha d e work full-tim sex. said, Wives who re too tired to have we k or ew own hous xt day, Jice very well. The ne The night went d a great ha e W all about it. told her friends chen. He cleed up the kit dinner. Dave even eir homework, folded all th joyed the helped the kids do it away. I really en t pu d ry nd the lau evening. her friends. terwards? asked But what about af s too tired. Oh, that? Dave wa 1970s Doris Telfer (nee Lawton) Alison s Grdmother d Grt Telfer s Mum. A hard-working country lady. Wife d partner on a Monash fruit block. Mother of 3 children, grdmother of 10. President of Monash CWA for my years. School Welfare Club, Librari at once per week Monash Library. Orgiser of Monash Hdicraft group. Tower of strength mother. Sensational grdmother. Anyone who has a lady like this in their life should be eternally grateful. Note the apron-this is why Ali loves this Grdma s Apron description so much. With Mother s Day in May we thought these would get a laugh Happy Mother s Day WIVES What s the difference between a wife d a terrorist? You c negotiate with a terrorist. My wife says I never listen to her. At least I think that s what she said. SIGN AT A GYNAECOLOG IST S OF E Dr Jones...At Your CervFIC ix BLONDE FINANCE From Poc klingtons A blonde wom was sol d double glazing, d the salesm said, You ve made a wise de cision. It ll pay for itself within 12 mo nths. The glass compy didn t get paid, d couldn t underst d why. When they chased her for the money, the wom said, You said it would pay for itself in 12 months! To Succeed IN LIFE, YOU NEED THREE THINGS A wishbone, A backbone, d a funnybone GRANT SHEDS PO Box 29, Monash SA info@grtsheds.com.au Copyright New Horizons (SA) Pty Ltd, Trading as Grt Sheds No portion of this newsletter may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. This newsletter is distributed with the understding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering y legal or professional advice of y kind. The publisher disclaims y personal liability for the information, advice, recommendations d/or strategies presented within. It is up to the reader to comply with y local, state or federal laws. PHONE info@grtsheds.com.au GRANT SHEDS SA 5342 FAX Grt ShedsPO Box PO 29, BoxMonash, 29 Monash SA 5342 Fax: WEB 5402www.grtsheds.com.au web: