So have you figured out how much in $$ income lost the 5 days without power has cost in production cattle stress etc.?
Hardcore Biker
So have you figured out how much in $$ income lost the 5 days without power has cost in production cattle stress etc.?
Hardcore Biker
Your 'income' so to speak has always come from the capital gain (sale) of the farm. Capital gain comes from increased production over time. Yep you can live on the edge for a number of years but with the increase in BF the potential of your land to another becomes a valuable asset which they pay you well for.At that point you may well smile .Originally Posted by T.W.R
Profit per milking isn't substantial by any meansremember the milk going out the gate is the farms income so out of the income all the running costs of the farm are subtracted from that. A small family run farm still has to pay it's employees, run the farm vehicles, pay for the all the costs associated with each animal (food & health etc), maintain the farm and all other associated running costs plus keep themselves alive with all the daily living expenses; and like I said most are upto their eyeballs in debt so repaying the banks also has to be done.
Large dairy units are mostly always owned by syndicates & thus have managers, 2ICs, and workers to pay wages to, so when all the fish in the pond have had their nibble of what little profit there is the dregs aren't of much consequence.
A piece of equipment costing $80k or more sitting idle on the chance of a maybe happening isn't a viable option for the majority....remember items like tractors, farm bikes, utes, irrigators etc are all being used constantly on the farm not just sitting there looking pretty. And with most major agricultural work undertaken on a farm is done by contractors because it isn't viable for the farm to warrant having the equipment needed sitting idle a large proportion of the time.
How could neighbouring farms share the likes of a appropriately sized generator??? think if there's a incident like this recent big blow both farms will be without power so both will require power supply and a lot of dairy units down here have multiple milking sheds on each farm and multiple farms....they can't afford to have a lot of ample sized generators just sitting around on the chance of a maybe happening let alone start sharing with the neighbours....they aren't generators that can be thrown on the deck of the ute and run around easily
; it's logistically impossible.
Low personal B.M.E.P.
Just got power back after 6hrs short of a week without...Farmers with generators, right, the dairy farm down the end of our road apparently told the lines guys that he had a generator so repair was low priority....nothing about the 30 plus other households on that line...Bastard.
Neighbour across the road had a good size genny stolen last thursday night...more bastards.
selwyn council didn't advise that the local water scheme was out due to pumps not running - didn't catch us out but caught quite a few...but we knew the council were bastards anyway...
FUN LOVIN CRIMINAL
Explain to me how that has any effect on the daily life of a farm??? Long term maybe but definitely not in the short term. Definitely doesn't put food on the table each day nor pay for the daily running expenses of the farm
Every mechanical item on a farm decreases in value on a yearly basis, machinery & equipment wear out & have to be maintained, stock die & have to be replaced, wages increase, and the cost of cultivation work increases.
The value of the base asset is nothing if the farm is sold via mortgagee sale, farmers who sell-up & walk away with pockets bulging full of cash are few & far between. For most it's an ingrained lifestyle through generations, not a short term experiment; even general farm workers once in the game find it hard to leave and mostly just drift from job to job ending up at retirement with next to nothing to show for their years of grind. It's an existence way of life. Seeing farmers & farmers wives cruising around in the latest & greatest vehicle on the market is a hoax, maybe they'd own the tyres outright but the bank owns the rest, their playing a juggling game and if the crap really hits the fan they're well & truly in the shit.
FUN LOVIN CRIMINAL
try being in a community of 30 odd houses and having the township get power back within 24hrs and being told because the lines into the property are damaged that it isn't high priority and then having to wait 5days to be reconnected
The restoring of the grid was priority over individual properties
Forum whore
Like most ordinary businesses I guess. You don't make a fortune without something special and you are really working for the lifestyle and the prospect that when you want out you can sell it for a profit. Farming used to be a pretty good life when everything was subsidised and costs were far less than today, however it is now a modern business model that has to compete and survive with ever rising costs of compliance and consumables.Explain to me how that has any effect on the daily life of a farm??? Long term maybe but definitely not in the short term. Definitely doesn't put food on the table each day nor pay for the daily running expenses of the farm
Every mechanical item on a farm decreases in value on a yearly basis, machinery & equipment wear out & have to be maintained, stock die & have to be replaced, wages increase, and the cost of cultivation work increases.
The value of the base asset is nothing if the farm is sold via mortgagee sale, farmers who sell-up & walk away with pockets bulging full of cash are few & far between. For most it's an ingrained lifestyle through generations, not a short term experiment; even general farm workers once in the game find it hard to leave and mostly just drift from job to job ending up at retirement with next to nothing to show for their years of grind. It's an existence way of life. Seeing farmers & farmers wives cruising around in the latest & greatest vehicle on the market is a hoax, maybe they'd own the tyres outright but the bank owns the rest, their playing a juggling game and if the crap really hits the fan they're well & truly in the shit.
You don't get to be an old dog without learning a few tricks.
Shorai Powersports batteries are very trick!
Hardcore Biker
A farm is a business. When times are good, you invest in whats needed to give you elbow room when times are bad. Farmers are often in the habit of buying the latest car, build a new house, a new bach, boat, ect ect, not putting in protection against calamity first.
They can do this because they know that when something big comes along, drop in dollar,flood, windstorm, drought ect, they can bleat to the public, the media and the Govt, and EXPECT, the whole godamn world to jump in and help out.
No other business can do that. (unless they have political leverage)
You, the kind and generous reader, you gonna put your tax dollars in my pocket and not expect me to give it back later, just cause something is against me and my business needs help?
No godamn sympathy for the farmers here, if you are not making a good enough dollar, get out. If you are, bank against the worst BEFORE spending on anything not the welfare of the farm.
It should be mandatory to have resorces, a plan in place, and actionable, to match the stock numbers and need on a farm in order to preserve stock welfare above all other things. It should be possible to charge a farm owner with criminal negligence if a farm does not meet a minimum criteria of risk protection against flood, drought, power outage.
Just for those who want to get all hate filled over my point of view : things haven't been so flash for my business due to circumstances beyond my control, I can give YOU, my bank details so you can make a donation to help me out........... no?, oh I see, two sets of rules, huh!
Speed kills-just ask the rabbit......
NEDWN VIII
Farmers whinge at fucking everything, except for hen the arse falls out of the NZD and Fonterra pay-outs.
Hardcore Biker
The China fiasco certainly did not help Fontera.
I hear they cant sell it, with buyer resistance over there now.
Well that was managed well wasn't it.
Complacent and arrogant springs to mind.
FUN LOVIN CRIMINAL
did you actually read all of what you're quoting or just the 1st sentence
And guess what high intensity farming was brought about by city dwellers and their demand for product.
Personally I'd care less for farmers in general because I've seen all sides of the ledger and know exactly how the majority operate, general rule of thumb in the rural community is that farmers are the biggest debtors & least trusted financially
Half of them wouldn't know what a contingency plan was let alone be able to spell it. Keeping up appearances with the neighbours & mates from federated farmers or the local young farmers or CWI are all important no matter what the cost or what's neglectedA farm is a business. When times are good, you invest in whats needed to give you elbow room when times are bad. Farmers are often in the habit of buying the latest car, build a new house, a new bach, boat, ect ect, not putting in protection against calamity first.
They can do this because they know that when something big comes along, drop in dollar,flood, windstorm, drought ect, they can bleat to the public, the media and the Govt, and EXPECT, the whole godamn world to jump in and help out.
No other business can do that. (unless they have political leverage)
You, the kind and generous reader, you gonna put your tax dollars in my pocket and not expect me to give it back later, just cause something is against me and my business needs help?
No godamn sympathy for the farmers here, if you are not making a good enough dollar, get out. If you are, bank against the worst BEFORE spending on anything not the welfare of the farm.
It should be mandatory to have resorces, a plan in place, and actionable, to match the stock numbers and need on a farm in order to preserve stock welfare above all other things. It should be possible to charge a farm owner with criminal negligence if a farm does not meet a minimum criteria of risk protection against flood, drought, power outage.
Just for those who want to get all hate filled over my point of view : things haven't been so flash for my business due to circumstances beyond my control, I can give YOU, my bank details so you can make a donation to help me out........... no?, oh I see, two sets of rules, huh!
Do you realise or know who actually started Fonterra and who really controls it? personally I was totally amused at the whole event and loved seeing it happen to a bunch of leeches, though there'd be more involved in the whole event than what was exposed to the public eye both on the company front and most likely on a bureaucratic level as well.
Years ago I posted a reply to another farming thread with a wee insight to Fonterra and having actually known the founder and having to have dealt with the prick directly I'd love to see the outfit collapse; only problem is now it's such a giant the damage would be devastating.
Hardcore Biker
Quote
"
Years ago I posted a reply to another farming thread with a wee insight to Fonterra and having actually known the founder and having to have dealt with the prick directly I'd love to see the outfit collapse; only problem is now it's such a giant the damage would be devastating.[/QUOTE]"
Im sorry. I thought Fontera was totally farmer based with shareholders being farmers making decisions for farmers. Closed shop so to speak.
I'ma get medieval on your ass!
Risk management: we all do this every day. Insuring the house, bottles of water set aside, cans of food, torch and transistor radio - just for emergencies.
Risks come in a hierarchy of likelihood, some having a fair chance of happening - like rain when you are going to the footy, so you keep an old coat in the car. Other risks are far away down the track and so unlikely or devastating that you cannot plan for them.
For example, earthquakes are on everybodys minds (plus floods, storms and fire) but nobody insists you must own a portacabin as risk management. Why not?
NZ is an advanced developed nation with extensive electricity networks. We rarely experience power outages anywhere in the country for more than a few hours. Even when I was a boy on the farm in the late 1960s we had electricity drops twice a year at the most.
Very few businesses in NZ buy and store generators on the off-chance electricity will be cut off for more than a day. Do you know of any factories with MW generators? Why don't they? Consider how much production is lost if a factory closes for 3 days.
Try Hard Wanna Be
I know of multiple Dairy installations that run a back up genset for unscheduled outages. Some get by with a bit of simple down scaling and diversifying their loading to enable a smaller unit to be effective.
The scary bit is that there are hillbilly muppets out there who could kill some poor bastard who is out on the lines trying to restore said muppets supply. Ass bandits will install generators in such a way (Male/ male cord) and backfeed via a conventional plug or through I higher fused circuit like an oven. What people don't realise is that a transformer will work just as well in reverse as a step up transformer and will potentially back liven the high voltage system. It is a real concern within the industry and its a numbers game... The more generators out there... the higher the likely hood.
Adding to this, the amount of shit the line mechanics put up with from joe public being upset as they have no sky tv or fucken wifi because their power is out, is just plain ridiculous. Mother nature is a mean ol slapper sometimes and these events are beyond everyones control. FFS - light a candle!
Come warm yourself by the fire
Yep - pity the cow cockeys didn't catch up with power like industry did over the last 100 years.A modern dairy farm is a fair bit more advanced than the antiquated hic outfits of the 60s matey.
A computer controlled rotary shed can't have a power supply that surges all the time
They got new toys but didn't get told they need to look after the power.
I made a pretty penny one year selling power quality analysers. Cow cockeys didn't think it was a problem droping a dozen 2 MVA water pump drives every day.
Farmers need to learn how to do things ol' school and stop being so lazy. Rather than buy new toys then complain they don't know how to use them.
Reactor Online. Sensors Online. Weapons Online. All Systems Nominal.
FUN LOVIN CRIMINAL
Well you pretty much sounded like you were quoting your typical big corporate business, though that's what it is all because of the biggest prick south of the Rakaia
Just for laughs I know another who always wanted a Harley coz he liked the look & the sound
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