November Farm news

It can be hard to put a smile on the face of a dairy farmer. There is usually something to be unhappy about (and quite rightly too, particularly with the parlous state of the dairy industry at the moment) but even the local dairy farmers are smiling. We have grass everywhere! It has been a great spring for us with plenty of rain and some good growing conditions. We baled our first round of silage (like hay, but baled green and then wrapped to exclude air so it pickles but doesn’t rot) this week and Sophie had to be called into action to cart in the bales. She had to drive the cattle truck (to cart the hay) for the first time and did such a great job, I suggested she could get a truck licence and deliver the cattle to the abattoir from now on. Her answer indicated that she would not be taking on that job any time soon. We were visited this week by a huge flock of birds that I had never seen before. I did some investigation and worked out that they were White Browed Woodswallows. Normally they are found throughout Central New South Wales but due to the ongoing drought conditions they have come much further south than normal. It was a stark reminder of the terrible conditions that many farmers are facing to the north of us, let's hope they get some much needed rain very soon.