Tuesday 10 June 2014

Where does the time go.

Harvest time is almost here , actually three days time, where does the time go it is June already. My time has been consumed with preparing machinery for the harvest, and some farming in between, we have planted our 2014 plant crop and it is progressing nicely, we have not touched it since planting almost a month ago. Funny what I thought a farmer was when I was a kid, I thought that you only had to work hard and try not to break stuff and if you did you would have to fix it. However now being a farmer means being able to be so many things, for example, I have to be able to understand how the Ice#11 translates back into a dollar per hectare return, and try to understand how much the Aussie currency exchange with the U.S dollar will effect my return for the year.Then there is the whole public perception of what or how a sugar cane farmer grows there crop and are they doing it in a environmentally friendly way, as to not have any adverse effects on the Great Barrier Reef. If you would have asked me when I was a boy following my Dad around helping him with his work if I would one day be doing a television interview with Japanese National television who are filming a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef. Explaining to them how we have changed our farming practices and the benefits that it has for water quality and the surrounding environment, I don't reckon 8 year old me would have even known where Japan was. You see the world is watching and in this 21st century we are all connected it is truly a global world that we live in, and we all have a responsibility to look after the world we live in not only people that live on the land. I reckon 8 year old Bryan's definition of farming is much less complicated. I have posted a photo of the emerging min till cane planted into existing beds, and a pic of me talking with Japanese tv.