Each of these men has been a willing worker for our city, not only as councillors for some 16 years, but as ready helpers when community needs occur.

Both men are in daily touch with large cross-sections of our ratepayers and this puts them in a prime position to represent them on council.

I note that mayor Bourke proudly wears his Living Legend of Bathurst badge on his lapel every day.

A tribute to former mayor Graeme Hanger for a job well done as he carried out the mayoral job on behalf of us all.

Thank you Graeme.

WHILE on the subject of council, there is an opportunity provided by Bathurst Regional Council to dispose of household chemical leftovers on Friday, October 25 at the Cooke Hockey Complex on Sydney Road from 8am-4pm.

This is for household waste only. Details are available from www.epa.nsw.gov.au

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PLEASE circle Friday, October 18 on your livestock calendar as it marks the annual Blink Bonnie Merino Ram Sale on-property at 976 Sodwalls Road, Tarana.

Peter and Kay Moore will offer 50 fine/medium hogget rams rich in Roseville Park blood and renowned heavy wool cutters.

Contacts: Peter Moore, 0419 011 398, Brian Martin, 0428 637 921, Andrew Bickford, 0427 943 781.

MITCH Dwyer, an agronomist with Elders Cowra, and the Elders agronomy team in the Central West will host a National Variety Trial field walk and informal discussion on Tuesday, October 1 at their Hobbys Yards trial site.

The site is approximately four kilometres north of Hobbys Yards towards Newbridge on Three Brothers Road.

Details from Elders Cowra on 6349 8300.

Interested producers and school ag classes are very welcome.

A SMALL follow-up rainfall across our district added five to 10 millimetres to the 30mm of the previous week and a lot of very short green has appeared where dusty brown was the common colour.

Of course, we must hope for a lot of wet days during October/November and forecasts are not bright, but the croppers who spread tonnes of urea last Friday and Saturday have shown us how to be positive and hopeful (even if they needed another 20mm).

Barley, oats and lucerne stands have all responded well to the rain and the next climate change will be well-received.

A COLLEAGUE tells me of a large-scale beef producer who has installed almost 90 kilometres of boundary exclusion on properties north of Warren.

The exclusion targets the many thousands of roos and other pest animals that will swarm onto every blade of grass that grows when Mother Nature finally provides general rain onto bare paddocks.

Exclusion fences have become popular as landholders fence out wild dogs from sheep, goat and alpaca flocks and very good results are being reported across many districts.

The cost of supply and erecting these types of fences is really significant but they have allowed flocks to thrive and survive when free from the menace of marauding dogs.

TO hand this week is a copy of Bill Walker's Classings And Cullings newsletter from his Murray Bridge wool testing laboratory.

The letter is dedicated to the late scientist Jim Watts, whose merino breeding strategies gave us highly fertile animals, with huge staple lengths and great productivity.

He credits Jim with showing us how to breed wrinkle-free sheep that can be run unmulesed if legislation changes in the future.

He says that since mulesing is now banned in New Zealand, fines of $10,000 can be incurred.

Bill also finds fault with the type of sheep that still win show ribbons and says that asking school students to hold them is a new form of child abuse.

If you're open minded and also have a sense of humour, this newsletter can be downloaded from Classings Murray Bridge and following the links.

AFTER a month of falling prices, the wool market had another strong week as all micron categories enjoyed good gains.

The superfine and fine merinos gained around 50c/kg and the medium to broader merinos gained around 30 to 40c/kg.

Crossbred wool gained around 30c/kg and the Northern Market Indicator finished the week on 1570c/kg, up 36c/kg,

The market sentiment seems to have changed to the positive with talk coming out of China that mills are prepared to buy wool at around these levels.

If competition becomes strong then we could see the market continue to move in a positive direction.

Next week will see 29,290 bales on offer nationwide.

GEORGE was missing and family members were distraught.

After four days of searching, the police sergeant rang George's wife and suggested that she prepare for the worst.

She hurried to Vinnies and brought all his clothes home.

***

SHE fitted a new SIM card to her smartphone and her first call was to hubby.

"Hi, sexy, what are you doing tonight?" she asked.

"I can't talk now, honey," he whispered, "the missus is in the next room."