The incumbent committee was re-elected with the addition of Andrew Kelly and Peter Rutherford.

Inaugural members, Brian and John Seaman, were honoured with life membership of the organisation, which was formed almost 30 years ago.

THE acting mayor of Perthville, Terry Renshaw, assures me that his thermometer registered -10 degrees on Thursday, July 22.

Terry has spent most of his life close to the Vale Creek and he is an authority on a range of weather events.

Thank you Terry.

RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

LONG-TIME landholders agree that current conditions are similar to the flood years of the early 1950s that followed serious drought years when many farmers wondered if it would ever rain again.

We're seeing boggy cattle yards that tell us why there are concrete floors in lots of cattle yards in the tablelands.

Care will need to be taken of freshly shorn sheep as spring rains may be heavy in a La Nina-type season.

Most good quality sheep are worth $200-plus and quality replacements will be hard to source, so losses of dozens of shorn sheep would be heartbreaking.

Major storage dams are filling nicely with Burrendong at 71 per cent and Wyangala and Oberon dams looking like real dams should.

We know that severe droughts will return, but most know that only mugs make long-term weather forecasts.

Mother Nature has the final say every time.

COVID restrictions continue to cause the cancellation or postponement of a string of country events, but some attractions are still going ahead at this stage.

Millah Murrah Angus will conduct its 33rd Annual Bull Sale at 1pm on Thursday, September 2.

Karoo Angus will offer 75 bulls on-property at 1pm on Thursday, August 19.

Trunkey Creek Show is planned for Saturday, October 9, with stall bookings to Peggy O'Brien, 0447 491 958.

Perthville Village Fair is scheduled for Saturday, September 11, with stall bookings to perthvillefair2795@gmail.com. Inside stalls are $35 and outside $30.

Bathurst Merino Association will hold its Annual Ram Expo at the Showground on Saturday, August 14, and Australian Wool Innovation will conduct a shearer/wool handler school at The Lagoon from August 16 to 20 inclusive and there are no fees attached to the event.

THE current restrictions that apply to all of us can change quickly if virus cases are identified in our area and if lockdowns are called, we may see changes of format or cancellations of some planned events.

In the meantime, rural businesses will carry on, saleyards will have to operate with care (as always), and market gardeners and shearing staff will soldier on as they always have done.

Those with good memories of bad news can recall losses of 1500, 700 and 400 in stormy years on well-run properties within 20 minutes of Bathurst city during heavy rainfalls on freshly shorn sheep.

Shelter sheds and wooded paddocks can be invaluable when the risks are at their peak.

WE can't help but notice a little yellow delivery van that buzzes around the streets of Bathurst with Bedwells Feed Barn decals showing its pedigree.

Bedwells manager Kate Campbell has named it Chica Linda after a horse in a video series, Spirit, that her young granddaughter loves.

The cute little van is used to run messages and do small deliveries all around town. It is recognised as the Bedwells Chicken and it has Kate's fingerprints all over it.

A STOCK and station agent at Wagga assures us that last week's yarding of sheep and lambs was the largest winter yarding in memory.

There were 42,300 lambs and 11,500 sheep that met strong demand, with about 1000 new season suckers ranging from $198 to $248.

A top line of Merino lambs brought $258. Weighing 29kg carcase weight with a $30 skin, they averaged 783c weight.

In the mutton section, heavy crossbred ewes topped at $241 and woolly Merino wethers to $265.

A well-bred former tablelands flock of self-replacing merinos of about 6000 head were worth, say, $100,000 at the recovery from the OJD debacle.

That same flock today would require at least $1.2 million to replace if a similar flock could be found.

No wonder a few of the district's leading producers spent a lot of their own money to argue their case.

ADDED to the list of ultra-modern farm aids is the Mobilshear cordless foot paring secateur, powered by an 18-volt battery and said to operate for about 90 minutes per battery charge.

A spare battery and a charger would make this a handy unit in many farm vehicles.

These items aren't cheap at $990 up to $1650, but they may be worth every cent.

EVEN though local government elections are postponed until Saturday, December 4, we should take time to assess each candidate as we know them.

An old adage may apply: "If the kid's pony has bolted once, one day he will surely bolt again."

Please take time when assessing candidates.

NEIL Francis advises that the committee of the Burraga Ag Bureau has decided to reluctantly call off this year's Burraga Sheep Show because of COVID risk and restrictions.

The sheep show will return better than ever in 2022.

MOTHER Superior asked the year 11 girls what they wanted to be after they finished school.

"I want to be a prostitute," Tillie said.

Mother collapsed at the news and, when she recovered, she asked again.

"I want to be a prostitute," Tillie repeated.

"Thank the Lord," Mother Superior gasped. "I thought you said Protestant."

***

OLD mate rang the Kmart hotline at 6am and asked what time they opened.

He was told 8.30am and complained of the lateness.

"Why are you so keen to get in?" the person on the hotline asked.

"I've been waiting all damn night to get out!" our friend yelled.

***

"My wife told me to ask you for a pay rise," he said gently to the boss.

"Then I'll ask my wife if you can have one," the boss replied.