A daughter stud, Gamadale at Lascelles, Victoria, had a great sale of 122 rams that averaged $13,900 for 12 studs and $4467 for 110 flock rams.

"I think people are tired of the shearing side of sheep and the problems with flies, lice, crutching and finding shearers," the stud master said. "These rams are fast growing and tick the box for those want to make meat fast."

THE comment is often made that: "I'm over the wool industry. There have been too many ups and downs and costs just keep rising."

There are plenty of farmers who agree with this statement, but there's also a large band of producers who are making very serious profits from the sheep and wool industry and who love their job every day.

Results of stud ram sales tell a story of extremely strong buyer demand with most studs reporting total clearances and highest ever averages.

Similar results are coming from stud cattle sales and terminal ram sales that all point to strong viability for primary production.

RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

LAST week's announcement of the financial problems of the Chinese property developer Evergrande has sent shivers down the spines of investors in many countries, including Australia.

Evergrande appears to have fallen short of servicing debts that have accrued with the management of $400 billion worth of real estate investment funds.

The general slowdown of steep manufacture in China has caused our raw iron ore sale price to fall from a $210 peak to around $100 per tonne at present.

Real estate markets in our country may feel the chill of Evergrande if the situation in China worsens in coming weeks.

MANUFACTURERS of the famous Jaguar motor cars have announced that every Jaguar vehicle produced after 2025 will be powered by electricity.

Mercedes Benz and BMW companies are also aiming to end producing fossil-fuelled vehicles in the short to medium term.

World leaders appear to be close to agreeing on policies of planning for zero carbon emissions by 2050 and political nous might tell us that our government must be willing to negotiate or be left alone.

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is showing concern for the workforce in the coal mining and agriculture sectors who would be seriously affected by carbon reduction policies.

Every primary producer will be involved in the changes, but we are all thinking of the future world for our descendants.

MELBOURNE Demons recorded a great AFL grand final victory last weekend and I loved the story of a dairy farmer fan who painted two Friesian cows in the club colours.

He sprayed their names on the cows' sides - Dee and Mon. That's what real footy fans do at finals time.

We may see a few red and green ewes around Turondale and they may have BORRY painted on them for the NRL grand final.

WHILE we should thank all of our councillors for the many hours that they spend on our behalf on council matters in their own local government areas, it's also an opportune time to look at their achievements.

Popular Bathurst Regional councillor Alex Christian has posted a long list of the issues that he has been committed to during his council term and this seems like a great project for each of the incumbent councillors.

Community members who stand for their local council probably have a common aim: to make things better for the people who are going through life with them.

Bathurst Council is a big business with many employees and a duty to work for the common good.

WITH an offering of 34,027 bales in week 12 of the new season selling series, we saw the EMI lift by 1.18 per cent or 16ac/kg.

Basically, the EMI was firm in USD terms.

Europe is still the star so far this season. Demand for wool into this European sector remains strong after last year's doldrums.

The wool types that they are chasing are the sub 20 micron, better style types with lower vegetable matter (VM), although they are buying some lots up to two per cent easily clearable VM.

Sub 15 micron types are also in very good demand for these markets.

China's largest topmaker was very active in the market, which is positive, while traders were a bit more subdued.

The market has been stepping up gradually over the past four weeks of sales and passed-in and withdrawal numbers have been dropping from the high numbers we saw earlier on. This indicates most wool growers are happy to sell at current levels.

The Chinese economy's reported slowing, the dropping iron ore price and large debt being carried by Chinese builders are something we must be aware of going forward.

The crossbred market continues to be very quiet as global stocks build and demand is weak.

Week 13 sees 41,652 bales being offered in Sydney, Melbourne, and Fremantle.

TWO old mates were at the club.

"O'Connell is the foggiest place in Australia," one said.

"I went through a big town that has much worse fog," his mate replied, "but I can't tell you where it is cause I couldn't see the sign for fog."

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I'M told that the wind was so strong at Crookwell last week that it blew the pricks off a barbed wire fence.

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THE young rousie was alone at a Rome cafe when a cute young thing sat beside him.

"Hi. Do you understand English?" he asked.

"Only a little," she said.

"How much?" he asked.

"Only 50 bucks, matey," she said.