Spring and summer were surprising, but autumn might still be alarming | Rural Notebook

There is an obvious market for small bales of lucerne for horses and hobby farmers who don't have the gear to handle big square or round bales.

We know that the weather bureau long-range forecasts for spring/summer were badly wrong and they cost some producers many thousands of dollars, but this autumn may yet go sour and we may be looking for an autumn break by Easter time.

A NORMAL hot summer in the tablelands finally arrived during Australia Day week and lovers of warm, sunny days are being rewarded.

Each of our citizens who received awards deserve congratulations for their well-earned recognition and I thought acting mayor Ben Fry seemed quite mayoral as he led Bathurst's ceremonies.

A series of hot, dry days will quickly dry the pretty green pastures and the undergrowth in forests.

Please don't ignore the risk of bushfires; take care with campfires and barbecues in the open.

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I NOTE the need for two shearers for about two weeks to shear a flock at Lightning Ridge; start ASAP at $5 per head.

Heroes take on a job like that, probably in 40 degrees-plus, and you hope the sheep will comb.

And you wonder why the local shearers aren't doing the job.

The shearers who do this job deserve the greatest respect.

A DISTRICT woolclasser tells me that he didn't renew his classer's stencil this year.

He received his gold 50-year stencil in 2023 and decided to call time.

Congratulations on your half-century involvement in the wool industry, Peter Healey, and thanks for the memories.

Some of us locals gained classer stencils in 1963 when registration commenced. Some were used regularly, some once a year.

Most stencil holders didn't want the work as classers were plentiful in the 1960s; female classers were a rarity and objective measurement took much of the interest from the trade.

FROM left field comes the awarding of senior and grand champion jersey of the 2024 International Dairy Week at Illawarra Show to a lovely quiet cow from the Wilsons' dairy farm at Jamberoo.

Her name is Jamber Colton Veronica, she was bred from an imported embryo, has had her fourth cow and runs most of the year with her dairy herd of 300 milking cows.

Her owner said "she loves being a herd cow and getting in amongst it".

I know this tale is a bit different, but we love Jamberoo and all who live there.

TOWN real estate sales seem to have slowed noticeably. Values are holding fairly well, but higher interest rates are having a real effect.

Rental values at $500 to $600 per week for a family home and up to $380 per week for two-bedroom units are making costly decisions for renters.

Out in the paddocks, we see that values for rural land have dipped as reduced commodity prices and higher interest rates have made significant changes to farm businesses' bottom lines.

THERE was, once again, a lower offering of wool (38,000 bales) in week 30 of sales, which you would expect to have a positive impact on the wool market.

Buyer caution remains prevalent, however, and so by the end of the week, the indicator had moved downwards 10ac/kg.

Europe remains sporadic in its buying and the premiums for better tested wools compared with the more run-of-the-mill types have reduced significantly due to this.

China remains the main buyer at present and the two large Chinese topmakers continue to cherry-pick the offering.

Merino skirting types continue to be strong and exporters find it relatively easy to sell these types.

Merino fleece types are difficult to move at present.

Crossbred fleece types were a little stronger last week.

With only 36,000 bales being offered in week 31 and 43,000 bales in week 32, logic would predict that if we see an increase in demand, surely low supply would help the market.

We will have to wait and see.

THE physio asked George what exercises he did.

"None," he replied.

The next template question asked "how often?" and good old George grunted: "Every bloody day."

***

DOCTOR had a new receptionist and it was her first afternoon.

There was a patient with an ear problem, so doctor buzzed the new receptionist.

"Have you seen my auriscope?" he asked.

"No," came the reply. "What sign do you come under?"