‘I once heard a bloke describe owning a
yacht as akin to standing under a shower
tearing up hundred-dollar bills. Coming
up to the third week in April, farming is
starting to seem like standing under a
shower that doesn’t work and tearing up
hundred-dollar bills.’
They reckon big rain is on the way, but we are still gazing over paddocks
that look like dry toast, and the sheep are struggling for a feed.
Under these conditions it is hard to characterise exactly what is so gripping
about the whole farming thing: it is a calculated gamble and more about
spending, rather than making, money. But gripping it is.
Finally, in the last week of April the season breaks and it rains: great wet
soaking rains that fall across the Midwest. First up on Yanget we get an
encouraging 8mms, and the day after that 50mms storms in and the
season is off and running. The rain happens around April 25 – the magic
date set in some Midwest farmers’ minds as the one when seeding starts,
and for some the date when the crop goes in whether it has rained or not.
People across our patch are exultant and some are saying there hasn’t
been such a great start to the season in twenty years. As I write this in late
June, the Gods of Agriculture continue to bless the Midwest.
7
... and after