Phone: (03) 5135 4444
May, 2023
Photo: Zoe Askew
High g stakes st Shearing became a sport at the East Gippsland Field Days. STORY - PAGE 5
Farming complexities explained Philip HOPKINS
RUNNING a farm is becoming increasingly complex, especially if you specialise in both beef and dairy. The pressure is on to expand, and economic and climate issues abound. Just ask East Gippsland farmer Chris Nixon. Chris and his wife Helen have combined their family operations to create a big farm, from properties at Orbost, Cann River and Wulgulmerang. Three decades ago, he milked 175 dairy cows and had 240-odd beef. "Today, I milk 500 cows and run about 2000 beef between the two farms, so obviously I know a lot about debt and interest rates," he quipped. "I'm a keen student of interest rates! When first farming in the late 1980s, interest rates were at 18 per cent - the 'recession we had to have'. What people don't understand about interest rates and inflation, is that inflation historically is not beaten until
interest rates are higher than the inflation rate. There is no such thing about a soft landing, especially when there are governments 'racking up' huge debts. "We are struggling with some of the highest energy prices in the world. People are hung up about climate hysteria; we will save the world with one per cent of global emissions. We have six coal-fired power stations in Australia, with two to close in the not too distant future. China this year is building 106 gigawatts of coal stations - only China, not even India. We only have 6GW of coal-fired power. We think by closing these stations we will save the world. It's ludicrous beyond belief that people are falling for this stuff. You can’t have sensible debate - you're a denier. Millennials are falling for this." Being a big enterprise, the Nixons have developed a loose management structure with managers at the properties and a couple of other employees. “We try to empower our guys in the
various places to make decisions. It works quite well; they get to enjoy having good management input to run farms, they get a sense of ownership, and it’s good for Helen and I,” he told Gippsland Farmer. “I can leave them to it and they will make good decisions.” Over the long haul, Chris has found dairy a much better industry to be in than beef. “Even though we are a bigger beef operation, the last few years have been a golden patch for beef and that was 35 years in the making. I probably won’t see it again in my lifetime,” he said. “We do find that dairy is traditionally a more stable industry if you watch your costs; beef is more up and down. Normally when beef is up, dairy is down. The start of the year when both were up were very good - I haven't seen that before and probably never will again.” Chris said beef was driven by the export market. A big depressor for exports had been that America and South America had
been destocking due to drought conditions. “The American herd is about twice the size of the Australian; basically, they have depressed manufacturing beef price,” he said. With America going through a destocking phase, beef sold must wash through the market place. Cool stores that were full, have emptied since Christmas, “so I expect the fat price in Australia, the finished price in Australia, will improve.” ‘Plant-based meats’ are another challenge for the beef farmer. “Any disruptor is never any good. Part of the issue with plant-based meats is, they pretend to be something they are not. There is no way they will get the amount of micro-nutrients and nutrition out of a plant-based thing grown in a lab with a test tube of stainless steel, rather than naturally animal-eating pastures in a natural environment,” he said. Continued on page 3
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