Sheep Farmer Rob Shares More

This is the 2nd half of Rob's Talk at Nourishing Australia's Event in Armidale.

Rob - Walcha Farmer talks about Health

Rob Blomfield from Walcha was one of the speakers at Nourishing Australia's event at Armidale NSW. Even though I have never met Rob he is a typical sheep producer passionate about both his land and his sheep.Over the next 2 days I will feature 2 videos of his talk about some decision he made about his health and how that changed his life.

Young Aussie Farmers with Allan Savory

I know I have featured this before but I think it is so great it is well worth revisiting in 2012 Australian Year of the Farmer. Allan Savory was the guest of Graham & Cathy Finlayson in July 2011.
This is a great example of how young Australian farmers are seeking knowledge from Allan savory Father of Holistic Management.
Even though Allan has a lifetime of experience,he quite often would answer a question on that day by saying "I don't know I am still learning". That to me is a key to success,never close yourself off to learning.
This video is a short 12 minute video from our visit out in the paddock where Graham and Allan are speaking to a group of around 100 people.

Farmers Taking a Holistic Approach

Farming has always been a moving organism if you think about it, yet we have tended to farm in a linear fashion using methods that come from another environment.This can work for a while however eventually environment will win out, you cannot fight nature.
When Allan Savory came up with Holistic Management with decision making tools that reflected working in harmony with nature,he recognised we have many many balls in the air to manage at once.
I have over the last 15 years seen some quite amazing results for the biodiversity of the land,where farmers have taken on a Holistic approach.Today many of these farmers run a low cost very profitable business,yet they are building topsoil,increasing carbon,carrying capacity has increased and the people are living the life they love.

Over 20 years ago Terry McCosker of RCS introduced this concept through his 7 day "Grazing For Profit School",People like Bruce Ward and Brian Marshall introduced Allan's Holistic Training shortly after.Now there are also many others here in Australia teaching these concepts.
Here is a recent video produced by the Savory Institute that will give you some insight in to Holistic Management.

The Sheep Farmer & His Banker

First let me thank Jesse for comments on my choice of video posted last night,that video does not represent my views on how farmers should be perceived.The creator of the video however had some perceptions on farmers and I think it is always good to know what others are saying.
Sometimes however you will find I post the often weird off topic things just because......

Ok that said today I am posting a video that tells a story about a sheep producer at Moulamein and his relationship with his banker.Even though the video it was put together by a bank, there are some great things spoken as well as some great images into one sheep producer.

What is a Farmer ?

So in this Australian Year of the Farmer let's start with the defintion of a Farmer ; according to Wikipedia :
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain. A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a labourer on land owned by others, but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a farm owner.

My take on it is this every human on the planets is a consumer of food produced by a farmer, when it is the food they produced themselves then they are the farmer.Farmers make up a small demographic yet they feed 100% of the people on planet Earth.

So a Farmer is a "Food Producer" who not only feeds the world,he/she also manages most of the land resource on planet Earth.Farmers have great respect for the land and water resources and I like to think of farmers as caretakers of the resources for future generations.
Here is a short animated video of What is a Farmer :

Brought to you by www.grahamereesblog.com

To receive notice of updates fill in the form on the right.

Low Stress Stockhandling Photos

Jane and Jeff Rodgers hosted 21 people last week for a Low Stress Stockhandling school near Coonamble in NSW.
People travelled from as far away as Tenterfield to learn how to be more effective working both sheep and cattle.

A Peak Inside KLR Mastermind

Readers of Grahame's blog come from all over the world, many of them KLR Mastermind members. I thought I might give those of you who are not Mastermind members a sneak peak what's inside the members area.

One of the great features of the Mastermind landing page is you can quickly select exactly where you need to go and get there.

KLR 30 Second Market report covers 51 sheep and cattle markets each week, created from the NLRS market reports and converted into a format that anyone can tell at a glance which animals are Underpriced and which ones are Overpriced.

Sitting in behind the members area there are over 20 profit calculators for traders and breeders of sheep and cattle plus our unique Business Analyser Tool, which quickly shows business overheads expressed as agistment.There is video training for each calculator sitting right beside the download.



We hold regular teleconference's - weekly discussion calls, mentoring calls and we invite a guest speaker each month. These are archived and available on mp3 plus we send out 8 cd's each year.



There are many other features including a Sell / Buy / Agist page, Newsletters, Forum and the Knowledge Centre. To see more visit http://www.klrmarketing.com.au/

To build a website as comprehensive as this, you need to partner with a great web development company. Bosweb in Dubbo were able to listen to our needs and assist us to put together a web platform that will service KLR Marketing and more importantly our Mastermind members to get what they need easily in a timely manner.

http://www.bosweb.com.au/

They are giving away a chance to win free Ipad this month so check them out.

Brought to you by

http://www.grahamereesblog.com/

Of Droughts and Flooding Rains

It might be while before cattle are worked in these yards.

Well 2011 has started for many people in North Qld with flooding rains. One thing we cannot change is the weather and that is one of the great joys and challenges of farming and living in Australia.

Whilst people in Qld are flooded,there are many in Western Australia managing their way through drought,

Bushfires have already made their mark in western NSW this week, a sign of what might be to come later in summer.

It all reminds me of a poem most Aussie kids learnt at school with the 2nd stanza most remembered. One thing we can guarantee Australia is a land of extreme weather.

According to Wikipedia : "My Country" is an iconic patriotic poem about Australia, written by Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968) at the age of 19 while homesick in England.

After travelling through Europe extensively with her father during her teenage years she started writing the poem in London in 1904[1] and re-wrote it several times before her return to Sydney. The poem was first published in the London Spectator in 1908 under the title "Core of My Heart". It was reprinted in many Australian newspapers, quickly becoming well known and establishing Mackellar as a poet.

My Country


The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold -
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.


Dorothea Mackellar

My Top 20 Ipad Apps

The top selling Christmas present this year is without a doubt Apples Ipad.
Having owned one for a few months now,I think it is one of best pieces of technology I have used.
The simple portability along with the Apps, the Ipad becomes your computer on the move. No more lumping around a laptop,power cords,flat battery's(10 hr life battery). Traveling for 4 weeks in the USA this year I was able to email,update this blog as well as use remote client to access my home computer and print docs out there for Ros to pick up.

I thought I would post the top 20 apps I use,in no particular order. You can take screenshots like these by pressing both buttons at the same time and they will save into your photos.
Is there a KLR App ? Well not yet but the planning is in place for early 2011.

This app is called abcNotes - a great little tool to keep all those post it notes on your ipad.

Photos are great on the ipad, all you need is the camera kit to upload. This is the Photo Wall
app which is a magic tool for taking photos and creating collages and other effects.

The app below is Dropbox which is readily available for your computer to back up and sync files, they also have a grea app which is a good way to sync with your computers and your team.
IWriter is a magic app for writers and people who want to write without all the distractions, it counts the words as well as sync's with dropbox.

Big Calc Free app is a beauty as it is big and has a ticker tape like display on the side.

Keynote is the powerpoint type app where you can create presentations.

PS Express is a great app for editing your pictures.


Web Albums app is a tool to view your online Picasa albums(google software).

BlogPress is a great app for creating and uploading your Blogger posts. I used this to blog on my trip to USA and worked a treat.

There are many newspapers now with Ipad apps, I have the Daily Telegraph app.

There are many sporting apps available. As I am an avid cricket fan I like Cricket LIVE, which even has the ability to watch the channel 9 coverage live for less than $3 a test.

Amazon has an app so you can shop the amazon store.

Amazon's Kindle reader has been popular and you can buy and read the kindle books on your Ipad. The app is called Kindle.

Audible is a great site to purchase audio books which you can download and put on cd or you ipod.The Audible app also allows you to download books in your library.

Skype has an Iphone app that works well with the Ipad.I used this app to call home every day for the month i was in the USA. Just a little credit and away you go plus you can text chat as well.

HooteSuite has a nice Ipad app which allows you to monitor and update you social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook all at once including photos.

SendOutCards has a great app where you can create a card on your Ipad and put int the mailing address and send by post. You do need to be a user of Send Out Cards, which I am.Find out how you can @ http://www.cardswithgratitude.com/

Westpac has an app for internet banking and it does all the things you can do with normal online banking. I guess other banks do the same.

Weatherzone has an app for local Australian weather details. There are many others out there.

Flipboard is a great app if you want to read you social media as well as blogs etc like a newspaper.

Tellmewhere is an app that helps you find what you need in any town or city. I asked in the image above to find nearest restruans to me, it includes address and phone number as well.


iTap RDP app is a great tool for anyone who needs to use their home or business computer while they are away. Just leave your main computer turned on and you can set up an ID to log in and use whatever programs you need.When I was int the USA I had a couple docs I needed to print, so I did them and asked Ros to go into the printer and pick them up.

Have fun with your Ipad and if you find any Apps you wish to share feel free to

share them in comments below.

Brought to you by http://www.grahamereesblog.com/

A short Video Chrsitmas Message

I would like to wish everyone who follows my blog whereever you are in the world a Merry Christmas. I hope that 2011 provides you with the health, prosperity and weather you desire.
For more watch the short video below.

If video stop,starts,press pause to let it load.

Brought to you by

www.grahamereesblog.com

2012 Australian Year of the Farmer

In 2012, we celebrate the Australian year of the Farmer. What a great way to acknowledge the role farmers play in the life of Australia.They are stewards of the landscape, producers of food and fibre for the nation as well as many other countries.

Several years ago our landcare group at Ivanhoe embarked on a project to promote farmers to

city folks. The first year we spent 3 days in Sydney running small workshops for school kids.We were inspired enough to go back to the Sydney Royal Easter Show with a small theatre that held 16 people at a squeeze.The 8 minute show featured a slide show of the outback and was run by outback people.There were many conversations with people who stopped by, in fact we had 16,000 visitors go through that slide show which ran back to back.

We learnt many things which were different to our expectations. City folks showed nothing but interest and admiration for rural Australia and the people who live there.

What an opportunity we have to create awareness and relationships with the people who may not have had an opportunity to learn where their food comes from.

We have 12 months to plan what each of us might do to contibute to Australian Year of the Farmer. How will you celebrate the Year of the Farmer ?

Here is a great video promoting the year featuring Glenn McGrath.

If video stop/starts, press pause to let it load.

To read more visit the Year of the Farmer Website :
http://www.yearofthefarmer.com.au/

40,000 gas wells in the Surat region - What is the Effect ?

Coal Seam Gas seems to be the largest issue confronting QLD livestock producers.
No -one really knows what the impact will be to the land, to the agricultural industry or the people who choose to live in the region.

My theme this past week has been Food and Food Security, we must consider carefully any land management changes that may not be reversable. It seems legislation is being pushed through to allow up to 40,000 gas wells to be drilled in the Surat Basin alone.

I don't know enough to write more but I am attaching a couple of documents :
1. A summary of the Water & Other Legislation Bill 2010
2. A letter to the media from Peter Shannon, Solicitor, Dalby . QLD

Also here is the trailer for a movie called "Gasland" featuring a similar issue in USA.



This movie called "Gasland" being shown in Brisbane and Roma, details below.


http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/
Opens Thursday 18th Nov
Palace Barracks, 216 Petrie Tce Brisbane

Thursday 2nd Dec
Club Hotel, Roma. 10am & 6pm

Brought to you by

http://www.grahamereesblog.com/

To receive regular updates of my posts fill in the form on the right.

I will not send you anything other than my blog posts and you can opt out anytime.

Food Inc - The Movie

Food Inc is a movie that is being discussed in communities around the world, Mudgee featured the showing of the movie last night.Now I am still to see the movie and that will be soon as it is now available on amazon .com. After attending the RCS conference and listening to Jerry Brunetti speak on Cancer, Cows and Conciousness, watching Jamie Oliver in the schools and eating more hamburgers than a man can stand on my USA trip - I am more interested in Food.

As food producers whether it be meat, vegetables or fruit Australian farmers are in the box seat to take advantage of this move of asking "Where does my food come from ?"

Joel Salatin is coming to Australia to run some workshops soon and he is featured in the movie.

Watch this short trailer and if you like it find out more about either where you can watch the movie or go to amazon and pick up the dvd.I have put a link on the right to direct you to the right place.

Will Rogers Early Connection Awesome Video

Every now and then you get to see something inspiring and quite powerful. I met Jane Rogers from Coonamble at a recent LSS school in Gunnedah. Will is the 22 year old son of Jeff and Jane Rogers and is making his mark in the USA horse world.
Watch this video of Will's Early connection - you will be amazed at what this young Aussie boy is doing.

If video stop/starts,press pause to let it load.

Brought to you by

www.grahamereesblog.com

Australian of the Year to Deliver Petition Tomorrow

This must be my one week I allowing myself to be political on the blog but when the people who are employed to advise govt resign you have to ask : What the ????? is going on ?

If you want to show support sign the petition via the link below.

The Government's head advisor on mental health, Prof. John Mendoza, has just resigned, saying that the Government is ignoring the need for mental health reform. He says that only public pressure will move politicians, and is aiming to collect 60,000 public signatures on a petition to be delivered to Parliament this Thursday.

Get this Australian of the Year Proffessor Patrick McGory is delivering the petition - and
K Rudd will not accept the petition !!

Here is part of the letter John wrote :

Dear friends,

On Friday I resigned my position as the head advisor to the Rudd Government on mental health. And it's because of stories like Mary's and my frustration over the Government's failure to do more to prevent them.

So, today I'm taking the unusual step of writing to you through GetUp to ask you to sign this petition, because I've come to the regrettable conclusion that my advice was not getting through - only public pressure will spur politicians into action.

Every day 330 Australians with serious mental illnesses are turned away from Emergency Departments, and 1,200 Australians are refused admission to a public or private psychiatric unit.

Every day more than 7 people die as a result of suicide, and more than a third of those have been discharged too early or without care from hospitals. For each of those 7 Australians, there are 7 families who mourn them, 7 groups of friends who ask themselves, 'why?'

And every day our political leaders fail to take action, this crisis worsens. This petition will be presented at Parliament House on Thursday - please add your name now through the GetUp website below:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth

On Thursday, I and over 60 mental health organisations from across Australia intend to present a letter to Kevin Rudd with a plan of action for mental health. But so far, the Prime Minister has declined to receive it, and so too has the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon.

Bud Pen with Narration Video on You Tube

I have uploaded the same video as last night on You Tube to test any difference. The one difference is this one has narration, which was one thing that was sent in the feedback.
Still trying to get rid of the black lines though ??
What do you think ?

Press play and then pause to let it load.

Please comment to peneena@bigpond.com

Brought to you by http://www.grahamereesblog.com/