How easy it is to cast judgements and waste words on things we know nothing about! As the old saying goes - "Don't judge other Indian til you walk in his moccasins".

How refreshing what the Alchemist said!

Yes, it is not about what has been, that glorious past, that time when the economy relied on agriculture, today less than 4 per cent, but about accepting know about what is sustainable. Yes there will be losers - mainly those that hang on against the tide.

The fact remains that the government (buying marginal votes) with its periodic handouts, efforts to subsidise essential services (just look at the Telstra debacle) and other measures to stop the change, only slows the inevitable adjustment process of rationalisation and optimisation. Producing what Australia can actually produce without handouts and disguised favours for those that can do it.

Let’s provide assistance, not to cover up for those that cant plan for the next inevitable drought, flood, fire etc. pretending it was unexpected, but direct assistance to help those that can not or will not plan – ie. those addicted to handouts and favours with jingoistic appeals. I say to those that tell the heart jerking stories of high costs, of deprivation, of collapses in markets, unfairness (like the author of the Farmers under Attack sob story), disease etc; YOU are the ones that need assistance – to LEAVE.

Australia is a tough land and those that acknowledge and accommodate that will prosper. Tear jerk stories have no place - any less than the thousands that lost their jobs under massive manufacturing industry restructuring or other setbacks that the rest of the country has had to endure.

Countries like Israel show what can be done in harsh environments with milk output double those of Australia and progressive environmental and water management. Here in Australia we are still caught up in whingeing, anecdotes of suffering and hardship and disadvantages and … and….and…...

I say shape up, or get out just like the rest of us urbanites. This is what I meant by a fair go. Strong, innovative, flexible and independent. Acknowledging that we overshot the mark with some still out of touch of reality

Just in case anyone may be wondering, Ludwig is a regulator, a fully paid up departmental VegNazi. So of course, he rarely sees any problems with regulations. They are his north, his south, his east and his west, and his daily bread. And all those silly farmers just don't get it, whats good for regulators is good for everyone. Another wonderful day in the brave new green utopia.

Even vege regulators and parking inspectors have a right (and indeed, responsibility) to justify their earth footprints. So as long as they don’t eat, consume, or drive cars, they’re OK with me.

Excellent posts from Alchemist and Remco.

At least a couple of posters on this thread are severely hung up on their hatred for those who are trying to steer us off our headlong path to destruction.

Their viewpoints are incomprehensible to me. Can’t they see that even if regulation is rather poorly carried out, it is still a whole lot better than no regulation. These people will either stew in their hatred and go to an early grave, or come to terms with the realities of the world. If they think they have been dealt an unfair hand, they need to put it in perspective and realise that they were dealt a very good hand indeed, placing them within the top few percent of people in the world, by being able to live in this country at this point in time, with all its freedom and opportunity.

This issue reminds me of the guy who used to make wooden buckets, they were really good buckets and he made a good living selling them.

Then a competitor started making metal buckets, they were not craftsman made but they did the job and were far cheaper than the wooden ones. The wooden bucket craftsman complained that the skills needed to make wooden buckets would be lost forever but he still went broke. The metal bucket man made his buckets in bulk and they became cheaper and cheaper but increased volumes made him a handsome profit.

Years later the grandson of the wooden bucket man, who saw his grandfather and father die in poverty still making wooden buckets, started making plastic buckets. These buckets were far cheaper than metal buckets, could be made in different colours and many sizes. The Grandson made a fortune and the metal bucket man started making garden sheds.

The moral of the story is know your product and know your market. The wooden bucket man forgot he was in the water transportation business. The metal bucket man realised he should use his basic product to make something else. The plastic bucket man moved to New Zealand because he could source raw materials cheaper.

Too many farmers and other small business owners forget the business they are in. Farmers are in the business of producing income from their land. Many forget this simple fact.