Hey Opinionated,

Did you know that a few of us cockies got together to form Graincol in the early 1970s owing to a big drop in the price of wheat and the resultant allocation of grain quotas.

In fact, many cockies sons and cockies themselves got good jobs with Alcoa, some getting jobs up north in the early iron ore pits. Looking at present low wheat prices, some cockie's sons up our way are even thinking about it now, leaving the womenfolk and kids to just run stock. If things get worse, older blokes might even have to move back to the farms from retirement, letting the young ones make money where best they can.

It is so interesting now to look back as now, that we could envisage a great future for agriculture when underground fuel really ran out. Many of us in Dalwallinu, rang around and raised quite a few thousand pounds and helped to even get Graincol producing. But as usual our government was more impressed by the words of Big Biz, which of course knew that if Graincol did prove a goer, the oil companies might lose a few quid over it.

But as you've hinted, matey, though us oldies will be be dead and gone, there will come a time. when all surplus agricultural produce will be turned into either bio-diesel or ethanol. In fact, did you know that when the Grmans took France in late 1940, they ran their planes and tanks mostly on potato juice, as the saying went.

George C, WA - Bushbred

Hi Bushbred,

I hadn't heard the story about the potato juice running the German planes but it proves much can be done if you have the need and the expertise to do it. I used to know a guy who built steam driven cars. They were starting to really get somewhere when he was allegedly bought out by an oil company... No more steam cars to be seen after that.

So I hope you guys can come up with the right ethenol solutions. Perhaps if we got it right farmers could have more money to rehabilitate some of their properties to add value to them also.

I hope a few of the cockies are keeping an eye on this AWB saga as once again the cockies are the meat in the sandwich.

Did you see this article : http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1585253.htm

It is quite amazing after todays revelations at the Cole Enquiry

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18364641%255E29277,00.html

and

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18370700%255E1702,00.html

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

The fact that Mr Cole had to ask for an extension is also worrying because the longer this drags out the worst the situation will be for all concerned.

Non GM Farmer brought up an interesting question in this thread also
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=4224

I remember farm aid when many of the city folk got stuck in to assist the farmers... We might all have to chip in again in the future to help with the problems this mess may cause.

Some of us city slickers are hoping that once this is finalised the bushies can get back to basics and do what they do best. Farming the driest continent in the world.

It seems our politicians earn so much they are able to play to old stockmarket and share game in their spare time.

Shares also assist in ones ability to legally make your money invisible from the tax man and lower tax liabiltiies.

Do we pay or politicians too much and would this assist them with the temptations that often embroil them in controversy in the tit for tat release of their income tax returns and their lack of ability to account to authorities who require this information?

Why are parliamentarians so forgetful on following the rules on divulging their interests when they have to? Why also does the PM always seem to defend his men when they allegedly don't follow rules?

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18438221-29277,00.html

One side effect of the AWB enquiry being lengthened is that it has afforded the ALP the opportunity to have a few very public internal fights - seemingly diverting them from the job at hand again.

It's not like the ALP to lose the plot at key times is it? OOps yes it is.

The craziest thing seen to date was Mr Rudd standing in front of a header, in a wheat field, talking to farmers and the media questioning him on leadership tensions. At least he was trying to do his job as opposition spokesman on the AWB.

So we seem to have

Ministers and parliamentarians who allegedly don't appear to follow the rules and the rules have no penalties attached to them.

A PM who can see nothing wrong with anything on his side of politics even when parliamentary rules allegedly aren't being adhered to. Once again leading by example.

And the Labor party self imploding.

Yep! That will all sure help the wheat farmers

Memories are made of...of...oh I forget.
I dont know about spending a lot of money on researching Alzheimer's disease when this country seems to be suffering a pandemic of Craft (Can't remember a flaming thing) disease.
Highly paid CEO's, politicians and public servants appear to be stricken with the disease lately, the recent AWB enquiry being the latest forum displaying how widespread it is entrenched in the 'top end of town'.
I was not told, I was not there, No one told me, Not as I can recall,
It's not my job to know that, I can't recall exactly, I don't remember, I'm sure I was not there when it may have been discussed, and on and on it goes.
Maybe it says more about what these clowns think about the people who keep them in their jobs.
It would appear that we have another serious problem in this country, no pens or paper to take into important meetings thereby preventing any notes being taken.
I'm sure, if I recall correctly, public servants 'best practice procedures' insisted on notes being taken in vast quantities of all preceedings, important or not.
Then again I might have developed a touch of Craft myself lately.
What a delightfully deceitful new world we live in, dur.

In life, like selling wheat, sometimes we have to bend some rules. So we sit on a few million more tonnes of wheat we can't sell because someone asks for a few dollars in a suitcase to seal the deal. The world price drops. We stick to our guns. The world price keeps dropping. Next year a few more million tonnes we can't get rid of. The Americans fill the gap. A few thousand farmers walk of the land. The American spy satelites not only take pics of world hot spots. They take pics of our temporary grain storage bunkers growing and growing and even they get concerned (they used to send us the pics). That gets out and the world price crashes. They want to burn us to get more market share, but burning us while trying to hold the world price up there. Or we all burn. Throw your hat in the air because this is more complex than a few people around here think.