We have managed to scramble past another Australia Day with the predicted praise and criticism. However, the outstanding upside of the day is the naturalisation of those who hail from other countries that are tickled pink to become Australian citizens. And, Australia wins big time from their participation in our economy and society.
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To mind comes Dorothea Mackellar's poem, My Country. It sets out the many challenges that Australia throws up. It can be gentle and it can be extremely brutal.
Last week's rural media showcased the highs and lows that are part of our diverse way of rural life. We read that a Gippsland dairy factory will shed 31 workers due to the loss of a China-bound market. Our meat will out price itself on export markets, with the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator hitting 887.25 cents - a whopping lift on last year's 546.25 cents. Then we have exploding kangaroo numbers along with burgeoning numbers of wild dogs. But wild pig numbers will take a hit with the release of a fatal control product. In the west, we have bushfires and in the east we have floods. No, there is little time to be bored.
M IS FOR ...
The iconic Big M flavoured milk is now under Australian ownership, with the Bega Cheese buyout of Japanese-owned Lion drinks.
The Big M brand was founded in Victoria in 1977-78. It was launched by the Melton-based and newly formed Victorian Dairy Industry Authority, which replaced the regulatory-oriented Victorian Milk Board. With cessation of individual milk contracts, every Victorian dairy farmer shared in the fresh milk market and this new flavoured milk product by a percentage of production. So, Big M does not stand for milk; it stands for Melton. For Victorian dairy farmers, it was an exciting time.
MILKING IT
Remember the advertisement where a customer walked into a shop and asked for milk to be told of the plethora of available choices from high fat to low fat and everything in between?
Well, now, in a groundbreaking first, you are able to stock up with milk from cows that have not gone through the trauma of having a day-old calf removed. Yes, the lovely sooky calves run with their high milk yielding mums. Quite sweet it is. How they manage the trauma when bull calves are kicked from the nest does not bear thinking about and the heifers are sure to be quite "tubby".
However, having the names on the milk bottle of the cows that filled it takes the cake. The next step is surely photo ID of the lactating damsels. Emblazoned on a leg of lamb could be a photo of mother ewe and even father ram. The same with beef, pork and chicken and when you uncork a bottle of red, there could be a pic of the exact grapevine. Of course, the cost would be prohibitive, however, some foolish customer would pay.