User Profile

Paul Bethune

Theres cold, and then theres wet and cold

JUNE should be reserved for hibernating – it’s cold, it’s hard to get motivated. And while wet is wonderful for all farmers, right now it’s wet and cold. Did you know in Iceland on Christmas Eve they have a tradition where everyone reads books...

21 Jun 2025

Dairy

Dont be your beast of burden

IN very unusual circumstances, we find ourselves as one of luckiest areas of the state as far as rainfall and seasonal conditions go. I am thinking of my friends and other farmers in the Western District (where lack of stock drinking water is...

17 May 2025

North West Farmer

Processing purchase will prove a gamechanger

OK, OK, OK, so since last time, I have had a lovely jaunt to Lakes Entrance and back to pull apart some processing equipment Gippsland Jersey has stopped using – its old to them, pre-loved to me, and 10 times faster than we are currently...

26 Apr 2025

Dairy

The funny thing about secrets

Can you keep a secret?Because I can’t. And we have some really important news to tell – although I probably shouldn’t just yet. It’s simply too early. But it’s always better out than in. I have been working on making an ice coffee drink...

25 Apr 2025

Dairy

Were too busy to be burnt out yet

I FEEL as though I’ve spent the past month putting out fires – literally and figuratively. Shout out and thanks to all the volunteer firefighters who came to our farm a week ago, it’s pretty incredible how fast they came and how well organised...

22 Feb 2025

Dairy

Proudly a 1973 more-on model

I WAS at a dairy farm discussion group in Cohuna a few weeks ago evaluating the merits of different feeding systems and facilities when I had an epiphany. The facilitator was describing two different farm development models. And...

21 Jan 2025

Dairy

Proudly sponsored story about our bottled passion

Typically, I use this platform to write gentle self-deprecating humour, and I try to be reasonably honest with our joys and challenges. Today I am going for shameless self-promotion. Sorry, but we are on a journey to build a legacy business of which...

18 Nov 2024

North West Farmer

It’s always the front yard which is a mess

THERE is a saying that the difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is about one week. I cannot be in the good farmer category as, very embarrassingly, we still have a couple of paddocks to sow – ouch. In my defence, I am somewhat new to...

17 Aug 2024

Dairy

A legend in my own lunch box

EVERY winter when it gets cold, wet and miserable I think “Why am I doing this?” and I consider my options for a career change. How do you think I would go as a movie star? We went to Melbourne for an overnighter for school holidays and everyone went...

20 Jul 2024

Dairy

Always embrace the art of learning

I often shock people when they hear me talking and singing to myself. But hey, I’m like “of course I talk to myself, where else can I get such expert advice for free?”I also had another birthday a few weeks ago, and obviously I’m fitter...

24 Jun 2024

Opinion

Processing sector feels the squeeze

I have been quietly waiting for about two years for something to go pop in the Australian dairy industry. Milk prices have been high – above market prices due to processors fighting for milk supply among a steadily reducing number of farmers. My...

17 May 2024

News

Peter Coady’s roar talents

GROWING up as a kid on a farm, we didn’t get a lot of visitors, so it was always a red letter day when the stock and station agent stopped in. We were battlers, and Peter Coady was our stock agent, and he always gave us the most important thing...

15 Mar 2024