As we listen to all the doomsayers and the rhetoric from the Politicians it was with some amusement that one of our early morning breakfast programs tells us that the rural areas aren’t suffering the financial stress to the same degree as the big cities.

To a certain degree I think that this is true, as most people who live in rural towns have basically kept their belts tight and haven’t spent beyond their means, as a way of life. As the old saying in the bush goes “ you can always kill a beast, grow some veggies and get a feed” .

We in this town can certainly be very happy that we have some good ‘back bone’ industries that will sustain us over the coming years. It appears that even the experts are starting to back track on the severity for Australia of the ‘World Economic Crisis’.

I certainly think that there is still a great deal of money being made by some sectors of the beef industry using the WEC as an excuse, with the primary producers getting no or little benefit.

My biggest fear is the loss of good young farmers from the industry due to lack of opportunity.