Farmers a young bunch
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Good news for all you farmers out there. A latest research paper On the Pulse has turned up has confirmed that Australian farmers are the second youngest in the developed world. New Zealand youngsters came in first.
The study concluded there is little cause for concern over any link between farm sector structural ageing, low recruitment of younger people into agriculture and food security, which was a bit of a relief because if there’s one thing On the Pulse likes to do it is eat.
Apparently statistics that show the number of farmers aged under 35 years has fallen by 75 per cent since 1976 and since 1991 the population of farmers aged over 65 has increased by 55 per cent are not a problem.
It can be all put down to such things as delayed workforce entry due to extra years spent in tertiary education, the increasing age of first marriage (which has reduced the number of younger female entrants to farming) and farm aggregation has left less opportunities for younger people to enter agriculture.
However, bigger farms are not necessarily bad. Early indications are that many of Australia’s younger farmers can be found on them. They produce the bulk of Australia’s farm production and are comparatively immune to the ageing seen in the rest of the sector.
So there you go.
Next time you are pulling a cow out of the bog, falling off a bike during a muster or repairing part of a fence, On the Pulse would like you to remember you’re one of the youngest in the developed world.
Thinking about age
While we’re on the subject of ageing (and nothing to do those youthful farmers apparently) On the Pulse has noticed the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) believes it is time to change our thinking about ageing.
What caught the Pulse eye was that apparently we can now forget about the term ‘Baby Boomer’, because now is the time of the ‘Super Boomer’ and the RAI considers them a perfect match for regional Australia.
Super Boomers are transforming the ageing experience!
Of course that brings up the most obvious question of them all.
When will the boomers (super or otherwise) stop being blamed for transformations?
The transformations seem to have been going on before the boomers were born. Everyone said an increased population would transform the world.
Boomers transformed the music scene, socially they reduced the drinking and a voting ages (strange those two went hand in hand), they became hippies, feminists, and transformed divorce with the no fault variety (which they used a great deal). Mini skirts, long hair, flared trousers, the Bee Gees, and the list of boomer transformations goes on.
On the Pulse just has to ask another important question here.
Do we really want to call them ‘super’?
Wouldn’t they have appreciated that tag more when they were younger and better able to enjoy it.
New club in town
Lego sessions held at the Inverell Public Library during the school holidays were so successful that the library is about to launch its own Lego Club.
Children’s services officer Leanne Schuhmacher sessions will be held from 4pm to 5.20pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, next week.
“Three sessions will be held each month, with children having the opportunity to book in to one of the sessions,” Leanne told On the Pulse.
On the Pulse hears that each month there will be a theme that children will base theirbuilding on, followed by some free time to make their own creations.
Leanne tells us kids will have the opportunity to make new friends, develop problem solving skills, create, share their thoughts and ideas and engage in literacy experiences. Sessions are free, however places are limited and bookings are essential. For more information you can contact staff at the library on 6728 8130.