Exciting news item number 1: The lame and denigrating Dev and Dale ads seem to have vanished. I await the Co-op’s next breathless announcement regarding its marketing with great anticipation!

Exciting news item number 2: The perfect antidote to Dev and Dale has been created by the Brits. Reality show, Farmers Apprentice, follows 10 people (selected from 600 applicants) as they slug through a five-day bootcamp in a quest to win 10,000 Pounds.

Something like this can be done here in Australia. It’s a wonderful way to show people from all walks of life that farming is neither “McLeod’s Daughters”, “4 Corners” or “Dev and Dale”. It’ll build bridges, inspire new careers and provide an enormous morale boost to crusty types like me.

PS: This is me bathed in glory just the other day.

I declare this trough…open!

It only took five minutes to install the valve and float but this was the final step in opening up a new paddock that took 18 months to complete. For me, this is what real farming excitement is all about – the thrill of pulling off a big project.