The overpriced Landcruiser

By Dwain Duxson.

I was scrolling through Facebook over the weekend and saw this Landcruiser Wagon for sale (not the one in the picture) on one of the marketplaces. I think it might have been a 2015 model priced at around $120,000. Now I'm not really up with how Landcruiser's should be priced, but going by some of the ridiculing, almost to the point of abusive comments the lady who listed it was receiving, it must have been overpriced.

So what. Someone who perhaps, like me, doesn't know the price of Landcruisers has to put up with that shit from people just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I know on Farm Tender, we get plenty of stuff that is probably overpriced and a lot of the time, people just don't know. Pricing something is subjective.

You see the amount of abuse the Footballers cop on social media. No wonder many are suffering from mental health issues.

It got me thinking about Ag and how we get along as an industry.

Generally, I think there's genuine respect amongst people and the organisations operating within our industry.

There are fewer people with a chip on their shoulders than in society in general. People in Ag tend to be more get up and go, just do it types who don't think they are owed a living. This breeds a great attitude that leads to respect, which is what people crave.

We deal with and talk to a lot of Farmers on a weekly basis, and we would say (I asked the staff) that 95-97 percent are good to deal with.

Genuine banter amongst friends or colleagues is healthy, and most people know that there's a line that can't be crossed.

But social media is a different beast. It's a place where it's fine if you can cross that line.

The pub test on people is still relevant, I believe. We would always bring it up when employing someone. Do they pass the pub test?

Don't get me wrong, social media has its good points, and we use it extensively as a form of marketing and relaying information.

Ag's a big space and growing. As Farmers, we tend to work our Farms in isolation. I get that. You won't see the collaborative Farming model take off in Australia because no two Farms operate the same. I am convinced that Co-ops fail because paid-up members are then expected to support that through thick and thin. However, if there is a better price over the road, the Farmer is there, and the Co-op falls over.

So getting Farmer's to work together is a hard gig, and perhaps we shouldn't try. It's probably better that Farmers and industry people just barrack for each other and pat someone on the back when they have done good.

I am not sure how the Landcruiser lady went, but I hope she's ok.

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