Farmers breathe a sigh of relief

BY JOHN MCLAURIN

BARMEDMAN farmers Geoff and Michelle Bush breathed a sigh of relief last month when half an inch of rain fell on their property. It followed a very long dry spell.

“Before that bit of rain came I was pretty worried that’s for sure,” Mr Bush said.

Alarm bells started to ring for he and his family during Winter this year. It came complete with the largest frost ever recorded on August 28 and was magnified because of a drier than usual Autumn period. With virtually no downpour to speak of in the early part of Spring and the warmest September recorded, the problem was only further compounded.

One of the things that gets them through in times like this, is working as a family unit. They diversify their income by combining crops, livestock, and driving stock transport. Keeping them busy, they also have a fertiliser, lime and gypsum spreading business.

The family are committed Christians and say they often lean on their Catholic faith during rocky times. “It is a very important part of our lives,” Mr Bush an acolyte of 32 years at St Joseph’s Barmedman said. He and his three siblings all went to St Anne’s Central School at Temora, about 45 kilometres from the farm. The couple’s five children were also educated there. And next year they will have five of their eight grandchildren at St Anne’s, thus making it three generations to attend the same school.
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Farmers Prayer to Saint Joseph