The agronomist at work passed this on today, well worth a read
LIKE many farming families, the Knapp family of Boyup Brook are descended from those hardy pioneers who battled the Depression of the 1930s.
Ralph Knapp's father took up land at Kulja, east of Koorda and after coping with the social and economic pressures of the time, three disastrously dry seasons in a row convinced the family that it was time to go.
Packing up their belongings, they bequeathed the farm to the bank and in 1939 they moved on, with Ralph's father later joining the army with the advent of WW2.
After the war, he decided to try farming again, "but we are going to go where it always rains" Ralph remembered his father stating, taking up a farm that is still in the family, with Ralph and Betty now passing the management of the property to their son Courtney and his family.
The Knapps discovered that the new farm is still prone to variable rainfall, with the wettest year recorded in the area being 1100mm in 1917, while the driest was last year at 377mm, so far, which took the record from the 403mm received in 1940.
Beef cattle and prime lambs have been the mainstay of the farm, but the poor prices and the labour intensive nature of cattle management has indicated a change.
"When the cows are calving, Betty and I check them twice a day, plus we feed them hay during the months when feed is short, but the poor season this year has meant that we could only save half the amount of hay we needed," Ralph said.
"This has been the catalyst for change and we have decided to sell all of the cattle. It makes economic sense, but we will both miss having them on the farm.
"The farm still contains about 20 per cent bush and there is a lot of forest, native and planted, in the area, so we have always been very conscious of bushfires.
"In the old days, we would keep the area cleared around the house and sheds by burning off the rubbish as it collected, and with the locals, we later formed a bushfire brigade to formalise our actions.
"Even when we had to obtain a burning permit from our local captain, the system still worked well, but the rules have now multiplied to the stage where we can hardly do anything.
"Our house is near a road, so to burn off the accumulated rubbish, we have to obtain a permit from the local Shire, plus put up warning signs on the road.
"The first warning sign is to announce the existence of a fire ahead, then a series of speed reduction signs, first dropping the road speed to 80km/h, then to 60km/h and finally down to 40km/h."
It sounds overly bureaucratic, but there is more.
"My son had to attend a two-day course in Boyup Brook just to learn how to put up the road signs and then on the morning of the burn, after we have decided that the weather is okay, we have to travel 40km each way to Boyup to pick up the signs - and take them back afterwards!
"The result, not surprisingly, is that we no longer burn the roadside rubbish."
Not all examples of red tape are large ones, with one minor change particularly irking Ralph.
"We have become used to having OVERWIDTH signs placed on our machinery when we travel down the road, but we have now been told that we must replace them with signs that state OVERSIZE," he said.
"Apparently some bureaucrat has discovered that all overwidth loads are oversize, but not all oversize loads are overwidth."
The bureaucratic idiocies that have provided the most amusement, concern the treatment of the Long Bill Corellas, as their endangered declaration has changed the manner in which they may be treated.
It seems that farmers are not allowed to shoot the birds, but they may be scared off by the use of blank cartridges, providing a permit is obtained first.
"I applied for a permit to frighten the birds," Ralph said.
"But the permit came with a long list of conditions that farmers must comply with.
"Only 100 birds may be scared at any one time, which is a problem as they often flock in larger numbers.
"In addition, a report must be submitted outlining how many birds have been frightened, with a breakdown of how many males and females were in the group.
"I discovered that the blanks were effective, but belting the corrugated iron walls of the shed with a piece of wood was more effective, so I wrote to the authorities with some queries.
"I asked whether the 100 birds I scared each time had to be the same 100 each day and whether in fact, the annual number was to be the same 100 birds.
"I also asked for guidance on how to scare only 100 if the group of birds far exceeded that number.
"I also pointed out that hitting the shed with a stick was more effective than blank cartridges, so I asked whether I needed a government permit to hit my shed with my stick.
"Finally, as the bird scaring has to be consistent and regular, I told the authorities that my wife and I liked to go to church on Sundays, so I asked them whether they could send someone out on Sunday mornings to hit my shed with my stick.
"They haven't yet replied to my queries."
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