President’s Report for
2009 AGM
This past
year has been a different one for the Group, with fewer events than
normal for a number of reasons. We were only able to put on the
one major workshop event, that being the 3 day weekend event called,
“Achieve the Good Life - A Winter
Workshop”. This event was a success, despite
difficulty getting sufficient numbers until just before it was
conducted. In the end we had about 55 participants which worked
out well. It was a little disappointing that so few of our members
were able to participate but it seems that timing of the event was not
ideal and some were unsure of the workshop content. In all, it was
an attempt to raise the profile of issues such as Climate Change and
Peak Oil and how they are likely to affect us as Small Landholders in
the short to medium term. There were some extremely interesting speakers
and challenging information delivered. Your committee is in the process
of assembling a proceedings of the workshop for non-attendees to be able
to gain some of the benefits of the material presented.
Personally, I found the weekend very challenging and satisfying, helping
to shape my future plans for the property on which I live. My
sincere thanks to all who helped to stage the event. When we committed
to putting this event on in the early part of this year, it became very
clear that the workload was not going to allow the simultaneous planning
of the other smaller workshops we were considering, due to personal
commitments etc. So, we will certainly be looking to do more of
the usual small, compact workshops and courses in the coming year to try
and satisfy that ongoing need.
Most
recently, we conducted a Small Farmer’s Auction, our
first for about 18 months. We had temporarily abandoned the
Auctions due to what we then thought of as low levels of support and so
decided to wait a while to see how they would be missed. The
recent event was held on Sunday 11th October
and was a reasonable success. Whilst there were very few livestock
offered for sale, poultry were well represented and there was a good
selection of hardware with some excellent deals for both sellers and
buyers. The current committee were not well versed in the running
of the Auction and so relied on the stalwarts to guide us through, many
thanks to all. Advertising is clearly the key to success with the
Auctions. That, and a bit of luck with the seasons and the
markets.
In many ways
we are still trying to find our way for the future. We have begun
exploring how we may affiliate with the Bridgetown Agricultural Society
in a way that benefits both organisations, but we are not in a position
to inform you of anything concrete.
It is
important that we continue to hear from you, our members, as to what it
is that you need from us and when we know that, we will try our hardest
to deliver. You will find a copy of a questionnaire that was
prepared for the attendees of the Winter Workshop among your paperwork
today that aims to gauge what is important to you as members.
While we received many replies to it at the Winter Workshop, few were
from members so this is your opportunity to tell us more about what you
would like from the committee.
My special
thanks go to the committee who have supported me through this past
year. They were brave enough to accept nomination at the last AGM
and they have been very helpful, job well done. I have enjoyed
representing the Group over the past two years, it has led me to meet a
number of people and share some interesting ideas. I look forward
to continuing to support the Group where I can. I remain convinced
as to it’s need and thank the people that had the vision
and energy to start and persist with it over the years. Let us do
the same.
Brad
Williams (President, Blackwood Valley Small Landholders' Group
Inc)
