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June 4-10, 2020 Dubbo Photo News
NEWS EXTRA
COMMENT
Renewing agriculture and regions via wind and sun – Dubbo’s Renewable Energy Zone Comment by KARIN STARK A NSW-ACT Agrifuture’s Rural Women’s Award Finalist in 2019 THE planned Dubbo Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) has come at the right time for regional NSW. Planned to commence in early 2022, the development of largescale solar farms where sun and land abounds will help regional towns, hit by years of drought, to prosper. Development of solar and wind farms creates jobs, can increase economic activity in local towns, reduces emissions and can provide an important secondary income for farmers. Despite these benefits, some concerns from local communities have been raised. I live on a farm an hour west of Dubbo and in September 2018, we installed the country’s largest solar diesel irrigation pump. Being the first of its size meant we weren’t without some teething issues, but despite this, the system is on track to pay for itself in the predicted five years. The solar diesel pump has saved our farm business $170,000 a year in diesel costs and reduced CO2 emission by 500 tonnes a year. I can clearly see the benefits of
renewables on farms, so having founded the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference, with the next planned for Dubbo in 2021, I’ve heard from many other farmers who also recognize the benefits large scale solar and wind farms can present. They understand the benefits aren’t just for themselves who host the turbines and panels, but also for the communities surrounding them. One such farmer is sheep grazier Charlie Prell. Charlie hosts several wind turbines on his property in Crookwell NSW and the secondary income he receives from the wind farm has significantly assisted the running of his business and helped build resilience. He is a strong advocate for ‘shared benefits’ so that neighbouring farms and towns can share in the windfalls that these large developments can bring. There are several types of shared benefits that communities and farmers can negotiate. For example, some wind or solar farms start a community fund that could help with upgrading or building public amenities such as pools. Other models are proximity based
where neighbouring farms receive an income based on impact or distance from the development. It’s important for communities and potential host farmers to be informed of these models and opportunities early in the engagement process as this may help with community acceptance of these large developments. While there are some concerns about prime agricultural land being converted to solar farms, the Central West community should see the REZ as a massive opportunity and that such concerns can largely be managed. There are tools available, such as the Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) mapping tool that identifies prime agricultural land based on soil and infrastructure data. This information can then be factored in when considering the placement of large-scale solar farms. Additionally, research from overseas points to agrivoltaics as another possible solution. Agrivoltaics is the combining of cropping and solar panels and research has found that soil moisture tends to be higher under solar panels than in exposed land.
The Art of War and getting down to business ADVERTORIAL
FROM THE BOOKSHELVES ] By DAVE PANKHURST, The Book Connection
TOUGH times – special efforts needed. The circumstances of the last few months have impacted across the country and people in small businesses have had to meet the challenges. Here are just a few relevant books taken from the hundreds of business titles on our shelves. A real classic for the business mind is Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”. A translation by Thomas Cleary is worthy of reading as he includes the comments from Sun Tzu’s generals that relate to the original comments. One comment to his warriors that we can relate to small business is this: “Never attack an army that are on their way home. They will fight to the death.” The comments on the subject from others combine to explain that the army has had a great deal of experience, they know strategies, they are determined to get home, and when attacked they will fight to the death. Well, that has to be a wonderful incentive to small business operators. You have been there long enough to know the details, and achieving your goal is the only
outcome of interest. Daniel Priestley has written “Entrepreneur Revolution” which will help develop your business mindset and operate a business that works. When we encounter circumstances such as those currently experienced, we can consider just how we approach the future. Do we keep operating as in the past, do past practices make the best impact in the marketplace today, and how do we implement marketing strategies that will make us better that in the past? “A collection of glittering, brilliant insights that make us think, and that tell the reader ‘that’s how it works’.” Those few words support the title “Here Comes Everybody” by Clay Shirky, who describes how change happens when people come together. In this age of emails, texts, blogs and wikied communications, it is an interesting analysis on how unpaid volunteers – the general public – can help your business. In current times we have the tools to make this happen in favour of the business. Tom Peters is a well-known business writer and is seen as one of the world’s most innovative business gurus. “Re-image!” is his text noted as “Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age”. The motivation for the text came after 9/11 and he cites the circumstances of how a small group of 19 terrorists devastated New York
and the whole of that nation. It emerged that a state trooper in Maryland had stopped one of the offenders, but the trooper’s database was not connected to the CIA database – and the fellow listed on their database was on the CIA terrorist Watch List. While this is not a book about the war on terror, it is about the failure of organisations and how, when faced with a major impact, we can re-organise the operation of our business to our advantage. A book that deals with why most small businesses don’t work and what can be done about it is “The E Myth Revisited’ by Michael Gerber. The author’s aim is to bring the dream back to small business – this book has become a real classic. Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a small business – from entrepreneurial infancy through the growing pains to the mature perspective, providing a guiding light to all businesses that want to succeed. Importantly, Gerber provides the vital, overlooked distinction between working on your business, rather than working in your business. A book specifically for the ladies is “The Millionaire Mystique” by Jude Burke. She writes on how working women become wealthy and how you can too, explaining self-management techniques key to healthy work and family life, and listing five per-
sonality traits that predict success. It includes stories of women who moved from childhood adversity into the resiliency, focus and drive needed to fuel their professional and personal successes. Here are two books that deal with internet business operations. “B2B How to Build a profitable e-commerce Strategy” by Michael Cunningham provides a comprehensive account of the structure and gives a strategy for a pragmatic approach to crafting an e-commerce strategy. And Richard Branson has written the foreword for “Little e, Big Commerce – How to make a Profit Online”. The author Timothy Cumming explains how to set up, and get more out of, your website. Read about e-suppliers, e-competitors and e-customers, so that you can make money instead of draining your resources. Guidelines for bricks and mortar businesses planning to make the move to internet sales are included. With the popularity of coffee shops and cafes in today’s world, gaining a reputation for being at the top of that game is another challenge. “Grande Expectations” is about “a year in the life of Starbucks’ Stock”. Karen Blumenthal writes about the share
market, the ups and downs of the value of shares, and answers the question, ‘What are the implications of trading at the front line?’ I recently read “The Diary of a Bookseller” by Shaun Blythell who owns a second-hand bookstore in southern Scotland – the largest of its kind in that country. As a shop that uses Amazon as a vehicle to sell books, and it occurs on a daily basis, he also explains the Amazon strategies in dominating the market, particularly on pricing. Helen Burwell has written “Online Competitive Intelligence” which deals with using cyber-intelligence to operate in that marketing system. Read about creating your online search strategies, finding intelligence sources, accessing public records and government databases, tracking tools, mining company web pages, locating people via the internet, and much more. Buying and reading a book on operating a business can be one of the best investments anyone in the trade can make – spending $20 can be the catalyst in generating thousands of dollars. Early in my working life I read Maxwell Maltz’s book “Psyco-Cybernetics” which has been the motivation to carrying on through time. You can do the same. Enjoy your browsing, Dave Pankhurst