Networking the Nation

Geoff Rethus

Geoff and Chris Rethus farm 3,000 hectares around Horsham, Victoria, in partnership with Geoff’s brother Nevan and wife Rosalie. They have been members of Farm Management 500 for ten years.

Geoff has been connected to the internet since 1996. In June 2001 broadband internet service was accessed through one way satellite. Geoff has always viewed the internet as a business tool and expects it to deliver benefits to his bottom line. “I set a target to at least make up the cost of my internet service subscription by using it to make savings or efficiencies. So far I have well and truly achieved that goal,” says Geoff.

Even with on-going costs of the satellite service at $65 per month Geoff believes he is still ahead.

Geoff shared some of his experiences with the internet.

ACCESS TO LEADING EDGE FARM TECHNOLOGY

Being a natural early adopter of technology, the internet has enabled Geoff to learn of cutting edge technology from overseas. This has lead to him importing the product himself or pressuring local Australian dealers to source the technology to make it available here

About 12 months ago Geoff was looking for a new spray unit and was researching manufacturer websites. On the CASE USA website he came across some attractive technology features that were not available in Australia. The company said that they were not intending to make the technology available here. Geoff put some pressure on and the company conceded and imported a unit. “It was only through my research on the internet that I knew about the technology and could discuss it with the local dealers”. Two other units have since been sold.

PURCHASING EQUIPMENT

Sometimes when exchange rate and pricing differences are favourable it can be worthwhile to consider importing machinery directly. Geoff feels that the internet provides an effective means to facilitate this. About three years ago, Geoff was in Canada and made contact with a machinery company retailing windrowers. On his return Geoff arranged to import one of the machines.

Most of the communication was done via email. “With email it is quick, you can send it off at anytime, regardless of time differences and know that you will get a definite response. In fact some of these large companies seem to prefer to communicate by email”. Geoff estimates that, at the time he purchased the windrower, he saved around $15,000 off the local price. “You have to be careful about the type of machine you import. A windrower is a fairly basic machine, I would hesitate on importing more complex and expensive items such as headers because of the warranty implications”.

Earlier this year Geoff imported a high volume pump for filling the sprayer. The hydraulic unit was not available in Australia but needed to be imported. Geoff imported a unit himself for $1900 saving $400 in costs and a considerable amount of time.

An interesting adjunct to importing products is the ability to track the progress of your item as it is in transit from overseas. DHL Express provides a specific code for your item. This enables you to go to the DHL website and track the progress of your item right from the warehouse in the country of origin to your door. Geoff found this very useful - “I could track to see if the item was being held up at customs in Sydney or where-ever”.

Items from the USA have been delivered to Geoff’s door within 8 days of ordering.

Earlier in 2002, Geoff located a chaser bin near Toowoomba through the internet. “ I was about to order one from another company but because of the Queensland drought, this one came up and was around $10,000 cheaper, even after being transported down from Toowoomba”. One of the benefits of the website over the classified magazines is that the information is on line before it is printed making it possible to have a bid in and purchased before it is advertised in print.

SHARES AND INVESTMENTS

Geoff is a member of an Off Farm Investment (OFI) group and registered with NAB On-line Trading about six months ago. “The internet share trading is so quick to complete a transaction it is amazing! I am still feeling my way a bit with trading and so with all the volatility in the stockmarket at present , I am holding back a bit and just observing the trends waiting for an opportunity”

Researching, gathering and presenting share information is where the internet comes in to its own. Many products are freely available.

There is free software that helps you chart you stocks against pricing and other indicators and ratios. Geoff is using this software to increase his knowledge and confidence to enable him to do more trading. “I believe you just would not be able to do this sort of thing without the internet. The information would not be available quick enough and presented in such a way as to be interesting and understandable”. An example of these facilities can be seen at www.incrediblecharts.com.au

BANKING AND FINANCES

Geoff uses National On-line Banking and finds it an excellent facility. “It is not strictly internet banking because you do not go through the bank’s website, you dial directly into the bank’s computer system”. “Online was available before Internet Banking and was a lot quicker. My financial package links in with the On-line and I have stayed with On-line instead of Internet Banking.

The Agrimaster cash book software that Geoff operates is compatible with On-line banking, which provides even more efficiencies. “You can select the payments you want to make and the date you want them paid. These selections then go to a file to be loaded into the On-line Banking, and after a security check it is sent off”.

Another key feature is the ability to automatically reconcile to the bank statement. “When I download my monthly statement I save it as a text file, my Agrimaster can import that text file and the automatically reconciles with the cashbook. To me that is a real boon, because when I used to do it manually there would often be a mistake that could take considerable time to track down”.

“When you manually write a cheque you still have to go and enter it into your cash book, by using Agrimaster and On line Banking you are only entering the details once, this saves a lot of time.

By grouping payments together there are also savings in fees”.

WEATHER

Geoff uses sites such as www.weatherzone.com.au and the www.thefarmshed.com.au for local forecasts and the 10 day precipitation chart (http://grads.iges.org/pix/prec7.html) for longer term.

Another page on the same site shows images of the southern hemisphere showing what weather is coming up from Antarctica and where fronts are coming from, it gives a bigger picture of what is happening with the weather (http://grads.iges.org/pix/wx.html)

“It is still good to listen to the Bureau on the radio because you get an opinion which you do not get on the websites. The internet service has changed the way we think about weather. I has provided more information to base our thinking and planning on”.

SPEEDING UP THE INTERNET

Geoff spends about one hour per night on the internet on average. After the broadband Satellite service was installed effective usage increased. “I am not on-line any longer but I am getting to more sites and doing much more in the same amount of time. It is just better utilisation of my time, down load capacity has gone from 3 kb per second to 40 kb per second – it makes a huge difference”.

When his current 18-month Telstra Bigpond contract expires Geoff is considering moving to ADSL service. “It will cost the same as satellite but it is slightly faster again and requires no dial up, so no connection fees. It will also operate on the existing voice phone line. This means I can eliminate one phone line, which is another saving.

To make a comparison many people can spend $80 or more per month on mobile phone service and feel they cannot live without it. I see a fast internet service as being just as, if not more important”.

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