2017-2018 Rural Diary ─ the farmer’s friend

The “best property and management tool” I’ve ever used.

The new financial year Upward Rural Diary has been published and existing users won’t be disappointed: it contains all the same valuable information and records it has previously.

The Rural Diary has been serving Australia’s rural community for more than 55 years. New and old users alike rely on the diary for the daily management of their property, whether the farm’s business is crops, livestock, studs or wool.

The 2017-2018 hard cover diary (this year in blue) includes comprehensive livestock identification, records and stock summaries for cattle, sheep, pigs and horses; feed, crop and pasture management; employee records; a directory of associations; field days and show dates; general agricultural information; breeding and gestation records; tax reminders; and GST, financial and expenses tables.

Other important information includes first aid advice, world times, holidays, conversions, and weather tables for the daily recording of weather conditions, rainfall and temperatures.

Mrs Sue Duggan from Coolah in NSW said their farm has been using the Rural Diary to manage their property and other businesses for 20 years. “It keeps track of our cattle records, spraying and cropping records along with rainfall and much more.

“The diaries are kept on the bookshelf as an almanac. They are invaluable because the history of the farm is right at your fingertips. It’s the best property and management tool we’ve ever used.”

Stephen Edwards from ‘Kunari’ in Padthaway, South Australia, has also used the Rural Diary for more than 20 years. “It is comprehensive with lots of information and space to write in each day. We can look back to see what happened in previous years such as, when did we plant x crop, when did we start shearing, etc. It helps us with planning for the current year.

Other users enjoy the portability of the diary, being able to take it out in the field when doing the daily rounds of the property and at the stock sales. Many comment that the quality assurance forms and property/stock registers make management and compliance a much more straight forward process. “It’s easy to hand over to the accountant at the end of the financial year,” say many users.

Ian Moss from Albany, WA, said he uses the Rural Diary on a daily basis and has done so for seven years. “I use it more as a narrative of what I’ve been doing on the farm, especially the cattle records and fertiliser records. I also record the batch numbers of the herbicides. I’m frequently referring back to previous years to help me work out things like how much fertiliser is needed for this year. The monthly summaries are good too, once you get around to filling them in!”

Additional pages include ledgers, planners, timetables and statements relating to property and stock management; end of month and EOFY statements for receipts and bank deposits, operating costs and expenditures; asset and staff reports; and much more.

The Upward Rural Diary is designed and published by Australian company, WH Annett, which has been serving the stationery and office products industry for more than 60 years.