An industry that typically gets overlooked, or just gets lumped in a broad category, is a very important one in Central Queensland. One that deserves greater individual recognition for the vital role they play.
You will find them in nearly every Central Queensland town, in some cases more than one. Some are owned and run by a local, others owned by a multi-national corporation. They are not hotels, but their customers are known to like a chat, after all it may have been some time since their last face to face visit. They are Rural Traders, Agricultural Merchandisers, Rural Retailers, or just referred to by the name of the people (or business) that owns them.
What they sell is diverse and thus the expectation of what the people who work there should know, would to an outsider appear truly daunting.
Yet the information these people possess is relied upon, to the point livelihoods can depend on it. What to grow, when to fertilise, with what, how to decrease production costs per hectare, what should I feed the ageing dog, how to get rid of the algae in the trough, should extra supplements be added to the stock feed. And if you have not got it, where and how soon can you get it?
Yet for the vital role these specialist stores perform in each of their communities, and the jobs they provide, they receive hardly any recognition. Just lumped under retail, or small business, if they do not carry a multi-national brand.
Imagine, if you can, Central Queensland (coast to the border) without these specialised rural traders in nearly every town. I am guessing there would be over 200 currently operating. If they were not there, how many local jobs would never have been filled, possibly affecting if a school was to continue to operate, a bank keeping a physical presence (might be drawing a long bow here), let alone how productive the rural producers would be without being able to, easily and confidently, access their knowledge and in many cases purchase the needed products on the spot. Re-investing the returns into their property and local community.
As we allow Amazon and the like to dominate our spending dollars, consider the long term affect it will have on our communities, particularly in a region like Central Queensland, where one family leaving a town could affect if a school continues to open.
Next time you drive past a specialist rural retailer, stop, even to just say thanks. It is the type of business that would appreciate it, (not look at you strangely).