Latest / The Muster on Hokonui / The Muster- James Edgar: A Delicate Time Ahead

Transcript

The Muster- James Edgar: A Delicate Time Ahead · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This interview is brought to you by Agri Centre South.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Branches in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ranfurly.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Drop by your local Agri Centre South branch today.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: James Edgar farms at Mower Flat and joins us once again.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Good afternoon, James. We caught up a couple of weeks ago.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: You were enjoying the run of golden weather. How have
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: things been since?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: They've been busy ending. We seem to have done a
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: lot of airs, which you sort of get this time
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: of the year and Yeah, the job list is getting
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: ticked off, I suppose, but, yeah, it's just sort of
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: spring in Otago South and the jobs just don't get
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: put on the list faster than what you're ticking them
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: off some days.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Has October recalculated what September did?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, and I was starting to build a grass
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: buffer now, which is good. There's still some of the
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: sort of harder grey stuff maybe hasn't done quite as well.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: There's definitely still... Still some water logging in some of
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the paddocks. Obviously the water table must be quite high
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: at the moment, so we've still got lakes and some
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: of the low stuff on the river flats. But by
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: the by, we've started to accumulate quite a bit of
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: grass around us. It's fantastic. We've got our land finishing
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: props in, and then we're just working away at the
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: fodder beat at the moment, which is the next job.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: And then we'll be into Swedes after that, I suppose,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: and halfway through tailing. Yeah, no, it was good. We had... Oh,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: everyone but me got away for the long weekend, which
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: was good, just to get everyone a break. So everyone
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: was all around the country, and to be honest, it
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: was two of the nicest days in that long weekend,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: wasn't it? It was about 25 degrees and just absolutely beautiful,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: so that was quite nice, taking around the home too.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: How wet is it there, bearing in mind you had about,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: what was it, eight snowfalls in September?
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: We are not too bad now.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: There's definitely.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Where our breeding cows are through the lambing ground and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: some of the sheep paddocks, we've still got quite pugs here,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: you know, where the cow's gone through a bit during
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: that wet period. And then our other farm, like, to
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: be honest, we're actually probably enjoying the moisture as it's coming,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: sort of dried up. Probably not too bad underneath, but
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: it seemed to dry quite quickly on top, which sort
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: of put a bit of a cap on. So you
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: still need moisture to grow grass, but We're hoping the
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: taps don't turn off too much.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: OK, you look back at the winter that we've had
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: and the spring in particular, we're starting to see some
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: better weather correction over the next couple of days. And
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: do you start to breathe again and realise we've got
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: through that storm and we can look forward to the
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: rest of the year because the arguments there are not
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the argument, the case is you've got a pretty good
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: understanding of what needs done before Christmas.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: You're sort of always looking forward, I guess, because you
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: can't make up If you start missing your timings in
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: the next job, you can't make that up. So I
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: think we naturally are just very good at that, maybe
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: as people as well. I certainly, you know, you take
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: your reflections from what happened, but we won't be changing
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: too much in terms of our whole farming system. We've
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: sort of been changing a little bit, just a little bit,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: up our sleeve for the poorer times, so not so
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: drought or too much rain in the spring or summer.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: It's this and that, so we're dressed in that anyway. But, yeah,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: as I say, I think we're moving on and looking forward,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: and those product prices are looking really good, which is great.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: So there's always something else to be excited about when
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: we get these lambs.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: The price for red meat in particular, very, very good.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is the level it's got to be, though,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: as I've said before, Andy, though. This puts us on
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: par with dairy farming at the moment. So we have
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: been behind probably for the last 10 years. You know,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: and that's good for everyone. As I said last time,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: it's good for the country. It's good for everyone involved
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: that we're doing well. And then it all goes to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: the rural sectors. And, you know, just to personally touch
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: on the election that everyone's absolutely sick of. But, you know,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I think what definitely shows is a massive differentiation between
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: the urban sector and those big cities and and the
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: rural guys because by the by, rurally, I mean, I
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: think things are really positive and, you know, there's a
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: lot of spending happening and you don't have to drive
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: very far to see a lot of diggers on farm
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: or new posts or, you know, all the different rural
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: supply companies. Things are going very well rurally and then
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: obviously those big cities, you know, they're still under a
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: bit of pain and suffering with the cost of living,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: you know, prices. Yeah, I think that's sticking out now,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: isn't it?
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: The argument's there, though. We're in a bubble down here
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: regarding GDP and everything compared to a lot of country.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we are, but I still think because we,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: what are we, about 65% of our exports or something. So,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, at the end of the day, it all
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: starts and finishes with us in most ways. So, you know,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I guess we'll sort of move through and without triggering people,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: I guess the other in government did try and really
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: negatively impact the rural sector and I don't think it
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: did us any favours for three or four or five
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: years and hopefully now it's popping back up again and
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: I see also with exchange rate like down at 56,
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: 57 of course all our imports and fuel and everything
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: is more expensive but it is very helpful when we're
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: selling things to the rest of the world.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Well, that was the big news yesterday. The OCR stayed
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: where it is. It was a very close vote, four
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: against three, but they're just thinking, look, we've just got
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to rein things in at the moment.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually thought that was really good management, Matt,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: and I know it's nothing to do with politics, but
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: from the Reserve Bank Governor, I thought that was brilliant.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: I just don't see when a lot of the inflation
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: is coming from council rates, which by putting the interest
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: rates up, you're not going to change how fast the
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: council's lifting their rates. And then a lot of the
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: stuff was fuel, which is all overseas. There was just
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: a lot of foreign factors. It's not like the housing
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: market's going crazy. It's holding, if not slightly falling. To me,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: there's not a lot there to warrant putting it massively up,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: but just from the outside looking in, because we do
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: need to be careful to keep our economy at one piece,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: because otherwise, in real terms, we're all going backwards.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: OK, James, based on that, you're in Otago, the ORC's
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: who you work with. Do you think you get good
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: value for your rates?
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Well, no. It's pretty simple. No, no, we get not
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: a lot. So we get the roads done and....
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: No, look, I.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Be a bit careful. But, yeah, there seems to be
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: a lot of trucks on the road with people driving
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: around would be my one comment, Andy, without from the
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: outside looking in. You know, there's a lot to be
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: said for private business, in my opinion. You know, it
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: just creates more efficiency. And to be frank, I've never
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: seen central or local government be more efficient in private
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: business in my whole life. So, yeah, I'll put them
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: both in the same box there.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Well, you can be cynical about it and say it's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: not your money. You can kind of think outside the
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: square a bit, rightly or wrongly.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I guess it's a bit like the lolly
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: scramble on the left at the moment in the election, Andy,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: because at the end of the day, the money always
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: comes from somewhere. There's no way you can print it
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: like the last one and then you get inflation and
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: end up with a massive borrowing for a country, but
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: that's not the way to run an economy. You know,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: you need to grow it. If you can grow the pie,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: you'll always achieve more. I still, once again, without talking
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: too much about individual circumstances, but, you know, like, when
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: you've got a resource consent, a hay barn, to me,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: that's not a good use of council time and money. So, anyway,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: it costs, well, it was actually my money, I suppose,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: to resource consent a hay barn, but, you know, you've
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: got to ask yourself at what stage... and why you're
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: resourcing consenting at a hay barn, and that was what
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: I legally had to do.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: The mind boggles are that one, James. We'll leave it there,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: and next time we catch up, we might have a
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: bit more certainty about what's happening government-wise, eh?
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Cheers, Andy.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: James Edgar, based at Mower Flat. This is the muster next.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: We're away over to Warrnambool in Victoria. We are catching
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: up with Duncan Leslie, part of the New Zealand Sharing
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Trans-Tasman team.