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The Muster- Andy Dennis: Getting Through The Lambing Season · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Promise to America, belief is our beauty thing.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Andy Dennis farms up at Manapōuri and joins us in
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: the Sgt Dan Farming Roundup where we go and catch
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: up with different farmers in various parts of the southern
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: region every Monday here on the muster. And of course
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: it's brought to you by Sgt Dan's Stock Foods based
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: here in Gore.
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  Speaker 3: Kaka, good afternoon, how's the basin?
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Ah, the basin's, yeah, the basin's just the basin in September. Yeah,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: it's just doing its usual, really. So, yeah, no, we're
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: all right. Yeah, last week was a lot better than
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the week before. The week before was really wet. We
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: were sort of getting 15, 20 mils a day, and
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: that was getting a bit hard on things. But, yeah,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: last week was okay. We were just getting a lot
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: of wind with these sort of northerly winds. But, yeah, no,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: it'll be what it'll be, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: You don't like making comparisons in September, but how does
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  Speaker 2: this rank with the last two seasons at the same time?
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Oh, probably easier, I'd say. But I, yeah, the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the week before last, I was starting to think, oh,
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  Speaker 1: not three, four in a row. But, no, like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: we had a lot of rain late August last, early
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: September for the last two seasons so the last week's
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  Speaker 1: just been a bit of a blessing really yeah so
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  Speaker 1: no we're tracking okay it is what it is yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Things have dried out there a little bit then.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah no the wind's moving a bit of stuff out
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  Speaker 1: like there's still whopping big puddles everywhere on work ground
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  Speaker 1: and everything there'll be no panic heading tractors but yeah
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: it's just sort of good to have you know some
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  Speaker 1: nicer weather for lambing yeah So how's the drop been
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: so far? Uh, pretty good. I'd say we're, yeah, last
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  Speaker 1: week was great. So we've had a good run. Um,
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  Speaker 1: I think there was a few guys that were a
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  Speaker 1: bit earlier. They probably got caught out with some weather, but, um, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'd only really started when we had that sort of
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  Speaker 1: seven or eight days of rain. And, um, although it
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: was warm, it just sort of added quite a lot
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  Speaker 1: to the workload. Um, and then, yeah, it's been really
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  Speaker 1: good since. So, um, I've probably only got a week
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  Speaker 1: left in these BU's and then they'll be sort of
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  Speaker 1: shed out and, um, The Romneys are only sort of
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  Speaker 1: getting on the get-go really, but they're pretty easy. They
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  Speaker 1: are all younger sheep and seem to be able to
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  Speaker 1: do it. And you've just got lambs that are a
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  Speaker 1: wee bit tougher than these sub-techs. So usually by then, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: the end is there and you're just ticking your way around.
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  Speaker 2: Would you consider moving your lambing date based on the
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  Speaker 2: seasons being the way they've been or it's a case
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  Speaker 2: of it is what it is?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, like when I sort of came here 12 or
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  Speaker 1: 14 years ago, whenever that was... everyone was later in
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  Speaker 1: the month and a lot of us um progressive progressive
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  Speaker 1: middle-aged farmers went earlier um and yeah yeah it's probably
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  Speaker 1: not what's traditionally done up here but um like i've
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: got to get hindsight stocked in october these sort of
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  Speaker 1: stairs on crop that need to come out these It's
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  Speaker 1: trying to keep your sort of lambing date, average lambing
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  Speaker 1: date sort of a wee bit earlier so you can
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  Speaker 1: be moving stuff around in a mixed sort of livestock
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  Speaker 1: species farm. It's a bit different. But, yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: in a perfect world, we'd all be back on the
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  Speaker 1: 20th of September. But, yeah, I think we've just sort
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  Speaker 1: of got to be– we've had to come forward and
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  Speaker 1: that's how it is to sort of put everything out
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  Speaker 1: on this farm.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore, your farming synergy suggests you just stick to what
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  Speaker 2: you know.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, like, you know, that last week in August
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  Speaker 1: every year you have that lambing date discussion with yourself and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, like, yeah, it's always good to have a
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  Speaker 1: few different lambing dates so when you have rough stuff,
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  Speaker 1: you know, not everything's going at the same time and, like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we're sort of 3,400 sheep so when it
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  Speaker 1: was sort of just me here, like, you couldn't get
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  Speaker 1: around the whole lot by yourself so we went split
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  Speaker 1: lambing dates so something's got to come early and something's
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  Speaker 1: got to go. sort of got to stay where it is,
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  Speaker 1: and then, yeah, the hoggets are always a bit later. But, no, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm pretty happy where it is. If anything, you might
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  Speaker 1: shift it back five days on everything, but weather would
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  Speaker 1: make any difference. It all just comes down to sort
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  Speaker 1: of the weather pattern at the time, isn't it? And
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  Speaker 1: you just hope you're always going to get something rough,
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  Speaker 1: but you just hope you get something good as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. How intensive on the lambing bed are you then
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  Speaker 3: with that amount of use?
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  Speaker 1: Um... Oh, I don't get too carried away. I just
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  Speaker 1: worry about the 100% really. The rest of it will
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  Speaker 1: take care of itself. So if I've taken a ewe
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  Speaker 1: right through to now and I know there's a triplet
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  Speaker 1: in the next paddock I can grab, I'll grab and
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  Speaker 1: mother her on. But yeah, that's about the limit. We
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  Speaker 1: seem to take a bit of weight off the ewes
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  Speaker 1: over winter now and then they bounce back pretty good.
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  Speaker 1: So I don't sort of have a lot of casts
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  Speaker 1: or I haven't had, well, no, I've had two bearings, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so far out of 1,200 sheep. So that's pretty good. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so it is what it is. If you go too hard,
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  Speaker 1: you just cook yourself and sort of weak, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: And then, yeah, no. They should be able to land
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  Speaker 1: themselves these sheep, shouldn't they now? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: No, the argument's there, but old habits die hard at
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  Speaker 2: the same time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think all those habits have died hard. I
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  Speaker 1: used to do lambing beaks for people before and after
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  Speaker 1: Lincoln and that, just sort of paying off student loans.
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  Speaker 1: And we were marking twins and mothering up everything and
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  Speaker 1: mothering up twins and doing all sorts. Like, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know many people that go that gung-ho anymore. Yeah, it
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  Speaker 1: seems like our sheep have certainly got better. and yeah
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  Speaker 1: they're better mums and we don't have those sort of
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: same issues but you know when you're thinking and you
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  Speaker 1: don't really want to think like this but every lamb's
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  Speaker 1: worth $ 200 yeah you sort of it's not hard to
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  Speaker 1: put in a bit of extra effort but like I
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: said I just sort of worry about that 100% and
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  Speaker 1: you hope the next sort of 40 or 50% sort
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  Speaker 1: of takes care of itself then yeah if every ewe
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  Speaker 1: sort of rears a lamb that can then yeah the
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  Speaker 1: rest of it will be easy yeah Now, your.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Deer and cattle on your farming operation, how have they
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  Speaker 2: got through the winter?
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  Speaker 1: Ah, they're real good. Yeah, no, we've, we probably, um,
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  Speaker 1: we're just sort of putting in a bit more crop
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  Speaker 1: these days and, um, yeah, the hinds have sort of got,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: still got two weeks on swedes and then, yeah, some
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: trade steers, they're probably the same, two weeks, although they're
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  Speaker 1: getting pretty sick of it, but, um, yeah, they'll come
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  Speaker 1: off and we'll be able to shed out by then
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  Speaker 1: and have a bit of grass in front of them,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: so that'll be good. So, no, they're ticking away. Yeah, no,
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  Speaker 1: everything's good. I've got weaners all out on grass, and
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  Speaker 1: I've got heaps in front of them, and they're pinging along,
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  Speaker 1: so that's good. Yeah, that's what you want, because the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: sooner you can start moving a bit of deer out,
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  Speaker 1: a few weaners out as well, a few yearlings out,
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  Speaker 1: it sort of makes things easier done in October. Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 2: Do you move your cattle around and just stock them
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  Speaker 2: into paddocks for pasture control?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, there's obviously cows set stock with ewes at the moment, calving.
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  Speaker 1: And then, no, the steers will probably come off and
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  Speaker 1: go in behind yearling deer following them along or onto
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  Speaker 1: some young grass if I've been able to create enough
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  Speaker 1: space with using lambs which that's sort of how it's
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  Speaker 1: looking at the moment but nah like it's just you
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  Speaker 1: know what September and October like it's you just get
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  Speaker 1: through somehow you start at plan A and end up
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  Speaker 1: at plan Z and by the end of it there's
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  Speaker 1: grass growing in November yeah yeah I.
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  Speaker 3: Think it's fair to say you're looking pretty optimistic then
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  Speaker 3: at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you compare it to the last two years,
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  Speaker 1: like we're saying, we're in a better spot, I reckon. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it'll just depend on the next wee while. Yeah, if
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  Speaker 1: these sort of fronts keep coming. But, no, I think
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  Speaker 1: the basin will be sort of coming through OK. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: is my thoughts on it. Yeah.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Just finally, Kaka, the All Blacks, they got beaten by
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: the Box 3-1 in this series. Arguably the game yesterday
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: was a bit more of a festival feel, but a
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  Speaker 2: lot of commentary around how we're tracking in the lead-up
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  Speaker 2: to the World Cup.
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  Speaker 3: What do you reckon?
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  Speaker 1: I reckon we're fine. It's just that the Springboks are
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: just so strong at the moment. They are the world champions,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: and they showed it. in every game, at every level. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I don't have any answers for when we've got to
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  Speaker 1: play them again. But I think this squad and this
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: coach is good. And I think they'll sort of deal
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: with everyone else perfectly fine. Yeah, maybe the French will
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: be strong again. But, yeah, the Poms can always shock us,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: can't they? But, yeah, we'll find out at the end
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: of the year tour. But, no, they're... you've got to
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: take your hat off to the Springboks. There's not too
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  Speaker 1: many ways around them, that's for sure. Or through them,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: or under them, or over them. I really don't know. But, yeah,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: it's just how it is at the moment. We're not
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  Speaker 1: number one, and that's the go. Good on you, Kaki.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: I'll let you carry on. Always good to get your thoughts.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks, Andy. I hope everyone else in Slamming's going
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: all right, and there's a light at the end of
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: the tunnel. So, very good. Cheers, guys.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: It's up to me then.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Andy Dennis at Manapōuri in the Sgt Dan Farming Roundup.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Thanks to Sgt Dan Stock Foods here in Gore.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Ipukogal MP Penny Simmons. Penny Simmons is up next. This
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: is The Muster.