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The Muster Full Show: 21/09/26 · The Muster on Hokonui

0:03
Speaker 1: Good afternoon and welcome to the muster on Hokonui. Andy
0:06
Speaker 1: Muir here until two o'clock. Of course, the show is
0:09
Speaker 1: brought to you by Peter's Genetics. Welcome along. Will we
0:11
Speaker 1: see blue sky on the horizon? Yee-haw. How long is
0:15
Speaker 1: it going to last, though? That is the big question.
0:18
Speaker 1: We'll look at the weather shortly as we're still going
0:20
Speaker 1: through an unsettled weather pattern at the moment. Not that
0:23
Speaker 1: you need me to tell you that. A big weekend
0:26
Speaker 1: of sport, the WAS. The season ended last night against
0:29
Speaker 1: a very underrated Newcastle Knights side. And they go on
0:34
Speaker 1: to play Penrith Panthers in the preliminary final, they call it,
0:39
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins against the Roosters in the other one.
0:42
Speaker 1: But the WAS, the season comes to an end. And
0:45
Speaker 1: refereeing aside, you know, you win. You take the rest
0:48
Speaker 1: out of the equation. That's the argument, right? But pressure
0:51
Speaker 1: cooker situations too. Presenter, pressure... performances in one regards or another.
0:57
Speaker 1: The Stags as well, lost to the Naki pretty convincingly.
1:00
Speaker 1: But the big result from the weekend, shout out AJ
1:03
Speaker 1: Aitken and all the team with the Southland Development. They
1:06
Speaker 1: beat Canterbury B. They're not a development side, they're B,
1:08
Speaker 1: so terminology is everything I suppose. But they beat them
1:11
Speaker 1: 42 points to 17, which in the scheme of things
1:14
Speaker 1: was a massive win. massive result and maybe there's some
1:16
Speaker 1: messaging in there for the stag selectors only a couple
1:19
Speaker 1: of games left doesn't look like they're making the playoffs
1:22
Speaker 1: what a great chance to plug some more younger players
1:25
Speaker 1: like you've already got in there before the end of
1:27
Speaker 1: the season and not these ones who are going to
1:29
Speaker 1: turn up for two or three months but these people
1:31
Speaker 1: are going to stay true to the south there's something
1:33
Speaker 1: to ponder anyway tom petty that's tunes So this afternoon,
1:50
Speaker 1: rain developing later on with breezy nor'westerlies and 18, currently
1:54
Speaker 1: at 18. Tuesday, very similar rain developing with nor'westerlies, 1
1:58
Speaker 1: and 11. Wednesday, getting cooler, showers of breezy westerlies, 3
2:01
Speaker 1: and 9. Thursday, showers of breezy nor'westerlies, 4 and 12.
2:05
Speaker 1: And on Friday, morning showers with calm, variable winds, 3
2:09
Speaker 1: and 13. Soil temperatures, Clinton 8.9, Heriot 6.8, Northern Southland 8.5,
2:15
Speaker 1: Riverton 10.1, Te Anau 8.6, Titaroa 8.8, Winton 8 as well,
2:21
Speaker 1: Woodlands 8.3. Let's not forget either that revised Fonterra payout
2:26
Speaker 1: coming up this morning, midpoint range of $ 9.
2:29
Speaker 2: 50.
2:29
Speaker 1: So yeah, another positive there as well. John Pemberton gets
2:34
Speaker 1: us underway this afternoon in the Sargent Dam Farming Roundup,
2:37
Speaker 1: followed up by Eric Roy, talking about supermarkets and the
2:40
Speaker 1: correlation with all this election talk all of a sudden.
2:44
Speaker 1: Nigel Johnston farms at Mabel Bush, and some messaging around TB.
2:48
Speaker 1: Nigel's been pretty open and transparent regarding the struggles of
2:52
Speaker 1: TB in the past, and he just wants to talk
2:54
Speaker 1: about Grant McMaster and what he went through recently, and
2:58
Speaker 1: just puts it into perspective at the moment. Chris Wilson,
3:01
Speaker 1: one of many Chris Wilsons that live in the South,
3:03
Speaker 1: but this is Chris Wilson of Advanced Agriculture. He's on
3:06
Speaker 1: for a yarn, and then Senior Sergeant Gary Eddington out
3:09
Speaker 1: of the Gore Police. As we catch up, haven't done
3:12
Speaker 1: it for a while, but we'll start the hour next
3:13
Speaker 1: with John Pemberton. This is the muster until 2 o'clock,
3:16
Speaker 1: thanks to Peter's Genetics, 7 after 1. Oh yeah, alright,
3:23
Speaker 1: take it easy baby, make it last all night. John
3:29
Speaker 1: Pemberton farms at Brydon and joins us on the Sergeant
3:32
Speaker 1: Dan Farming Roundup where every Monday here on the muster
3:35
Speaker 1: we catch up with various farmers in different locations around
3:39
Speaker 1: the southern region. John O, good afternoon. How's the state
3:42
Speaker 1: of play down at Brydon?
3:45
Speaker 3: Oh, probably down to start the obvious. I think pretty
3:48
Speaker 3: much on par with what everyone else is stealing around
3:50
Speaker 3: south of me.
3:52
Speaker 1: Well, you were talking off air some horrendous rainfall figures
3:55
Speaker 1: for September. Yeah, um.
3:59
Speaker 3: I think we're up to 144, something I mentioned, and
4:02
Speaker 3: I had looked at the rain gauge then, and I
4:04
Speaker 3: think that's semi-pessimistic too, because I don't think I've got
4:08
Speaker 3: this rain gauge situated quite in the right spot. Is
4:10
Speaker 3: it actually going to move it? So it's way more exposed. So, yeah, no,
4:13
Speaker 3: it's been interesting, to.
4:17
Speaker 4: Say the least.
4:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, put me water kicking around. Yeah, but, look, everybody's
4:22
Speaker 3: in the same boat, same challenges, and I think that
4:24
Speaker 3: rain on... Was it Saturday night or Friday night? It's
4:28
Speaker 3: a bit of a blur. Friday night, yeah. Friday night,
4:33
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, that's sort of been a bit of
4:34
Speaker 3: a tick of the nuts for a few people from
4:35
Speaker 3: what I'm hearing. But, you know, we're on the same boat.
4:39
Speaker 3: Most of us are on the second round. There's still
4:42
Speaker 3: a bit of something floating around, but, you know, another
4:44
Speaker 3: three weeks that might change. Yeah, you know, Mother Nature
4:48
Speaker 3: gave us a heap of tucker coming into the winter and, yeah,
4:51
Speaker 3: obviously for good reason.
4:53
Speaker 1: What's your average rainfall there at Brighton? Do you have
4:55
Speaker 1: an understanding of what you're working on?
4:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're surprisingly not as high as you'd think. We're
5:01
Speaker 3: sort of around 940, 950 from memory, not too dissimilar
5:05
Speaker 3: to Gore. It's interesting, we can have rain park at
5:08
Speaker 3: the top of the Brighton Hill for a day and
5:10
Speaker 3: not come down to us. Very similarly, you know, I've
5:15
Speaker 3: been making baleage and there's been thunder plumps at Matara
5:18
Speaker 3: and gutters overflowing and we're sitting in the sunshine here. So, yeah,
5:22
Speaker 3: not as high rainfall as what you'd expect, to be honest.
5:24
Speaker 1: As far as your feed situation, though, are you negating?
5:27
Speaker 1: Things OK?
5:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, we had a luxury of having a heap
5:31
Speaker 3: of side on hand because we had the conversion block
5:34
Speaker 3: last year. We didn't get consent to milk off it until...
5:40
Speaker 3: later in the season so we were actually banking feed
5:43
Speaker 3: and obviously with the way the war that was going
5:45
Speaker 3: I was quite nervous about where things were going to
5:47
Speaker 3: go for supplement feed so I was banking having to
5:50
Speaker 3: feed out a fair bit of silage this year as
5:52
Speaker 3: it was so that has played into our favour but
5:55
Speaker 3: yeah just a fair bit of drainage and stuff and
5:58
Speaker 3: trying to get on top of that. probably weave it
6:01
Speaker 3: late in the game. And, um, yeah, a little bit
6:03
Speaker 3: challenging trying to get cows through paddocks. We were putting
6:05
Speaker 3: new lots in overflow and stuff, but that's just, that's
6:08
Speaker 3: just part and parcel of doing development and, um, the
6:11
Speaker 3: fun and games.
6:11
Speaker 4: Of it really.
6:12
Speaker 1: Especially where you're situated, Jono, you've got a whole new
6:15
Speaker 1: situation unfolding with a lot of R & Ms going on.
6:20
Speaker 5: Yeah.
6:20
Speaker 4: Yeah.
6:21
Speaker 3: No, it's been a big project. Um, sort of doing
6:23
Speaker 3: the last of it, we're hooking the last of it
6:25
Speaker 3: at the moment actually, we're just trying to get our
6:27
Speaker 3: panels up so we can get a loadout ramp done
6:29
Speaker 3: in the final room in the shed. And then that's
6:32
Speaker 3: this project picked off and then yeah, we've got to
6:35
Speaker 3: sort of just tie it up with a few fences
6:38
Speaker 3: and shift some troughs around and then we're pretty much
6:42
Speaker 3: done and dusted, all the re-grassing stuff got done leading
6:45
Speaker 3: into this, so yeah, just protecting that's probably my biggest
6:48
Speaker 3: challenge at the moment, all this young grass we've got,
6:50
Speaker 3: sort of half the platform's under two years old so
6:53
Speaker 3: just uh yeah managing that and um just yeah like
6:59
Speaker 3: everyone else making making a plan for the week and
7:01
Speaker 3: then uh rearranging that look we've been here before with
7:04
Speaker 3: these last bloody springs and um yeah i know there's
7:08
Speaker 3: a fair bit of anxiety out there amongst amongst people
7:10
Speaker 3: but um you know we got through some pretty tough
7:13
Speaker 3: ones and um yeah we'll do it again and um
7:17
Speaker 3: Just hopefully the summer's kind to us and hopefully the
7:22
Speaker 3: rain doesn't just turn off. I'm expecting it to before Christmas,
7:25
Speaker 3: having a wee pinch there, but you'd like to think
7:28
Speaker 3: our January's reliable and some rain comes back, but who
7:33
Speaker 3: knows with the way this weather pattern's going, what's going
7:35
Speaker 3: to happen. Not much good for fishing anyway, I can tell.
7:37
Speaker 4: You that much.
7:38
Speaker 1: Jono, that saying, pulling levers, is one that's become well
7:41
Speaker 1: known in the farmer's vocabulary over the past two or
7:45
Speaker 1: three years. What are you doing differently in that sense
7:48
Speaker 1: to try and negate the season?
7:52
Speaker 3: Not too dissimilar. I think just more around finding ways
7:57
Speaker 3: of actually being a leader manager is probably the thing
7:59
Speaker 3: I've been sort of working with in the Yeah, it's
8:02
Speaker 3: been a long stint as far as this conversion. So,
8:06
Speaker 3: you know, there hasn't been much time off at all
8:07
Speaker 3: for the last six months. But just, you know, if
8:12
Speaker 3: the job can wait till tomorrow, I'm not out there
8:13
Speaker 3: at six o'clock at night doing it. And, yeah, catching
8:17
Speaker 3: up with mates and just keeping the conversations going. And
8:19
Speaker 3: if you're having a crap day, you know, you can
8:23
Speaker 3: even be sure that you'll ring a mate and you're
8:25
Speaker 3: having a crap day too. So, yeah, that's probably the
8:27
Speaker 3: biggest thing. I think we're, you know, Southland dairy farmers–
8:31
Speaker 3: have always sort of been reasonably, um, capable of, of
8:35
Speaker 3: managing these, these situations. You look at the, the shed
8:38
Speaker 3: feeding systems that are gone and now and feed pads
8:41
Speaker 3: and such like, um, and, you know, people have been proactive, uh,
8:45
Speaker 3: when they can get the window getting nitrogen on, you know,
8:49
Speaker 3: not being silly about it, but getting a window where
8:51
Speaker 3: they can get it on, they're getting choppers booked in
8:52
Speaker 3: and getting it done. Um, so yeah, I, I think
8:57
Speaker 3: it's more about, um, How do you manage yourself so
9:01
Speaker 3: that when you're not on farm, it's not ruining that
9:04
Speaker 3: time at home either?
9:05
Speaker 4: Because I think that's where it.
9:06
Speaker 3: Challenges for a lot of the stuff is you go
9:08
Speaker 3: home and the crap on the farm can follow you
9:10
Speaker 3: on the door sometimes.
9:12
Speaker 1: What about staff? How are they handling a situation like
9:14
Speaker 1: this where it's another wet season?
9:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, you've just got to manage it. We run
9:19
Speaker 3: a five-on-two off system this year. We're overstaffed just because
9:24
Speaker 3: we knew we had projects happening. So we've got the
9:26
Speaker 3: luxury of plenty of labour. But going forward, you know,
9:31
Speaker 3: there won't be the situation next season. But, yeah, it's
9:34
Speaker 3: just about having some nice, simple systems, I think, is
9:38
Speaker 3: the key. And, you know, we just make sure staff
9:41
Speaker 3: are getting a good amount of time off during the day.
9:43
Speaker 3: So a minimum of two hours during the day they
9:47
Speaker 3: take off, if not up to four. And so we're
9:51
Speaker 3: not doing much more than nine hours a day maximum
9:53
Speaker 3: type thing. So for me, it's just more about... um
9:57
Speaker 3: uh you know just saying stuff like go home get
9:59
Speaker 3: warm um i'll see in a couple of hours and
10:02
Speaker 3: you know just we changed a few things around this
10:04
Speaker 3: year we actually tried doing the cloths in the afternoon
10:06
Speaker 3: when the thick of it and that was um a
10:09
Speaker 3: lot to allow engineers and stuff to get back in
10:10
Speaker 3: the shed and catch up on the job so you
10:12
Speaker 3: hadn't quite got done while the start of carving and
10:15
Speaker 3: then we actually stuck with that program it worked quite
10:16
Speaker 3: well actually because it um You know, people come back
10:20
Speaker 3: after lunch reasonably fresh to deal with the fresh cows,
10:23
Speaker 3: especially the heifers. So I found that worked a lot
10:26
Speaker 3: better for temperament of staff and animals in the shed.
10:28
Speaker 3: So we might carry on with that programme of doing
10:30
Speaker 3: colostrums straight after lunch before the milk is going forward
10:35
Speaker 3: next season because, yeah, I think it seemed to... the
10:39
Speaker 3: staff seemed quite happy to do it that way. So, yeah,
10:42
Speaker 3: it's just those wee things that you learn and tweak
10:45
Speaker 3: your systems. Just be adaptable, I suppose, and... You know,
10:49
Speaker 3: look for, you know, talk to mates who are doing stuff.
10:52
Speaker 3: You know, that's where I get most of my ideas
10:53
Speaker 3: is pinching my mates who are already doing it.
10:55
Speaker 1: And, of course, you've got the world-famous Gorge Road Squash
10:58
Speaker 1: Club to look forward to tonight, along with one of
11:00
Speaker 1: our other correspondents coming up very shortly on the show.
11:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, and, look, that's been real pivotal, that stuff. Look, key,
11:07
Speaker 3: that stuff. That's the stuff where you, you know.
11:11
Speaker 3: Dare I say, you don't want to go home and
11:12
Speaker 3: complain to your wife about how the day's gone, but
11:14
Speaker 3: you do want to discuss some issues, and sometimes that's
11:16
Speaker 3: a group you can go down and have a yarn,
11:19
Speaker 3: and they'll throw you. They would approach the problem, and
11:22
Speaker 3: quite often it's a solution right there for you. So, yeah,
11:25
Speaker 3: the old squash club, it's certainly more about the rack
11:28
Speaker 3: and ball.
11:29
Speaker 1: Good on you, John. I'll leave it there. We'll catch
11:31
Speaker 1: up again. All the best.
11:33
Speaker 6: Cheers, Andy.
11:33
Speaker 1: See you, mate. John Pemberton of Brydon and the Sgt
11:38
Speaker 1: Dan Farming Roundup. Thanks, of course, to Sgt Dan's Stock
11:40
Speaker 1: Foods here in Gore. Eric Roy's up next talking politics.
11:44
Speaker 1: You're listening to The Muster. This is The Muster on Hakanui.
11:56
Speaker 1: Eric Roy joins us talking politics on a Monday. Good afternoon, Eric.
12:01
Speaker 1: A little bit of blue sky around. It's some respite.
12:04
Speaker 5: It lifts our whole attitude to life, us poor cockies
12:07
Speaker 5: that have been in their oil skins and their waterproof
12:13
Speaker 5: trousers and the gumboots and the balaclavas and the gloves.
12:16
Speaker 5: So to have a bit of a change, very much appreciated.
12:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, a few of your fellow politicians of Wellington could
12:23
Speaker 1: learn a lot from a southern spring.
12:26
Speaker 5: Well, I had this saying once, which is often quoted,
12:29
Speaker 5: you shouldn't be in politics until you've had a bad lambing.
12:32
Speaker 5: And that's when you learn resilience and sometimes you've just
12:37
Speaker 5: got to do what you can do and it's not
12:39
Speaker 5: going for you and all of that sort of thing.
12:41
Speaker 5: So it's often a quoted statement, actually.
12:45
Speaker 1: How do you think Chloe Sport, Rick, would go putting
12:47
Speaker 1: a bearing back in?
12:50
Speaker 5: Well, it'd probably be quite an interesting discussion explaining exactly
12:54
Speaker 5: what had gone wrong.
12:57
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting nonetheless. But look, this is a big topic.
13:03
Speaker 1: Especially recently, supermarket duopolies. The National coming out proposing a
13:08
Speaker 1: change there. Labour coming out as well. Now they want
13:11
Speaker 1: to split up foodstuffs and Woolworths to run wholesale separately
13:15
Speaker 1: to their retail stores.
13:17
Speaker 5: Let's back up the bus a bit. Why is everybody
13:20
Speaker 5: so inclusive of all this in their narrative? So all
13:24
Speaker 5: of the parties, not only poll who are they supporting,
13:29
Speaker 5: they also poll what are key issues. So Taken off
13:32
Speaker 5: the table with Houston was secure crime and policing, and
13:40
Speaker 5: that's been dealt with. So the other issues are health
13:43
Speaker 5: and cost of living. And cost of living has come up,
13:46
Speaker 5: and people are saying cost of groceries. So all of
13:48
Speaker 5: the parties have kind of got themselves locked into making
13:52
Speaker 5: statements because if they don't, their polling will show them
13:56
Speaker 5: they don't care. So that's kind of the driver, in
13:59
Speaker 5: my view, of what's happening out there. and if you
14:04
Speaker 5: look at some of the detail around that, I'm not
14:07
Speaker 5: sure there's a lot can be done. I think probably,
14:10
Speaker 5: I'll get back to your question in a minute, but
14:13
Speaker 5: the thing that the party should be focused on is
14:16
Speaker 5: actually the way we get through this is have some growth,
14:19
Speaker 5: increase people's incomes, so it's not such a big issue.
14:23
Speaker 5: There's not a lot can be done. When we're celebrating,
14:26
Speaker 5: on one hand, the success of our primary produce overseas...
14:32
Speaker 5: and then growling about the cost of groceries internally. So, yeah, look,
14:37
Speaker 5: it's a very, very difficult thing. And I think probably
14:40
Speaker 5: the Nats have come out and said, well, when you've
14:42
Speaker 5: got over 80% in the hands of two, we're going
14:45
Speaker 5: to have a serious look at breaking that up. That's
14:47
Speaker 5: probably fair enough. The rest of it doesn't make sense
14:51
Speaker 5: to me. Chloe's, let's have a national... Retail outlets for groceries, well,
14:59
Speaker 5: of course they're doing well within New Zealand, the national thing,
15:02
Speaker 5: aren't they? That doesn't make any sense. And then breaking
15:05
Speaker 5: up the distribution networks, I don't know whether that'll work
15:09
Speaker 5: or not. It's quite a complex issue.
15:13
Speaker 1: Would you trust Chloe more at organising a supermarket or
15:17
Speaker 1: doing a bearing?
15:19
Speaker 5: Well, I don't think she'd be very good at either, really,
15:21
Speaker 5: but we'll see. I actually understand that polling... in Auckland
15:26
Speaker 5: Central's got her as unlikely to win at the moment,
15:29
Speaker 5: so that'll be another interesting to watch on November the
15:33
Speaker 5: 7th to just see what's happening there.
15:35
Speaker 1: Based on the polling we're seeing at the moment, Eric,
15:38
Speaker 1: how realistic is it the top gets over 5%? Or
15:41
Speaker 1: have they peaked?
15:43
Speaker 5: Well, I think they might have peaked a little bit soon,
15:46
Speaker 5: but now that they're looking like they'll be a player,
15:51
Speaker 5: it's doing two things. People are bringing scrutiny... onto what
15:56
Speaker 5: this will actually mean and what is bottom lines for
15:59
Speaker 5: them and how effective will that be. And the other
16:03
Speaker 5: thing it's bringing scrutiny onto is, and if Luxton's ruled
16:06
Speaker 5: them out, what will it mean to a coalition of
16:09
Speaker 5: the left, which now will probably include four parties, and
16:14
Speaker 5: what will the impact of that will be. And so
16:16
Speaker 5: to that degree... I think there's a movement back to
16:20
Speaker 5: the right coalition at the moment. Whether that continues up
16:24
Speaker 5: until November the 7th or not, we'll just have to
16:27
Speaker 5: wait and see. But let's just hope for some more
16:31
Speaker 5: scrutiny on what that will mean and who's likely to
16:34
Speaker 5: be the end product of an election when coalitions are formed.
16:39
Speaker 1: Because there seems to be a mentality amongst voters in
16:41
Speaker 1: certain parts of the country is that they're just disenchanted
16:45
Speaker 1: with the status quo and they're not going to make
16:47
Speaker 1: up their mind until they're in the polling booth.
16:50
Speaker 5: Well, that's the case. Look, when you go door knocking,
16:54
Speaker 5: which I've done in years gone by, what actually drives
16:59
Speaker 5: people is quite soul-destroying if you're a politician. There's no
17:03
Speaker 5: sense in nationhood or anything else It's what can impact
17:08
Speaker 5: my pocket the best, and I don't sort of care
17:10
Speaker 5: about anybody else, is a prevalent statement. Now, exit polls
17:15
Speaker 5: have actually shown sometimes that up to 17% of those
17:19
Speaker 5: voting don't know what they're going to do when they
17:21
Speaker 5: pick up the orange pen. And when you look at
17:25
Speaker 5: undersided and all of the polls now, it's probably sitting
17:28
Speaker 5: about that at the moment. So this great rush to
17:32
Speaker 5: get everybody to go and vote, I hope have some
17:36
Speaker 5: difficulty accepting that it's a great outcome when people haven't
17:39
Speaker 5: actually given consideration to implications of what their orange pen
17:45
Speaker 5: effect will be.
17:47
Speaker 1: Do you think election fatigue is occurring at the moment, Eric?
17:50
Speaker 1: We've got the situation regarding the TV where you're hearing
17:54
Speaker 1: a lot about it. Social media is plastered with politicians
17:57
Speaker 1: and you've got the billboards. And we've still got, what
17:59
Speaker 1: are we? We're still a couple of months out, we're
18:01
Speaker 1: just about six weeks out from the election.
18:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, look, there's no doubt that a significant number of
18:07
Speaker 5: the population don't like elections. They don't like their TV
18:11
Speaker 5: being taken over. They don't like being challenged. They maybe
18:14
Speaker 5: don't like to have to make decisions and the responsibility
18:19
Speaker 5: of that. So whether it's voter fatigue or I just
18:22
Speaker 5: think a percentage of people aren't really that engaged in
18:26
Speaker 5: the whole process. And it's interesting when you talk to
18:30
Speaker 5: some people, They decide, I really don't care. It doesn't
18:34
Speaker 5: make any difference. Well, they have to dispute that. It
18:38
Speaker 5: does make a difference. And there's some things we don't
18:40
Speaker 5: want to repeat. And we need to learn from history
18:43
Speaker 5: and see who's doing the job and where we're likely
18:46
Speaker 5: to end up and what this actually means for our
18:48
Speaker 5: country in the long run. And I just wish more
18:50
Speaker 5: people would approach it from that point of view.
18:53
Speaker 1: But a four-party coalition on the left, though, that's all
18:56
Speaker 1: the ammo that National Act and New Zealand First, or
19:01
Speaker 1: presumably New Zealand First, goes with the status quo. That's
19:03
Speaker 1: all they really need, though, isn't it?
19:06
Speaker 5: Well, I still have concerns about New Zealand First. Like,
19:10
Speaker 5: they've said they won't go with Labour. What will Winston
19:13
Speaker 5: do if Labour says to Winston, we'll go with you
19:18
Speaker 5: and you can be Prime Minister? That just gives him
19:20
Speaker 5: a free run to do what he likes, and if
19:22
Speaker 5: they can... If New Zealand First numbers mean that they
19:25
Speaker 5: can drop two or three of their coalition of the left,
19:29
Speaker 5: stand by and watch what happens.
19:31
Speaker 1: You honestly believe that would still be on the table?
19:33
Speaker 1: I mean, how about Mark Patterson? He's done a great
19:36
Speaker 1: job being Associate Minister of Ag. Jason Herrocks put his
19:39
Speaker 1: name on the box down here in the South. He
19:41
Speaker 1: doesn't know where Jason is on the party list. But
19:43
Speaker 1: those guys going with the left, like Jason especially has said,
19:47
Speaker 1: you know, he's been very negative regarding the Labour Party.
19:50
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, Mark went with them last time round, so
19:55
Speaker 5: I don't think they have a big say in what
19:58
Speaker 5: Winston First decides to do. I think him and Shane
20:01
Speaker 5: will make the call.
20:03
Speaker 1: Interesting times, Eric. We'll leave it there. We'll catch up again.
20:07
Speaker 5: Good one. Look forward to it.
20:11
Speaker 1: Eric Roy talking politics. Fascinating. This talk around New Zealand
20:16
Speaker 1: first and what happens there. I think the talk was
20:19
Speaker 1: he wouldn't go with the left as long as Chris
20:21
Speaker 1: Hipkins was leader. So time will tell on that one
20:26
Speaker 1: very shortly too as we get towards the election proper.
20:29
Speaker 1: We're away to catch up with Nigel Johnson next. Now
20:33
Speaker 1: Nigel is based at, where is Nigel? Welcome back. This
20:46
Speaker 1: is the muster. We're away to Mabel Bush. Couldn't think
20:49
Speaker 1: of that name before, but I finally spat it out.
20:52
Speaker 1: Nigel Johnson, farming up that way. Good afternoon, Nige. How
20:55
Speaker 1: are you?
20:57
Speaker 3: Very good.
20:57
Speaker 2: Thanks, Andy.
20:58
Speaker 7: Yep, one of the many bush districts in Southland, but
21:02
Speaker 7: Mabel Bush just south of Hedgehog.
21:04
Speaker 1: Where does the name Mabel Bush come from? Give us
21:06
Speaker 1: a geography lesson.
21:09
Speaker 7: I believe it was one of the surveyors' wives' names.
21:13
Speaker 7: And that's why it's spelt Mabel. You may be E-L,
21:17
Speaker 7: as in a woman's name.
21:18
Speaker 1: Interesting. This history that's associated with every area, and you
21:23
Speaker 1: actually understand the meaning, and, yeah, it kind of makes sense.
21:26
Speaker 7: Well, I'm starting to feel like a local. We've been
21:29
Speaker 7: here for 20 years now, and one of the more
21:32
Speaker 7: difficult springs, but really only on a par with the
21:35
Speaker 7: last couple of years.
21:37
Speaker 1: We know the situation at the moment. It's been pretty wet.
21:39
Speaker 1: We've got blue sky and some wind around here, gore today.
21:43
Speaker 1: How have you been coping down there Nige?
21:46
Speaker 7: I'm going to stay positive and in preparation for your
21:50
Speaker 7: call I was just thinking how to keep this in perspective.
21:54
Speaker 7: I was somewhat shocked with this data that came out
21:57
Speaker 7: regarding rainfall with Environment Southland because honestly this has been
22:02
Speaker 7: tough this spring but it doesn't feel as bad as
22:05
Speaker 7: the last couple of springs and I guess the real
22:07
Speaker 7: challenge is what happens in the next couple of weeks here.
22:10
Speaker 7: So When I run my ruler over it, we've been
22:14
Speaker 7: in much worse situations. When I was younger and less experienced,
22:20
Speaker 7: faster rounds, not as much milking quality supplement on hand,
22:26
Speaker 7: and lower covers at this time of the year. So
22:29
Speaker 7: I think we've managed that reasonably well. But in saying that,
22:32
Speaker 7: it's tight. We're just over 2,000 cover on a 30-day round.
22:36
Speaker 7: So another week of sunshine would certainly brighten things up.
22:41
Speaker 1: What's been the primary difference then? You say it feels
22:44
Speaker 1: different to the past two springs.
22:47
Speaker 7: I think in terms of how we've managed the cover.
22:50
Speaker 7: So we had a reasonable winter for growing grass. So
22:55
Speaker 7: even if it was wetter, I think definitely soil temperatures
22:58
Speaker 7: were warmer. So we started calving at about 2600 cover
23:02
Speaker 7: against a budget of 2200. the issue we've got now
23:06
Speaker 7: is that we're 2000 cover and I'd prefer to be
23:09
Speaker 7: at least 21 preferably 2200 but the irony that I
23:13
Speaker 7: see in all this is there have been some Septembers
23:16
Speaker 7: where we've actually mown baleage off the dairy platform to
23:20
Speaker 7: get down to this sort of cover just to maintain
23:22
Speaker 7: grass quality so every season can be different and I
23:26
Speaker 7: guess that's where I take more positivity from is we're
23:30
Speaker 7: lucky we've been here a long time we've got some
23:32
Speaker 7: really good records and trend data, and we can use
23:37
Speaker 7: that information to make good decisions. So one of the
23:42
Speaker 7: other numbers I was just monitoring this morning, it feels
23:44
Speaker 7: like we've had a lot of clinical mastitis in the
23:47
Speaker 7: dairy herd. Our cell count's higher than it has been
23:51
Speaker 7: for a while, but the actual numbers of clinical mastitis
23:55
Speaker 7: are actually only about half of last year, so it's
23:57
Speaker 7: really easy to focus on the negative when the weather's
24:00
Speaker 7: against you, but if you take some time to... get
24:03
Speaker 7: your head out of the mud as such, some of
24:05
Speaker 7: these results are actually going quite well.
24:07
Speaker 1: Now you're on a once-a-day milking system there. How's that
24:10
Speaker 1: been in the last few weeks?
24:14
Speaker 7: Well, the problem is we've been once-a-day for so long
24:16
Speaker 7: it feels normal. I guess tongue-in-cheek I could say the
24:20
Speaker 7: real problem with being once-a-day already is there's nowhere left
24:23
Speaker 7: to go.
24:23
Speaker 3: I do believe there.
24:25
Speaker 7: Was a guy that tried milking every second day and
24:27
Speaker 7: it didn't go so well for him. The true benefit
24:31
Speaker 7: of milking once a day at this time of the
24:32
Speaker 7: year is that ability to take pressure off cows. So
24:36
Speaker 7: we can, rather than running them through the shed again,
24:39
Speaker 7: we can shift them on to another feed and only
24:44
Speaker 7: milking once a day. And the other thing is we
24:46
Speaker 7: only milk in the daylight, so we don't start milking
24:48
Speaker 7: until 8 o'clock in the morning, which takes the pressure
24:51
Speaker 7: off people, which means we've got more time to focus
24:54
Speaker 7: on cows and pasture and feed. It's a bit like
24:57
Speaker 7: we've talked on here before. I've been playing squash down
25:00
Speaker 7: at Gorge Road, and it's the same sort of challenge.
25:04
Speaker 7: We mix with like-minded people, share information, and it's a
25:08
Speaker 7: bit easier to keep your head, as I say, looking
25:11
Speaker 7: at the bright, shiny stuff rather than getting stuck in
25:15
Speaker 7: the negativity.
25:17
Speaker 1: That's exactly what John Pemberton was saying before, Nige, was
25:21
Speaker 1: that's a good outlet for you guys to go down
25:23
Speaker 1: there for an hour, a couple of hours, have a
25:25
Speaker 1: couple of quiets and chew the fat, then go home
25:28
Speaker 1: and just re-establish yourselves and think about tomorrow.
25:32
Speaker 7: Speaking of trying to stay positive, because it's, like, farming's tough,
25:37
Speaker 7: and this has been hard work, and when I say
25:40
Speaker 7: there's no one on farm before 8 o'clock, I've gone
25:41
Speaker 7: out at really oddball hours to shift cows on in
25:44
Speaker 7: the middle of the night, avoiding storms, but Unfortunately, I've
25:47
Speaker 7: had life kept in perspective a bit. I just had
25:50
Speaker 7: a friend us away in a car crash on the weekend,
25:53
Speaker 7: which makes you realise you've got to maintain your friendships
25:56
Speaker 7: and enjoy life on the way through. And then I
25:59
Speaker 7: think I heard you on the radio last week talking
26:01
Speaker 7: to Grant McMaster with his TV outbreak, which is recently
26:05
Speaker 7: close to home for our system. We had TV in
26:08
Speaker 7: the herd in 2011. And I think for those listeners
26:13
Speaker 7: that didn't hear it, I'd search it up on the podcast.
26:16
Speaker 7: It was for such a terrible, stressful situation for him
26:20
Speaker 7: to go through, to come out with such a positive outlook.
26:23
Speaker 7: And the wins that I took from that is that
26:26
Speaker 7: this TB infection was identified in a cull animal going
26:31
Speaker 7: through the meatworks. So our surveillance systems work and work well.
26:35
Speaker 7: And with the testing, DNA profiling and testing, and the
26:40
Speaker 7: time between tests and getting information, it can be a
26:46
Speaker 7: reasonably proactive stance to get a good result for a farmer.
26:50
Speaker 1: Well, firstly, Nige, condolences over your loss from that crash
26:55
Speaker 1: over the weekend as well. That's just something that you
26:57
Speaker 1: can't describe.
27:00
Speaker 7: No, and that's, as I say, I'll try and take
27:04
Speaker 7: the positive, is that... it keeps life in perspective for
27:08
Speaker 7: the rest of us, but it's brutal on the way through.
27:11
Speaker 1: Isn't it? Absolutely, mate. But on the TB side of it,
27:15
Speaker 1: like Disasters Yarn last week was very frank and upfront
27:18
Speaker 1: about the situation around TB, and as you say, it
27:22
Speaker 1: puts things into perspective, and you know about this as
27:25
Speaker 1: good as anybody, too. That's the thing.
27:28
Speaker 7: Yeah. And it's getting harder because it's such a success story.
27:33
Speaker 7: I mean, what have we done now to 22 herds
27:35
Speaker 7: across the country? is there will still be TB outbreaks,
27:39
Speaker 7: because there is still TB in some wild animals that's
27:43
Speaker 7: yet to be trapped and numbers suppressed to the right
27:46
Speaker 7: levels in parts of the country. So, unfortunately, there will
27:49
Speaker 7: still be farmers tied up in this, and it could
27:52
Speaker 7: be really quite isolating, and that's why we're getting a
27:57
Speaker 7: trial run for it in weather like this, isn't it?
27:59
Speaker 7: My advice would be make sure you keep your networks broad,
28:02
Speaker 7: mixed with some good positive people, and... Keep your eye
28:05
Speaker 7: on the price. When you analyse the data, we're running
28:09
Speaker 7: some really exciting businesses that go pretty well financially and
28:14
Speaker 7: environmentally and for the people involved. So, yeah, I'm just
28:18
Speaker 7: trying to stay positive.
28:20
Speaker 1: Now, when you talk about the season ahead, what really
28:23
Speaker 1: excites you about that in the farming side of things?
28:27
Speaker 7: Oh, I went farming to make a profit. So that
28:30
Speaker 7: obviously is easier as the milk price is higher. The challenge,
28:34
Speaker 7: I guess, is controlling expenses. And for us watching system creep,
28:39
Speaker 7: I quite like our system in terms of what it
28:42
Speaker 7: enables us to do. But we always question whether we
28:47
Speaker 7: should stick with it with the changing dynamics. One of
28:51
Speaker 7: those for us is the profit that's been made on
28:55
Speaker 7: board and feed. We haven't really participated in the last
28:58
Speaker 7: couple of years. but maybe those dynamics are changing and
29:02
Speaker 7: I love that part of the business, analysing that, making
29:05
Speaker 7: a decision and seeing it happen at a grassroots level.
29:08
Speaker 1: Nigel Johnston and Mabel Bush, thanks very much for your
29:10
Speaker 1: time on the muster once again. Keep on keeping on.
29:20
Speaker 1: Nigel Johnston, farming at Mabel Bush. You're listening to The Muster.
29:23
Speaker 1: Chris Wilson's up next with advanced agriculture. And before the
29:26
Speaker 1: end of the hour, Senior Sergeant Gary Eddington of the
29:28
Speaker 1: Gore Police. Into the great wide open Under them skies
29:44
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the muster. Chris Wilson joins us now
29:47
Speaker 1: out of Advanced Agriculture. Chris, good afternoon. It's been a
29:51
Speaker 1: wet start to spring. We stayed in the obvious there.
29:54
Speaker 1: You guys, you'll know the situation on the farm as
29:57
Speaker 1: good as anyone.
29:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, afternoon Andy.
30:00
Speaker 6: Yep, it's blowing up here in Belford today, but It's
30:04
Speaker 6: just drying up the puddles so they can fill up
30:07
Speaker 6: again tonight by the sound of it, by the forecast.
30:09
Speaker 1: How are you guys finding the situation, Chris? I mean,
30:12
Speaker 1: not many people will be buying much spray at the moment,
30:15
Speaker 1: all things considered.
30:16
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, if it's not raining, it's blowing, so it's
30:19
Speaker 6: pretty hard to get the sprayers going in this weather. But, yeah,
30:21
Speaker 6: it's just, I guess it's our third spring in a
30:23
Speaker 6: row like this, so we're getting pretty good at... knowing
30:27
Speaker 6: how to handle it and knowing that being patient with
30:32
Speaker 6: working ground and getting crops in is the best way forward.
30:35
Speaker 1: So that's the key messaging around all this, you reckon.
30:37
Speaker 1: You've just got to be patient. Don't be like a
30:40
Speaker 1: bull at a gate. Just take your time. Just because
30:43
Speaker 1: there will be an outcome eventually.
30:46
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's right. If you drill your crops into good
30:49
Speaker 6: ground conditions with rising soil temperature and not sodden soils,
30:54
Speaker 6: they'll they'll be catching up in no time compared to
30:57
Speaker 6: putting it in in not ideal situations like we've got
31:00
Speaker 6: right now.
31:01
Speaker 1: Like the fodder beet, for example, how late realistically can
31:04
Speaker 1: you put it in the ground?
31:06
Speaker 6: Well, with a lot of the fodder beet, a lot
31:09
Speaker 6: of it's aimed at late winter finishing for beef. So
31:12
Speaker 6: a lot of those guys are still on the crops
31:14
Speaker 6: for the next month or so. So yeah, right up
31:17
Speaker 6: to mid-December is fine for getting a good crop. for
31:20
Speaker 6: that late winter grazing, but it all depends on when
31:23
Speaker 6: you want to graze it. Andy, there's some dairy farmers
31:25
Speaker 6: that want to graze in the autumn. They'll be aiming
31:28
Speaker 6: for the end of October to get theirs in.
31:30
Speaker 1: It's just a wet season. We've experienced it three in
31:33
Speaker 1: a row now, and farmers are constantly having to re-evaluate
31:37
Speaker 1: what they want to get done on a daily process almost.
31:42
Speaker 6: Yeah, a lot of our first edition crop plans have
31:46
Speaker 6: gone out the window and we're on to second and third.
31:49
Speaker 6: You've just got to keep moving with the weather and
31:53
Speaker 6: planning to suit.
31:54
Speaker 1: Is that the message you're getting from farmers at the moment,
31:56
Speaker 1: having to adapt to a plan C, D, E, F, etc.
32:00
Speaker 6: Yeah, but we're not late yet, so there's no point
32:05
Speaker 6: panicking about knocking your lamb tucker in.
32:08
Speaker 3: By the end of September.
32:09
Speaker 6: Yeah, last year we were putting our lamb finishing crops
32:13
Speaker 6: in in mid-November and they are still maturing in time
32:16
Speaker 6: for a weaning. So, yeah, the crops seem to know
32:18
Speaker 6: when they're late and they race to catch up.
32:21
Speaker 1: And crops, lots of swedes, for example, or kale going
32:24
Speaker 1: in in January, for goodness sake, you know, that works
32:27
Speaker 1: too if maybe it's a worst-case scenario and everyone's circumstances
32:31
Speaker 1: are different, but there are options.
32:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
32:34
Speaker 6: There's a lot of kale goes in next winter barley.
32:37
Speaker 6: and even next winter wheat. So some of that stuff's
32:39
Speaker 6: not going in until Waitangi weekend or even slightly later,
32:42
Speaker 6: and they're still getting crops this time of year. So, yeah,
32:44
Speaker 6: we know we can push that envelope with sowing out
32:47
Speaker 6: a lot more. And swedes, yeah, there's not many swedes
32:50
Speaker 6: planted before the start of December these days. They seem
32:54
Speaker 6: to appreciate going into a nice warm summer, and they
32:56
Speaker 6: hit the winter with good leaf cover on them.
33:00
Speaker 1: Hey, you guys are in advance, Ag. You're sponsored by
33:02
Speaker 1: Stevo the Stag, although the old Stevo, this is Stevo
33:06
Speaker 1: version 2. What's the story there?
33:09
Speaker 6: Well, it hasn't been 100% confirmed, but I think the
33:13
Speaker 6: rumour says that the old Stevo costume might have just
33:16
Speaker 6: ended up stinking a bit. It's pretty hard to wash
33:19
Speaker 6: those things, and there's some big sweaty boys get round
33:20
Speaker 6: on those. So I think it just ran its course
33:25
Speaker 6: with people wearing it.
33:27
Speaker 1: That's one of the great all-time answers. So you're telling
33:29
Speaker 1: me that Steve-O doesn't come with deodorant?
33:32
Speaker 6: I don't think so, no. No, so I think this
33:35
Speaker 6: one's smelling a lot fresher by all reports.
33:37
Speaker 1: Well, that old Steve-O was in commission for quite a
33:39
Speaker 1: while before he went to the works.
33:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:43
Speaker 6: Some of our guys had the privilege of wearing his
33:45
Speaker 6: costume on various occasions around the district. And yeah, they
33:51
Speaker 6: said sometimes you had to hold your nose on a nice,
33:53
Speaker 6: humid day.
33:55
Speaker 1: None of your guys actually were a steve-o on game
33:57
Speaker 1: day down at Stagg Stadium at all?
33:59
Speaker 4: Not officially, no.
34:00
Speaker 6: No, just, yeah, we just got them on contract the
34:03
Speaker 6: occasional time.
34:04
Speaker 1: Just on the Staggs yesterday too, the game clash with
34:07
Speaker 1: the Waz, but an under-resting couple of weeks for the Staggs.
34:09
Speaker 1: Had their win against Bay of Plenty. They go up
34:11
Speaker 1: to the Naki and it seems to be one step forward,
34:14
Speaker 1: two steps back, but still a couple of games to go, right?
34:17
Speaker 6: Yeah, that game against Bay of Plenty, they just seemed
34:20
Speaker 6: to click that day, didn't they?
34:22
Speaker 5: Yeah.
34:22
Speaker 6: And yesterday they were in it for the first half
34:25
Speaker 6: of the first. Yeah, they were right there at halftime,
34:28
Speaker 6: although they weren't too far behind. But, yeah, hopefully next
34:32
Speaker 6: week against Northland, I think, is it next week?
34:34
Speaker 1: They've got Canterbury away this week and Northland at home
34:37
Speaker 1: for the last game.
34:38
Speaker 6: Yeah, that Northland game with the fireworks display, hopefully we
34:42
Speaker 6: can get a good crowd to send them off because
34:43
Speaker 6: they've given us some good highlights this season.
34:46
Speaker 1: Well, it's Southland Stags to the quarter, wasn't it? I mean,
34:50
Speaker 1: it's a rollercoaster.
34:52
Speaker 6: That's right, yep. It's a bit like being a WAS fan.
34:54
Speaker 6: You never know what you're going to get.
34:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, what did you make of that? With that result,
34:58
Speaker 1: do you blame the ref or just the fact that
35:00
Speaker 1: they lost to a better team on the day?
35:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, they just didn't play well enough and I think
35:04
Speaker 6: the injuries kept compounding on them. If we had won,
35:08
Speaker 6: we wouldn't have been able to put a good 13
35:10
Speaker 6: on the field next week either. So, yeah, it might
35:12
Speaker 6: be a blessing in disguise and hopefully we'll go one
35:15
Speaker 6: further next year.
35:16
Speaker 1: I think there has to be a lot of credit
35:18
Speaker 1: given to a very, very good Newcastle side, which we
35:20
Speaker 1: didn't see in the media. But nonetheless, Chris, look, if
35:23
Speaker 1: people want to get in touch and just talk about options,
35:25
Speaker 1: what's the best way to touch base?
35:28
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, just the same as usual. Andy, just go
35:31
Speaker 6: on our website if you don't have a reps number
35:34
Speaker 6: and all the reps are there with their territories listed down.
35:38
Speaker 6: So that's the easiest way or.
35:39
Speaker 4: The Facebook page.
35:40
Speaker 6: Just look at the direct message. And otherwise, just wave
35:43
Speaker 6: down one of the blue and white trucks as you
35:45
Speaker 6: see them walking, driving past.
35:46
Speaker 1: Good on you, Chris. Thanks for your time.
35:49
Speaker 6: Cheers, Andy.
35:49
Speaker 3: Thank you.
35:53
Speaker 1: Chris Wilson of Advanced Agriculture. Like Chris said, the blue
35:56
Speaker 1: ranges with the white canopies on the back, they stick
36:00
Speaker 1: out like the proverbial. You see them all around Southland
36:02
Speaker 1: as well. Senior Sergeant Gary Eddington's up next. Welcome back
36:11
Speaker 1: to the muster. Senior Sergeant Gary Eddington of the Gore
36:14
Speaker 1: Police joins us. G'day, Gary. Long time no speak.
36:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, good day, Andy. Good day to the community. How
36:20
Speaker 4: are you?
36:21
Speaker 1: Pretty good. You were lucky enough to have a bit
36:23
Speaker 1: of a holiday, so you've come back all refreshed and
36:26
Speaker 1: rearing to go?
36:27
Speaker 2: Well, I've come back like I've never been away.
36:29
Speaker 4: I enjoyed my time away. It was good.
36:31
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
36:32
Speaker 4: Now.
36:33
Speaker 1: Quite a bit going on from a policing perspective. There's
36:35
Speaker 1: the obvious we've talked about in the past. Community patrols, though.
36:39
Speaker 1: You want to make a comment around this to start?
36:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just noticed just recently there's been a few
36:44
Speaker 2: comments about what the community patrol, what they're about, and
36:47
Speaker 2: I just wanted to sort of clarify a few things.
36:49
Speaker 2: They're a good organisation nationally. They're volunteers that give up
36:53
Speaker 2: their time and they help, you know, sort of look
36:56
Speaker 2: after the streets and making sure things.
36:58
Speaker 4: They're not police officers... but.
36:59
Speaker 2: They're just making sure that we keep our streets safe
37:02
Speaker 2: and there's nothing to report in. So I just want
37:04
Speaker 2: to make sure that people do understand they are volunteers
37:06
Speaker 2: and they're not police officers, that they're just doing a
37:09
Speaker 2: good job in our communities at different hours.
37:12
Speaker 4: Of the day.
37:13
Speaker 1: Is there a perception around community patrols perhaps that they're vigilante?
37:16
Speaker 1: Is that what some people think?
37:18
Speaker 2: No, I just think that people feel frustrated sometimes and
37:23
Speaker 2: social media doesn't always... sort of give a good picture
37:28
Speaker 2: of things. And so I just want to reiterate they
37:30
Speaker 2: are out there doing an amazing job, giving up their time.
37:33
Speaker 4: And if people want to, I think, you know, you
37:35
Speaker 4: can be recruited as well. There's CPNZ.
37:37
Speaker 2: You can go online as well if you're interested in
37:39
Speaker 2: giving up some time and working in the community.
37:42
Speaker 1: So there's a number of patrols occurring in the south?
37:46
Speaker 4: Yep, absolutely.
37:47
Speaker 2: As I say, it's a national organisation and we're very
37:49
Speaker 2: lucky to have quite a few here in Gore that cover.
37:51
Speaker 3: The bigger area.
37:53
Speaker 1: What else has been going on over the weekend? We're
37:55
Speaker 1: starting to get the longer days now. People are starting
37:58
Speaker 1: to get out and about a bit more. What was
38:00
Speaker 1: happening over the weekend?
38:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think just probably a timely reminder around people's driving.
38:07
Speaker 4: We are aware there's obviously quite a few people going around,
38:10
Speaker 4: driving around Gore at the moment.
38:11
Speaker 2: They think it's fun to do speeds, double park and
38:15
Speaker 2: cause a nuisance to locals as well as the general public.
38:18
Speaker 2: And what we're just saying to these people is that
38:20
Speaker 2: a licence is a privilege, not a given. And if
38:22
Speaker 2: you want to drive like that, you're going to draw
38:24
Speaker 2: attention to yourself and then we'll target you as a
38:26
Speaker 2: road safety target. And if need be, we'll take your
38:29
Speaker 2: car and put you before the courts. So just asking
38:32
Speaker 2: people just to drive sensibly, watch your speed.
38:35
Speaker 4: If you go on the phone, pull over.
38:37
Speaker 2: And it's not funny, it's actually quite serious when you're
38:39
Speaker 2: killing someone or injuring someone.
38:42
Speaker 1: A lot of people use a cell phone when they're driving, unfortunately.
38:44
Speaker 1: You see it every day.
38:45
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know what message or where they've come from,
38:49
Speaker 2: what planet. But if it's not urgent and you just
38:53
Speaker 2: pull over if it's an urgent phone call, not driving
38:56
Speaker 2: around just.
38:56
Speaker 4: Willy-nilly on it, people do get injured.
38:59
Speaker 2: And sometimes fate will just, you know, the last thing
39:02
Speaker 2: I want is someone getting hit on a crossing when
39:04
Speaker 2: someone's on the phone and they're in attention.
39:06
Speaker 1: As far as rural thefts, are we seeing much of
39:09
Speaker 1: a spike in that at the moment, given it's been
39:10
Speaker 1: a difficult season, let alone coming home and seeing your
39:14
Speaker 1: house or property or sheds have been ransacked?
39:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's like everything is, you know, it'd
39:19
Speaker 2: be nice to say we're going to stop it full time.
39:21
Speaker 2: There is people out there that are targeting rural properties, sheds,
39:25
Speaker 2: they're coming on stealing anything that gets not tied down.
39:29
Speaker 2: But what I will say is we've had some really
39:30
Speaker 2: good results recently. That's not to say that we're not stopping.
39:33
Speaker 2: And we've got people before the courts and recovered quite
39:35
Speaker 2: a lot of property. So we're just saying to those
39:37
Speaker 2: ones out there, if you think you're not going to
39:39
Speaker 2: get caught, think again. Just look over your shoulder because
39:42
Speaker 2: you'll never know when we're coming for you.
39:44
Speaker 1: Cameras, you're seeing a lot of them being up and
39:46
Speaker 1: about now and understandably so too. You just want to
39:49
Speaker 1: look after your assets.
39:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, just making sure people buy a reputable camera and
39:54
Speaker 2: just making sure that they know how to work it
39:56
Speaker 2: and record it.
39:58
Speaker 4: We still have to go through a whole load of processes,
40:03
Speaker 4: but doorbell cameras on the farms.
40:07
Speaker 2: Just literally if you can afford it. Cameras don't necessarily
40:10
Speaker 2: prevent crime. don't necessarily stop crime as such, but they
40:15
Speaker 2: certainly give us a good part into the investigation to
40:17
Speaker 2: catch these criminals out there doing this.
40:20
Speaker 1: Just going back to community patrols, Gary, as far as
40:24
Speaker 1: Neighbourhood Watch, we've talked about this in the past. Is
40:28
Speaker 1: this still an initiative?
40:30
Speaker 2: Neighbourhood Watch is, I mean, I think community patrols is
40:33
Speaker 2: probably going out at the moment. Neighbourhood Watch is not.
40:38
Speaker 4: Where we would like it to be, I guess.
40:41
Speaker 2: But that's a work in progress with the council, I think.
40:44
Speaker 2: But we're still obviously trying to look at people who
40:46
Speaker 2: want to be part of the community, who want to
40:48
Speaker 2: support us.
40:49
Speaker 1: So is it about working with the council regarding those
40:52
Speaker 1: kind of initiatives?
40:53
Speaker 4: Well, there's council, there's police, there's all sorts of support.
40:56
Speaker 2: Agencies within the community.
40:58
Speaker 4: But yeah, we're always looking at new, fresh ideas, that's
41:00
Speaker 4: for sure.
41:02
Speaker 1: And as well, there's some new road rules. A lot
41:04
Speaker 1: of people will be caught unaware on these, so we'll
41:06
Speaker 1: just go over them very briefly, Gary. Children aged 12
41:10
Speaker 1: years and under can now legally ride bicycles and footpaths.
41:13
Speaker 1: Motorists must leave a safe gap when passing cyclists and
41:16
Speaker 1: horse riders of at least one metre of 60km zones
41:19
Speaker 1: or less, 1.5 metres in zones above 60km. E-scooters are
41:24
Speaker 1: allowed in cycle lanes. Well, you've got a lot of
41:26
Speaker 1: cycle lanes in Gore, haven't you? And giving way to buses.
41:30
Speaker 1: Drivers must give way to buses pulling up from bus
41:32
Speaker 1: stops on roads with a speed limit of 60km less.
41:35
Speaker 1: On the open road, the bus gives way, but when
41:37
Speaker 1: you are driving in the bigger areas, you now have
41:40
Speaker 1: to give way to a bus. These are coming in
41:43
Speaker 1: very shortly.
41:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's the beginning of October.
41:46
Speaker 2: There's a lot to digest for people there as well,
41:49
Speaker 2: so it's going to take time to come in. The
41:51
Speaker 2: one thing I would say is obviously just a reminder is...
41:54
Speaker 2: you know, is people need to be cycling sensibly and
41:56
Speaker 2: not fast. Same with these scooters. Um, you need to
41:59
Speaker 2: be watching your road rules, stopping at stop signs, people
42:04
Speaker 2: walking on footpaths, walking dogs, the elderly. So it doesn't
42:07
Speaker 2: give you carte blanche to be able to cycle at
42:09
Speaker 2: speed and you should be wearing your helmets.
42:12
Speaker 1: Helmets is a big one. These people on scooters and
42:15
Speaker 1: these things boot along, they look like they're 45, 50
42:17
Speaker 1: K for goodness sake. And they're not wearing helmets. It's loony.
42:21
Speaker 4: There's legislation out there.
42:23
Speaker 2: Um, I think it's the old attitude, nothing that will
42:25
Speaker 2: ever happen to me until it happens sort of thing.
42:27
Speaker 2: And then we obviously pick up the pieces and all
42:29
Speaker 2: the first responders and they're knocking on the door of
42:31
Speaker 2: the family to say, Joe Brogg isn't coming home tonight.
42:34
Speaker 2: So there's a serious, serious side to it as well.
42:36
Speaker 2: And the same rules apply on the road to them.
42:38
Speaker 2: Like you need to be looking at being aware of
42:40
Speaker 2: what's around you, vehicles on the road, buses, trucks, um,
42:44
Speaker 2: and also abiding by.
42:45
Speaker 4: The speed limits.
42:47
Speaker 2: Um, the other thing I would say on the speed
42:48
Speaker 2: limits as well, we've obviously got the 30 K signs
42:50
Speaker 2: around the schools at set times. So just making sure, um,
42:54
Speaker 2: Members of public abide by them as well. We do
42:57
Speaker 2: have road policing out there who will be targeting them.
43:00
Speaker 1: Just reiterate the numbers that people need to remember, Gary.
43:04
Speaker 2: Start triple five, or if it's urgent, just ring 111.
43:09
Speaker 2: Or 105 if there's a driving complaint. Just make sure
43:12
Speaker 2: there's correct registration, time, date, place, and any descriptions and things.
43:16
Speaker 4: Like that, and we can do a follow-up.
43:18
Speaker 1: Senior Sergeant Gary Eddington of the Gore Police. Good to
43:20
Speaker 1: catch up again.
43:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks, Andy, and thanks to the community.
43:26
Speaker 3: Laugh out loud with ag proud because life on the
43:29
Speaker 3: land can be a.
43:31
Speaker 1: Laughing matter brought to us by sheer well data working
43:34
Speaker 1: to help the livestock farmer terrible news all of my
43:37
Speaker 1: rulers have been stolen the good news they're insured oh
43:43
Speaker 1: that's terrible The podcast going up shortly, thanks to iHeartRadio.
43:48
Speaker 1: Just a further reminder, too, of South and Rural Support
43:51
Speaker 1: Trust and their Brunch on Us events continuing this week
43:54
Speaker 1: at Willowbank on Wednesday. Howie, go and get yourself a
43:58
Speaker 1: cheese roll there. And Waikato on Thursday. I'm Andy Muir.
44:01
Speaker 1: The muster, of course, is brought to you by Peters Genetics.
44:03
Speaker 1: Enjoy the afternoon. See you tomorrow, 1 o'clock. All the
44:06
Speaker 1: bad boys.