Latest / The Muster on Hokonui / The Muster Full Show: 30/09/26

Transcript

The Muster Full Show: 30/09/26 · The Muster on Hokonui

0:08
Speaker 1: Good afternoon and welcome to the muster on Hokonui. I'm
0:12
Speaker 1: Andy Muir. The show's brought to you by Peters Genetics.
0:16
Speaker 1: Guess what? We have sunshine down in the deep south.
0:19
Speaker 1: Currently 13 degrees, blue sky in abundance, and how bloody
0:23
Speaker 1: good does it feel? And looking at the forecast, it's
0:27
Speaker 1: not too bad for the next week either. A bit
0:29
Speaker 1: of a correction on Friday, but all things aside, I
0:32
Speaker 1: think it's better than what it's been. Let's be honest,
0:35
Speaker 1: that can't be hard to do. And that is the
0:38
Speaker 1: theme for our music today at Sunshine. This one here,
0:41
Speaker 1: Bob Marley, obviously the late Bob Marley, but it was
0:44
Speaker 1: a song in a collaboration with Funkstar Deluxe from the
0:48
Speaker 1: year 2000 called Sun is Shining. Hakanui's five-day forecast with
0:58
Speaker 1: Twin Farm, Tefrom and Softex. The proof is in the progeny.
1:07
Speaker 1: This afternoon, sunshine. I'll repeat that. Sunshine with breezy nor'westerlies
1:11
Speaker 1: and a high of 17. Thursday, cloudy with breezy nor'westerlies,
1:15
Speaker 1: 12 and 16. Friday, rain with breezy westerlies, 4 and 15. Saturday,
1:22
Speaker 1: partly cloudy with light sour westerlies, 4 and 16. And
1:24
Speaker 1: on Sunday, sunshine. We're like Westerly's 4 and 16 again.
1:28
Speaker 1: So those temperatures are looking pretty good. And over the
1:31
Speaker 1: next 10 days, it's looking not too bad for the
1:34
Speaker 1: deep south at all. No soil temperatures today, so we'll
1:37
Speaker 1: crack straight into it. James Edgar Farms at Mower Flat
1:41
Speaker 1: talks about an extraordinary figure regarding snowfall for Mower Flat,
1:45
Speaker 1: where he's based as well. Penny Simmons, MP from Vicargill,
1:50
Speaker 1: we have a chinwake. For a catch-up as such, Jared
1:54
Speaker 1: Stockman of Dairy NZ talks about the situation and just
1:58
Speaker 1: some levers that need pulled for farmers and just talks
2:01
Speaker 1: about what the situation's like, what they're seeing on the coalface.
2:05
Speaker 1: Catherine Wright, she's an advocate for rural mental health, looks
2:09
Speaker 1: at the situation and probably a bit similar to Jared
2:12
Speaker 1: but on a bigger perspective as well about looking at
2:15
Speaker 1: the current situation and when things do come right, looking
2:18
Speaker 1: at the workload and putting things into perspective. And then
2:22
Speaker 1: Sam Ruddenclaw of Mallet McLean Plus More. He's in Texas,
2:27
Speaker 1: and we're having a catch-up, and he's talking provisional tax
2:30
Speaker 1: while he's over there. He tells us why he's over
2:32
Speaker 1: there as well. And it's a bit warmer than what
2:34
Speaker 1: it's been down here in the Deep South, although that's
2:36
Speaker 1: not hard, let's be honest. Mark Calder of PDG Wrightson
2:39
Speaker 1: gives us a rundown on the Balclutha sale, which was
2:42
Speaker 1: held this morning. Then we'll start the hour with James Edgar.
2:45
Speaker 1: This is the muster, and it's brought to you by
2:46
Speaker 1: Peters Genetics. Just gone seven after one. We're away to
3:03
Speaker 1: West Otago this afternoon on the muster, Mower Flat to
3:06
Speaker 1: be precise, where we catch up with James Edgar. Good afternoon, James.
3:10
Speaker 1: We spoke to you two weeks ago. How good to
3:12
Speaker 1: finally see the sun today?
3:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's... I sort of thought after the... Last
3:19
Speaker 2: time we talked, I probably had a bit of disappointment.
3:22
Speaker 2: But I sort of thought, oh, well, you know, we
3:24
Speaker 2: just land for that long. Maybe that was sort of
3:27
Speaker 2: the time we were going to get it. It certainly
3:30
Speaker 2: hasn't stopped. I think this spring for me would be
3:34
Speaker 2: probably the mentally hardest.
3:36
Speaker 3: I don't know.
3:37
Speaker 2: I farmed through 2010. That was more like a sprint.
3:41
Speaker 2: It was a week, 10 days, and you were just going,
3:46
Speaker 2: doing everything you could, really, and you know and then
3:50
Speaker 2: you're absolutely buggered but then the sort of sun come
3:52
Speaker 2: out and things didn't look as bad but to be
3:55
Speaker 2: honest like this year it's probably been six weeks of
3:58
Speaker 2: really hard slog and probably a shout out from the
4:01
Speaker 2: sheep farmers I know those dairy guys like they've been
4:03
Speaker 2: calving for a long time now and they haven't had
4:06
Speaker 2: a break either and no I'd just say yeah she's
4:09
Speaker 2: been a been a absolutely terrible spring this one for
4:12
Speaker 2: us the grass growth is probably a problem going forward
4:17
Speaker 2: but Yeah, we'll sort of set it up. Hopefully this
4:21
Speaker 2: weather's coming right because, to be fair, there's plenty of
4:24
Speaker 2: moisture in the soil, Andy.
4:25
Speaker 3: There's no sign of a drought coming shortly.
4:28
Speaker 1: You were saying just before that you've had eight snowfalls
4:32
Speaker 1: in September. That's unbelievable.
4:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've had eight. We probably always have a snowfall. Yeah,
4:41
Speaker 2: but that's a lot. And we haven't had the fine
4:43
Speaker 2: days in between, like, I don't know, what have we had,
4:46
Speaker 2: about three days of sun in the whole of September?
4:48
Speaker 2: It's just been quite gloomy. I don't think our lamb
4:51
Speaker 2: losses have been disastrous as opposed to some of those
4:55
Speaker 2: other big weather events. It's just been so much wind
4:58
Speaker 2: that's blown them over the gullies. And by the by,
5:02
Speaker 2: I don't think our lamb drop will be massively different
5:05
Speaker 2: to what I'd expect. But the grass covers going forward
5:09
Speaker 2: is going to be quite a problem there. Lambs are
5:12
Speaker 2: very muddy, like they've had enough of sitting in mud
5:14
Speaker 2: and wet all the time. Yeah, and then we've had
5:19
Speaker 2: a little bit of black udder already showing up in
5:21
Speaker 2: Tapanui and there's definitely a few more lambs with like
5:24
Speaker 2: sore feet and a few bits and pieces. But I
5:27
Speaker 2: will say if we got 10 days of 17 degrees
5:30
Speaker 2: of sun at the moment, it is amazing how the
5:32
Speaker 2: farm turns around at this time of year. You know,
5:35
Speaker 2: even when you drive around, you look at the lambs
5:38
Speaker 2: looking good and you feel a hell of a lot better,
5:41
Speaker 2: I know that.
5:42
Speaker 1: I was just about to ask you that same question, James.
5:44
Speaker 1: How long to correct the situation as far as the
5:47
Speaker 1: soggy ground? Because depending on where you are in the
5:49
Speaker 1: province and you're hearing various reports around rainfall being over
5:54
Speaker 1: 250 mils for a month, well, that's not sustainable regardless
5:58
Speaker 1: of soil temperature.
5:58
Speaker 2: Well, I think last September we were about 70 to
6:03
Speaker 2: 80 mils, but it was just really cold, probably colder
6:07
Speaker 2: than this year. And then this year here, we're heading
6:09
Speaker 2: up to 200 mils to the bottom, so... For us,
6:12
Speaker 2: we have an average rainfall of 950, so whatever that is,
6:16
Speaker 2: about almost a quarter of our rain, or heading towards
6:20
Speaker 2: a quarter of our rain in one month. We're just
6:23
Speaker 2: not really set up for that year. It's been so unusual.
6:27
Speaker 2: We've sort of had flooding, but I wouldn't say bad flooding,
6:31
Speaker 2: but it's just every single day it rains. I suppose
6:35
Speaker 2: it's been good and bad, depending how you take it,
6:37
Speaker 2: but Yeah, the sun's come up now, Andy, so we're
6:42
Speaker 2: just trying to flush the dunny, I suppose, of what
6:48
Speaker 2: we've done so far. And the hoggarts are just about
6:50
Speaker 2: to start. We're just starting to tidy up up the hill.
6:55
Speaker 2: There's a few different things we'll do this year. We'll
6:56
Speaker 2: definitely shed out our wet dries on the hill country
6:59
Speaker 2: in another couple of weeks or 10 days. Just every
7:02
Speaker 2: animal that's not eating grass, they'll disappear. so they don't
7:07
Speaker 2: need to be there. We've got about 500 stock units
7:10
Speaker 2: of cattle coming off Fodderbeak today, and then I've got
7:12
Speaker 2: another 1,000 stock units coming off in about a week
7:15
Speaker 2: or 10 days. So, yeah, we really need things to
7:18
Speaker 2: start rattling now.
7:20
Speaker 1: So the pressure's going to go on, given that the
7:22
Speaker 1: winter crops are all finished. Do you have a plan
7:24
Speaker 1: B in place if needed?
7:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, it comes back to that argument. I know I
7:30
Speaker 2: was talking to Joseph one day about winter grazing, and
7:34
Speaker 2: the reality is... What a tool. We physically couldn't have
7:38
Speaker 2: fed those stock units on grass in light of the
7:41
Speaker 2: whole situation. Because I still think we've actually fed our
7:44
Speaker 2: sheep reasonably well up to this point. So that's how
7:48
Speaker 2: important it is to us to carry those stock units.
7:51
Speaker 2: And I know Joseph, he was talking about dropping. Well,
7:55
Speaker 2: he asked me when Chloe Swarbrick asked him why we
7:58
Speaker 2: do it. I said, well, to handle the feed surplus
8:00
Speaker 2: that should theoretically come. Because we will need those stock units. Yeah,
8:06
Speaker 2: I'm not writing the season off just yet. Sometimes on
8:08
Speaker 2: a sheep farm, you can actually have lowish covers. Provided
8:12
Speaker 2: you grow away, you get a lot of clover in
8:13
Speaker 2: the bottom and you can actually have better lambs at
8:17
Speaker 2: weaning actually on the.
8:18
Speaker 4: Way through and there.
8:20
Speaker 2: Might be a few less triplets running around. So it's
8:22
Speaker 2: all about the kilos you sell out the gate. It's
8:25
Speaker 2: not your lambing percentage through the tailing pen sometimes. So
8:28
Speaker 2: that's how we're just mentally readjusting our year, I suppose.
8:31
Speaker 2: We'll probably try and take some lambs bigger. try and
8:35
Speaker 2: get a weaning draft at that good money early on.
8:38
Speaker 2: I'm pretty confident about the prices this year actually, which
8:41
Speaker 2: is great.
8:42
Speaker 1: You say it's been mentally taxing. How's it been on
8:44
Speaker 1: the staff? How have they coped?
8:48
Speaker 2: I think by the by we've looked after each other
8:50
Speaker 2: pretty well to be fair. There's been a lot of
8:52
Speaker 2: videos going around and some of those days we have
8:56
Speaker 2: a group chat and when you see you tucked up
8:59
Speaker 2: with your twins under a tussock bush and it's snowing
9:02
Speaker 2: sideways but she's looking after them. Pretty amazing what those
9:06
Speaker 2: sheep can do sometimes so we make sure we get
9:08
Speaker 2: that on the chat. It's actually harder lambing on flat
9:12
Speaker 2: country in my opinion because when it's all turning to
9:16
Speaker 2: crap you're out there battling away and you can really
9:20
Speaker 2: make a difference just by working hard but on our
9:23
Speaker 2: hill country we just don't want bikes out there in
9:25
Speaker 2: that weather where A, scaring all the sheep out of
9:28
Speaker 2: shelter when they're blown over and B, it is dangerous
9:31
Speaker 2: like If you end up having an accident on a motorbike,
9:36
Speaker 2: that puts you out for the next six months where
9:38
Speaker 2: you haven't really done your farm justice, have you?
9:41
Speaker 1: Based on the season we've had and the springs previously, James,
9:46
Speaker 1: has it got you thinking about your farming systems for
9:48
Speaker 1: September and if you want to change anything?
9:52
Speaker 2: That's a great question, Andy. I know there's been a
9:54
Speaker 2: lot of talk about the lambing day. So interestingly, we've
9:57
Speaker 2: been going the other way. So we were pulling it forward,
10:01
Speaker 2: just trying to maximise covers going in. So we were
10:03
Speaker 2: probably going on crop a bit earlier and then trying
10:05
Speaker 2: to grow a bit more. And then we brung it forward.
10:07
Speaker 2: And the reason we brung it forward was we found
10:10
Speaker 2: when we were lambing later and then we were weaning
10:12
Speaker 2: everything after Christmas. The problem was after Christmas, because you've
10:16
Speaker 2: got all your ewes and all your lambs stocked, right
10:18
Speaker 2: up to that period. Quite often, you know, you have
10:21
Speaker 2: very low grass covers or, you know, just enough.
10:23
Speaker 5: 1,200, 1,400.
10:23
Speaker 2: And then we found if, you know, heading straight into
10:27
Speaker 2: our traditionally dry time, so you just didn't have the
10:31
Speaker 2: time to grow the grass covers for your summer and
10:33
Speaker 2: set your autumn up, if that makes sense. So, yeah,
10:38
Speaker 2: it was a catch-22, so we've been bringing it forward,
10:40
Speaker 2: and then now we wean probably two-thirds, or at least half,
10:45
Speaker 2: two-thirds of our sheep, even at Moa Flat before Christmas.
10:48
Speaker 2: sort of just that week before Christmas. And then that
10:50
Speaker 2: just allows us, while there's still moisture in the soil,
10:53
Speaker 2: to get those ewes mobbed up, not eating grass. And
10:56
Speaker 2: then quite often our lambs are going on a lot
10:58
Speaker 2: of lamb fattening grass. And then it just allows us
11:01
Speaker 2: to grow a feed buffer for the summer and the
11:03
Speaker 2: next autumn. So this is something you've got to watch.
11:07
Speaker 2: If you're dragging it back all the time, you do
11:09
Speaker 2: run into, later in the season, you can run into,
11:13
Speaker 2: you know, growing less grass, I guess. And the other
11:16
Speaker 2: thing to be aware of is the grass quality drops
11:19
Speaker 2: when you start going to seed as well. So as
11:22
Speaker 2: I say, even where we are now, if we actually
11:25
Speaker 2: got 10 days or a couple of weeks of just
11:27
Speaker 2: cranking weather, like the clover and the grass quality on
11:31
Speaker 2: the sheep farm would just be phenomenal. So yeah, those
11:34
Speaker 2: are just a couple of things we've found. We've actually
11:37
Speaker 2: found we've been getting probably more lambs away at weeding
11:41
Speaker 2: before Christmas just because that grass quality is still better
11:44
Speaker 2: and the lambs have got a bit, no, just more
11:47
Speaker 2: sappy is what they call it. But yeah, just fatter
11:50
Speaker 2: because the ewes are still milking a bit more and
11:53
Speaker 2: I suppose the lambs are a little bit younger, but yeah,
11:56
Speaker 2: and the grass quality is sort of a bit higher.
11:58
Speaker 2: So a combination of those reasons, Andy. So it's one
12:01
Speaker 2: thing with the biological system, I suppose. You know, on
12:04
Speaker 2: a farm, you've got to set it up to, and
12:06
Speaker 2: everything you do has got a consequence some other way,
12:08
Speaker 2: doesn't it?
12:10
Speaker 1: Good on you, James. Thanks for your time. Great to
12:12
Speaker 1: see the sun. Long may it last.
12:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, fingers crossed, Andy, for about two weeks of 20 degrees,
12:18
Speaker 2: because that's what I'm banking on.
12:23
Speaker 1: James Edgar of Mower Flat. This is the muster on Hokonui.
12:27
Speaker 1: Up next, Penny Simmons, MP for Invercargill.
12:31
Speaker 3: MUSIC PLAYS.
12:43
Speaker 1: This is the muster. Penny Simmons is MP for Invercargill
12:47
Speaker 1: and joins us next from a sun-drenched Invercargill, which is
12:51
Speaker 1: something we haven't said for a long time, Penny. Good afternoon.
12:54
Speaker 5: Good afternoon, and oh, by golly, isn't it good to
12:57
Speaker 5: see that sunshine? It's just going to do wonders for everyone,
13:00
Speaker 5: for our peace of mind, our mental well-being, as well
13:07
Speaker 5: as warming the lambs up, warming the soil up a bit, hopefully,
13:11
Speaker 5: if we can get enough days of it, as I've
13:13
Speaker 5: been driving around. And I haven't been back that long,
13:16
Speaker 5: I'd have to say. I haven't suffered through all the
13:19
Speaker 5: weather that everyone else has, and I certainly haven't been
13:21
Speaker 5: outside in it. when I have been here, but just
13:26
Speaker 5: a bit of sunshine, it brings just a bit of
13:28
Speaker 5: hope to people, doesn't it? And I know driving around,
13:32
Speaker 5: seeing the paddocks looking grey and the lambs looking miserable,
13:36
Speaker 5: it's very... It's very tough going for everyone. So yes,
13:39
Speaker 5: long may we continue with a bit of warmer weather
13:43
Speaker 5: as well as sunshine would be good. But also on
13:46
Speaker 5: the good news front has been the Treasury's pre-election forecast
13:52
Speaker 5: update saying that books are better than expected. And much
13:58
Speaker 5: of that, of course, is down to our wonderful primary
14:00
Speaker 5: sector that have been doing the hard work and getting
14:04
Speaker 5: the good export prices and paying taxes. So thank you
14:08
Speaker 5: very much to all our farmers and growers. So Treasury
14:13
Speaker 5: is predicting that the deficits are getting smaller, the surplus
14:16
Speaker 5: is coming, there's going to be less debt, less debt
14:21
Speaker 5: servicing costs, because as I've said on this programme regularly,
14:25
Speaker 5: we're paying over $ 9 billion a year in interest alone.
14:31
Speaker 5: And the economy is predicted to be growing at an
14:35
Speaker 5: average of 2.6% a year. That's going to translate into
14:40
Speaker 5: 220,000 more jobs being created as the economy grows. And
14:45
Speaker 5: we know it from down here, our unemployment is lower.
14:50
Speaker 5: We've had the third best economic growth in the country
14:53
Speaker 5: behind Canterbury and Taranaki and then Southland with 7%. 7%
14:58
Speaker 5: growth and our unemployment, of course, is lower than the
15:02
Speaker 5: rest of the country. And one of the other really
15:05
Speaker 5: positive predictions, wages will rise faster than prices. Now, that
15:10
Speaker 5: means that inflation is not going to be eating away
15:15
Speaker 5: at people's earnings to the same degree. So, look, it
15:19
Speaker 5: is positive. The downside of this is, of course, that
15:24
Speaker 5: a positive announcement like that will mean there will be
15:27
Speaker 5: some political parties who will go out who have a
15:31
Speaker 5: tendency to spend anyway and thinking that this is the
15:34
Speaker 5: time they can have a bit more of a spend up,
15:36
Speaker 5: and it certainly isn't. We need to keep that government
15:40
Speaker 5: spending discipline in place because there's a whole lot of
15:44
Speaker 5: things that could change the geopolitical situation in the Middle East,
15:51
Speaker 5: the oil price of oil and therefore the price of
15:53
Speaker 5: diesel and petrol spending, could have a big impact on this.
15:57
Speaker 5: So look, it's positive, but it certainly isn't an excuse
16:01
Speaker 5: for any party to go out promising big spend-ups on
16:05
Speaker 5: the back of it.
16:07
Speaker 1: I'll let you take a breath, Penny, and I'll ask
16:08
Speaker 1: you this. Based on the South driving the economy of
16:11
Speaker 1: these figures, and this is something I've asked you previously
16:14
Speaker 1: and I'm going to ask you again, are we going
16:16
Speaker 1: to get any more than 12% of the roading budget
16:18
Speaker 1: for the South Island?
16:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I'm pushing hard on it and I'm hopeful
16:24
Speaker 5: that I might have a wee announcement soon. But no,
16:27
Speaker 5: we haven't got our share.
16:28
Speaker 4: You're quite right.
16:29
Speaker 5: We haven't got our share of the roading and Transport
16:37
Speaker 5: Authority funding. There's no doubt about it. The problem is
16:42
Speaker 5: that our roads are in better order than those that
16:46
Speaker 5: have been affected, particularly around the far north with flooding
16:50
Speaker 5: and also around Hawke's Bay. And then, of course, we
16:54
Speaker 5: have Auckland's congestion and nobody likes our money going to
16:58
Speaker 5: Auckland and I certainly don't like our money going to Auckland.
17:03
Speaker 5: So we have to keep fighting against it. But I'll
17:07
Speaker 5: just put in context that we've got about two thirds
17:13
Speaker 5: of New Zealand's population affected sitting in that golden triangle
17:17
Speaker 5: of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga. So it's a bit of
17:21
Speaker 5: a battle against the big numbers of the population up
17:24
Speaker 5: there and, of course, the number of MPs representing them. But, yep,
17:30
Speaker 5: I need to keep fighting it. You're absolutely right. And
17:33
Speaker 5: both Joseph and I are squeaky wheels. and hopefully we'll
17:38
Speaker 5: get some announcements that we can give you.
17:40
Speaker 1: Well, all the populations based up north, I understand that,
17:43
Speaker 1: but we pay our taxes too. We pay the same
17:45
Speaker 1: for road users.
17:47
Speaker 5: Oh, absolutely. There's no doubt about it. We do not
17:50
Speaker 5: get our share of funding back. There's no qualms about that.
17:54
Speaker 5: We don't, and I'm not going to try and defend that.
17:58
Speaker 5: All I can say is that there is a lot
18:01
Speaker 5: of pressure on the funding going into those areas that
18:05
Speaker 5: have had a lot of disruption with flooding over a
18:09
Speaker 5: number of years. And those of you who have driven
18:12
Speaker 5: around the Hawke's Bay, over to Wairoa, up around the
18:15
Speaker 5: far north, some of those goat tracks are pretty awful
18:19
Speaker 5: for people to be driving on. But I absolutely accept
18:23
Speaker 5: that we are a productive part of the country and
18:27
Speaker 5: our roading not being kept up to standard is going
18:33
Speaker 5: to affect our productivity.
18:35
Speaker 1: So you're back in Invercargill, the parliamentary year's finished as such,
18:38
Speaker 1: and all roads lead to November, I suppose?
18:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I got back here Sunday night, and most
18:48
Speaker 5: of my days are going to be down here. I've
18:49
Speaker 5: got a couple of things that we still have to
18:52
Speaker 5: do a few things as Minister, still have to... keep
18:56
Speaker 5: our officials working up there. We don't want everyone up
18:59
Speaker 5: in Wellington to have six weeks holiday, that's for sure.
19:03
Speaker 5: So we've still got work going on there. But yeah,
19:07
Speaker 5: mainly down here. Been out with the grandkids, a bit
19:11
Speaker 5: of slave labour, delivering flyers over the last few days.
19:14
Speaker 5: And I'll be doing that around the place, delivering.
19:18
Speaker 1: Flyers, knocking on doors, Kissing babies?
19:22
Speaker 5: Well, yes. Not too much of that, but certainly talking
19:28
Speaker 5: to people and finding out what their issues are.
19:31
Speaker 1: Penny Simmons, always appreciate your time on The Muster. Enjoy
19:33
Speaker 1: the sun.
19:35
Speaker 5: Thank you.
19:35
Speaker 3: Bye.
19:36
Speaker 1: The bright days are here. Penny Simmons, MP for Invercargill.
19:40
Speaker 1: This is The Muster on Hokunui. Dairy NZ's Jarrod Stockman
19:45
Speaker 1: is up next. Welcome back to the muster on Hokunui.
19:59
Speaker 1: Jarrod Stockman joins us of Dairy NZ. Good afternoon, Jarrod. Finally,
20:04
Speaker 1: some sunshine. Long may it last.
20:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, Andy, fingers crossed. Good song. Let's just cover Southland
20:12
Speaker 6: Sunshine for two weeks, please.
20:15
Speaker 1: OK, we've had a lot of rain over the previous
20:18
Speaker 1: four weeks, even longer, arguably, which is the case. How
20:23
Speaker 1: are people coping? What are you guys seeing?
20:27
Speaker 6: Look, to be fair, I haven't seen so many farmers
20:32
Speaker 6: down in the dumps. And look, with good reason, you know,
20:36
Speaker 6: facing challenging conditions for a prolonged period of weather just
20:41
Speaker 6: affects morale, you know, animal health, the effluent management, the
20:46
Speaker 6: list goes on and on. So, yeah, I think farmers are,
20:51
Speaker 6: you know, definitely flat. Today will be a good day
20:55
Speaker 6: to lift the spirits and, you know, long-range forecast. Dare
21:00
Speaker 6: I say it, potentially a bit of respite there for,
21:04
Speaker 6: for 10 days, but hey, we've still got, you know,
21:08
Speaker 6: we've still got a bit of weather to come on Friday,
21:10
Speaker 6: I think, but yeah, yeah, it's pretty flat.
21:14
Speaker 1: So is the feed situation, which is forefront of mind?
21:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is. Two areas, you know, concentrates levels seem
21:24
Speaker 6: to be holding up pretty well. Challenges around logistics, because
21:30
Speaker 6: everyone's asking for, you know, palm kernel and grains and
21:33
Speaker 6: DDG and, and all that sort of stuff. But, um,
21:36
Speaker 6: you know, silage and baleage is, uh, just, you know,
21:40
Speaker 6: almost out. Um, you know, so we, we've got some
21:45
Speaker 6: challenges in that space. Um, and then, you know, cows
21:48
Speaker 6: going onto pastures with a low cover, you know, pretty
21:52
Speaker 6: rank looking grass out there as well. So, um, yeah,
21:55
Speaker 6: we've got some, definitely some emerging issues in that, in
21:58
Speaker 6: that feed space. And then that just flows through to
22:01
Speaker 6: animal health, particularly with, um, You know, lameness, mastitis, you know,
22:09
Speaker 6: got everything leading into mating, cow condition. So, yeah, there's
22:14
Speaker 6: a lot of things front of mind for farmers at
22:16
Speaker 6: the moment.
22:17
Speaker 1: Have the cows taken much of a check with the
22:20
Speaker 1: weather lately?
22:22
Speaker 6: Yeah, they have. Look, I think that the guys that
22:25
Speaker 6: have kept the feed up to sort of 20 kilos,
22:30
Speaker 6: you know, if they can get it up that high,
22:33
Speaker 6: have been all right with supply, but we're hearing a
22:35
Speaker 6: lot of reports from farmers looking to create once a
22:39
Speaker 6: day herds. Some farmers might have to pull the trigger
22:42
Speaker 6: and go once a day right through to the end
22:45
Speaker 6: of mating because you don't want to transition cows back
22:48
Speaker 6: to twice a day during mating. So yeah, I think
22:51
Speaker 6: this next few weeks is really about protecting cow condition
22:58
Speaker 6: leading into mating because that's kind of next season that
23:03
Speaker 6: you're thinking about. So, yeah, there's a lot to think
23:05
Speaker 6: about in that space.
23:06
Speaker 1: You talk about supplement levels being low in the south.
23:09
Speaker 1: What about further afield?
23:12
Speaker 6: Look, I think there's... I was actually talking to someone
23:16
Speaker 6: this morning in Canterbury, and I think there's feed up
23:21
Speaker 6: in Canterbury. I guess there's, you know, farmers up there
23:24
Speaker 6: are probably thinking about what do we need for ourselves during.
23:29
Speaker 6: During the summer and stuff with potential El Nino risks.
23:34
Speaker 6: But I think the big challenge is trying to get
23:38
Speaker 6: it down here because freight's the real killer if trucks
23:42
Speaker 6: are going up empty. You're paying freight both ways. So
23:47
Speaker 6: I don't necessarily think that the bailage cost itself on
23:50
Speaker 6: the ground is.
23:53
Speaker 6: Is outside of the realms of what it should be,
23:56
Speaker 6: but it's just, you know, you're probably paying $ 80 a
23:59
Speaker 6: bale for freight if trucks are going up empty.
24:03
Speaker 1: So if there's government assistance along the line anywhere, you
24:06
Speaker 1: suggest it would be needed for infrastructure or as such
24:09
Speaker 1: getting this baleage and supplement down to the south, would
24:12
Speaker 1: that be a better use of money?
24:16
Speaker 6: Look, yeah, it's hard to know what the midget bullock
24:21
Speaker 6: looks like, but I think a lot of farmers might
24:26
Speaker 6: be interested in topping up their supplement at the moment
24:32
Speaker 6: just to, you know, just even to balance out the
24:35
Speaker 6: concentrate feed that cows are eating and just reduce the
24:39
Speaker 6: risks around acidosis and things like that.
24:41
Speaker 1: How are farmers doing in general from what you're hearing, Jared? Look,
24:43
Speaker 1: I spoke to James Edgar earlier on. He's a sheep
24:46
Speaker 1: cocky and mower flat. He's had eight snowfalls for the
24:48
Speaker 1: month for Pete's sake. But he just seemed to, he
24:51
Speaker 1: just talked about social media and the good stuff there,
24:55
Speaker 1: being in groups with mates, with your workmates and just
24:58
Speaker 1: sharing the positives, the mindset out there. How are people doing?
25:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, look, I think that's the key, is talking to
25:05
Speaker 6: your neighbours and advisors and things like that. Like, this
25:07
Speaker 6: is not something that you need to carry alone. And
25:10
Speaker 6: often it can just be, you know, a bit of
25:12
Speaker 6: a pick-me-up from a mate or, you know, a bit
25:15
Speaker 6: of a laugh and stuff like that. I think that's
25:18
Speaker 6: really important for, you know, it's really easy to go
25:24
Speaker 6: down a bit of a rabbit hole, put the blinkers
25:26
Speaker 6: on and just focus on, you know, what's in front
25:29
Speaker 6: of you. But, um, really important for farmers, you know,
25:32
Speaker 6: where it's possible, take a bit of a break. There's
25:35
Speaker 6: heaps of events that are going around, run with, um,
25:38
Speaker 6: run by rural support trusts and stakeholders. Um, we've joined
25:42
Speaker 6: with Beef and Lamb to do some, uh, some joint events, um,
25:45
Speaker 6: you know, recognising that, hey, it's not just, not just
25:48
Speaker 6: the dairy guys doing it tough. The, um, The one
25:52
Speaker 6: man being a sheep and beef operator, he's flat out
25:58
Speaker 6: doing lambing beets and struggling to keep lambs and stuff
26:01
Speaker 6: alive as well. So I think it's really important just to,
26:05
Speaker 6: if there's an opportunity to get off farm for an
26:07
Speaker 6: hour or two, grab a bite to eat, have a
26:11
Speaker 6: drink or a cup of tea and just.
26:15
Speaker 6: Pick up the tips and tricks from your neighbours and
26:18
Speaker 6: friends and stuff like that and just try and keep
26:20
Speaker 6: your head up. This will pass, but yeah, it can
26:26
Speaker 6: be hard to see beyond a day or two at
26:29
Speaker 6: the moment.
26:30
Speaker 1: You're encouraging farmers to get in touch with the team
26:33
Speaker 1: if need be, Jared?
26:34
Speaker 6: Yeah, 100%. Our team are obviously there to support farmers
26:39
Speaker 6: and again, it might be just bouncing off an idea
26:43
Speaker 6: or They might be just saying, hey, this is what
26:45
Speaker 6: I'm doing. Is there anything else I should be looking at?
26:49
Speaker 6: Once you start verbalising that, I think farmers kind of
26:53
Speaker 6: know what the message is, but sometimes they just might
26:56
Speaker 6: want just a bit of a helping hand or a
26:58
Speaker 6: wee tip or trick here just to help out. So, yeah,
27:04
Speaker 6: keen for them to reach out to their team, to
27:06
Speaker 6: our team at Daring Dead or their farm consultant or
27:10
Speaker 6: neighbour or Trust the advisor, but, yeah, certainly our team
27:15
Speaker 6: are keen to help out in whatever capacity they can.
27:19
Speaker 1: Wise words today, Jared. Thanks for your time.
27:21
Speaker 3: Cheers, Andy.
27:22
Speaker 6: All the best, mate.
27:25
Speaker 1: Jared Stockman of Dairy NZ with some relevant words too
27:29
Speaker 1: regarding the situation. And taking a bit of a break,
27:32
Speaker 1: our next guest will be able to talk about this
27:34
Speaker 1: better than anybody. Her name is Catherine Wright. She specialises
27:37
Speaker 1: in rural mental health. She's up next. The sunshine of
27:48
Speaker 1: my life. Welcome back to the muster on Hokonui. Catherine
27:55
Speaker 1: Wright joins us next. She is a counsellor who specialises
27:59
Speaker 1: in rural mental health. She's had a PhD submitted recently,
28:03
Speaker 1: or about to be submitted, regarding the health, the mental
28:08
Speaker 1: health in young rural people. Catherine, good afternoon. It's good
28:12
Speaker 1: to have a bit of blue sky finally.
28:15
Speaker 7: It is so good to see the sun, Andy. I
28:17
Speaker 7: can't deny that.
28:19
Speaker 1: Just changes the mood. Even just having some sun when
28:22
Speaker 1: you're going about your job after what has been called shit-temper.
28:27
Speaker 1: And I think we can say that because that's pretty
28:29
Speaker 1: much what we've been doubt.
28:31
Speaker 7: Absolutely. It's been really tough going. I think that what
28:36
Speaker 7: makes it even worse is that it comes right at
28:39
Speaker 7: the end of winter. It's almost like that sucker punch season.
28:42
Speaker 7: just as you're getting to the end when things should,
28:44
Speaker 7: I say in quotation marks, should be getting better. And
28:47
Speaker 7: I think if that kind of weather carry-on happened near
28:50
Speaker 7: the start of the winter, I think that it would
28:52
Speaker 7: be a bit easier to take.
28:54
Speaker 1: With your councillor's hat on here, Catherine, as well as
28:57
Speaker 1: your farming hat too, I mean, you look at the
28:59
Speaker 1: situation that farmers are facing at the moment, it can
29:02
Speaker 1: be easy to get overwhelmed regarding workload.
29:05
Speaker 6: Absolutely.
29:07
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
29:08
Speaker 7: And, you know, we've had this conversation once or twice before, Andy. Unfortunately,
29:13
Speaker 7: this is not our first rodeo, but I'm going to
29:16
Speaker 7: say basically the same things as I've said in the
29:19
Speaker 7: past because they've proven to be true. So first of all,
29:23
Speaker 7: I want you to think about touch points on the calendar.
29:25
Speaker 7: So I know it's hard to get away. It's hard
29:28
Speaker 7: to get off. Some people do have someone that can
29:31
Speaker 7: kind of take over the reins. But if you don't,
29:33
Speaker 7: even an evening out, having your neighbours out for morning tea,
29:38
Speaker 7: something that you can actually look forward to because connection
29:41
Speaker 7: is actually something that will help you to regulate. It
29:44
Speaker 7: will help you to shoulder the frustrations of this crappy weather.
29:50
Speaker 7: Don't underestimate it. Don't forget about your basic needs as
29:54
Speaker 7: well while you're going through this. So A lot of
29:57
Speaker 7: farming is automated now, but remember that you do need
30:00
Speaker 7: to move your body as part of holistic health, mental
30:03
Speaker 7: health care. So whether that's walking, running, lifting weights, bike riding,
30:07
Speaker 7: whatever it is you like to do. Also looking at
30:10
Speaker 7: what you're eating and also how's your sleep? How can
30:15
Speaker 7: you address that? But the biggest thing I think is
30:19
Speaker 7: to look at acceptance. So there's Doesn't mean liking it
30:24
Speaker 7: or agreeing it. It's just saying, right, the weather's going
30:27
Speaker 7: to do what it's going to do. And whether or
30:30
Speaker 7: not you're angry about it, it's not going to change it.
30:33
Speaker 7: So it's just going, yep, okay, that's happening. It's going
30:37
Speaker 7: to be that way. What can I now put my
30:40
Speaker 7: focus on, if that makes sense?
30:42
Speaker 1: Now, a lot of events are happening around the province.
30:44
Speaker 1: I'll talk about these shortly, but a few people commenting
30:48
Speaker 1: online last night say, well, these events are all well
30:51
Speaker 1: and good, but if I get off the farm, that
30:54
Speaker 1: just puts me behind the eight ball because I've got
30:56
Speaker 1: a lot to do and I don't have time to
30:58
Speaker 1: go and attend these events. What do you say to that?
31:01
Speaker 7: It's a double-edged sword, isn't it? I guess it depends
31:06
Speaker 7: on how long you're taking off. So if it's just
31:08
Speaker 7: an evening, you're not going to be doing anything in the.
31:11
Speaker 3: Evening, probably.
31:12
Speaker 7: I think that the payoff would be far better than
31:16
Speaker 7: the sacrifice that you're willing to make. If it is
31:19
Speaker 7: going away for a day or two, yep, that's really hard.
31:23
Speaker 7: But please don't write it off before you've tried it.
31:26
Speaker 7: So if you can get somebody to look out for
31:29
Speaker 7: the farm or to double feed or do whatever you
31:32
Speaker 7: have to do, just maybe there is a chance that
31:35
Speaker 7: you might feel more able to take on the stresses
31:38
Speaker 7: if you've been able to let off some steam.
31:40
Speaker 1: You talk about diet. At this time of year, it's
31:42
Speaker 1: too easy just to chuck a pie in the microwave
31:44
Speaker 1: and that's your feet.
31:47
Speaker 7: Yep, don't underestimate it. So people are always surprised when
31:50
Speaker 7: I ask them about this. So we know that a
31:55
Speaker 7: lot of our neurotransmitters that are made in the gut
31:57
Speaker 7: do help us with mood regulations. And so you can
32:01
Speaker 7: imagine that if you're having a Jimmy's and a V
32:03
Speaker 7: for breakfast, you're probably not going to feel that good.
32:06
Speaker 7: If you can try to eat a little bit better, yes,
32:10
Speaker 7: that might be some preps the night before, it will
32:14
Speaker 7: absolutely pay off. You will not regret looking after yourself
32:17
Speaker 7: in this way.
32:19
Speaker 1: When you look at the season that's ahead of us,
32:21
Speaker 1: October in particular, I mean, tractor work, there hasn't been
32:24
Speaker 1: any tractor out in the paddock hardly. I've seen a
32:26
Speaker 1: couple of paddocks, but... let's be honest, so I probably
32:29
Speaker 1: worked up a few weeks back now. You've just got
32:32
Speaker 1: to put things into perspective, I suppose, as well. Catherine,
32:34
Speaker 1: what are your words around this?
32:36
Speaker 7: Yeah, so the tractor work kind of comes with its
32:39
Speaker 7: own set of issues from my experience, and that is
32:43
Speaker 7: that when you're doing something for long hours and it's
32:45
Speaker 7: very repetitive, you can get stuck in your own head
32:48
Speaker 7: and in your own thoughts, and that's pretty normal. Yes,
32:52
Speaker 7: you can do things to kind of ping yourself out
32:55
Speaker 7: of that or reset things. It could be podcasts, it
32:57
Speaker 7: could be music, but there are ways to come out
33:01
Speaker 7: of that. What I would like to suggest to people
33:05
Speaker 7: is a little tiny exercise, if that's okay. What I
33:08
Speaker 7: would like you to do is to imagine for a
33:10
Speaker 7: moment that you are actually working in an office. This
33:14
Speaker 7: is your job. You work in an office. You sit
33:16
Speaker 7: there every day and you look out onto farmland and
33:21
Speaker 7: you see the weather change, you see bad days, you
33:23
Speaker 7: see good days, but you can't get out there because
33:26
Speaker 7: your job is inside. I want you to think about
33:28
Speaker 7: what that would be like and what your general, I guess,
33:34
Speaker 7: feeling of working outside would be. Would it be something
33:37
Speaker 7: that you would like, no matter if you had to
33:41
Speaker 7: deal with the good and the bad, or would you
33:43
Speaker 7: prefer to be stuck inside? And if you are willing
33:46
Speaker 7: to take the bag with the good, I think that's
33:48
Speaker 7: your answer. And that's why you farm. And don't forget that,
33:51
Speaker 7: I think.
33:51
Speaker 1: So perspective comes into it at the moment?
33:54
Speaker 7: Absolutely. Perspective is everything.
33:57
Speaker 1: How do you get that work-life balance, though, when things
34:00
Speaker 1: are busy? What do you do?
34:03
Speaker 7: I think that it's something that fluctuates all the time. So, yes,
34:08
Speaker 7: on farm you do have to fluctuate in terms what
34:11
Speaker 7: hours you're putting in, and sometimes you're busier than others,
34:15
Speaker 7: and we know that. So the work-life balance is not
34:18
Speaker 7: going to be a completely symmetrical idea, I think. It
34:25
Speaker 7: can continually be assessed. Maybe if you've spent all October
34:29
Speaker 7: in a tractor, maybe there's another month that you can think, right, okay,
34:34
Speaker 7: I'm not as busy then. Maybe there's weaning going on,
34:37
Speaker 7: but there's not a lot else. Maybe you can put
34:39
Speaker 7: in time. And I don't even mean getting off farm.
34:42
Speaker 7: Maybe it's just being with your kids, doing something with them.
34:46
Speaker 7: Maybe it's going away with friends or whatever it is.
34:49
Speaker 7: But it's got to even out somewhere. But I think
34:52
Speaker 7: that you would get into a trap if you thought
34:55
Speaker 7: that you had to every day have a work-life balance.
34:59
Speaker 7: You can't have that on a farm. I get it.
35:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, wise words as always, Catherine. Just finally, how's your
35:05
Speaker 1: PhD been going?
35:07
Speaker 7: Oh, it's going great. I submit officially in about three weeks.
35:11
Speaker 7: So I'm really looking forward to that. Lots of findings.
35:14
Speaker 7: So my topic is actually rural community connection and mental
35:18
Speaker 7: health and land use change. So farm to forestry conversions
35:22
Speaker 7: and how that.
35:23
Speaker 3: Affects people socially.
35:25
Speaker 7: So there's a lot going to come out about that.
35:28
Speaker 7: I just can't do much until it's been peer reviewed.
35:30
Speaker 2: So we have to be patient.
35:32
Speaker 1: Well, it's the same old story. You can't eat pine trees, Catherine, right?
35:35
Speaker 1: Thanks for your time as always.
35:37
Speaker 7: No worries. Thanks, Andy.
35:40
Speaker 1: Catherine Wright. Yeah, there's quite a few events happening around
35:44
Speaker 1: the region. Transport Service is limited to holding events over
35:48
Speaker 1: the next couple of days. Waikaka, they're having a weather
35:52
Speaker 1: shout for the district there on Friday the 2nd of October,
35:55
Speaker 1: starting at 11.30. And the beef and lamb events as well,
35:58
Speaker 1: the spring shout's getting underway this evening at 5 o'clock
36:02
Speaker 1: at the Tokanui Rugby Club, and then tomorrow at Central
36:04
Speaker 1: Pirates Rugby Club at Walsons Crossing. And there's a number
36:07
Speaker 1: of events that are occurring around the region as well, so...
36:10
Speaker 1: If you get the opportunity, the weather's looking not too
36:12
Speaker 1: bad for a couple of days, go and have a
36:14
Speaker 1: snag and have a chinwag with people. Sam Ruddenclaw is
36:17
Speaker 1: up next of Mallet McLean plus more in Texas, of
36:21
Speaker 1: all places.
36:21
Speaker 3: Oh, my.
36:22
Speaker 6: For me.
36:23
Speaker 1: If you still must touch on. Making sure I'm not
36:29
Speaker 1: in too deep. If you still must touch on.
36:32
Speaker 7: Keep me first.
36:33
Speaker 1: Steal My Sunshine by Len. The theme today is sun
36:37
Speaker 1: because we've got some finally. You're listening to The Muster.
36:40
Speaker 1: We're away over to Texas next to catch up with
36:43
Speaker 1: Sam Ruddenclaw of Mallet McLean Plus More. Good afternoon, Sam.
36:48
Speaker 1: Talking provisional tax to somebody from Texas isn't something I've
36:51
Speaker 1: done every day. How's things?
36:54
Speaker 3: All good, Andy. Yeah, and it's certainly not something that
36:57
Speaker 3: I've done either. And hard to hear... I've been here
37:02
Speaker 3: for 10 days and we've had 40-plus degree weather. It's
37:06
Speaker 3: currently 5.30 in the afternoon and it's 32 degrees, so
37:11
Speaker 3: it's hard to comprehend what it's like at home. I've
37:15
Speaker 3: got a lot of guys on the trip with me
37:17
Speaker 3: that's from Gorge Road and just talking to them about
37:20
Speaker 3: production and what's happening there. It certainly seems like it's
37:23
Speaker 3: been a tough run from a weather perspective, which... It
37:27
Speaker 3: impacts production, impacts feed costs, impacts fertiliser. So there's lots
37:32
Speaker 3: of impacts there happening at the moment that will flow
37:37
Speaker 3: on into provisional tax for dairy farmers or for made
37:40
Speaker 3: balance dates, which is 28th of October. So just, yeah,
37:42
Speaker 3: making sure that guys are thinking about that, updating their
37:46
Speaker 3: production numbers, and just looking at the cost side of
37:50
Speaker 3: their business and just making sure that tax is going
37:53
Speaker 3: to be sort of in the ballpark of where they
37:56
Speaker 3: need to be.
37:57
Speaker 1: Well, it's certainly been a trying September, as you would
37:59
Speaker 1: have seen when you were over here a couple of
38:01
Speaker 1: weeks ago, Sam. You're due home later on this week,
38:04
Speaker 1: but it has been an interesting September. But like I say,
38:07
Speaker 1: sunshine today certainly changes the mood. But the big question is,
38:10
Speaker 1: why are you over in Texas?
38:14
Speaker 3: So there's 19 of us travelled over to represent New
38:18
Speaker 3: Zealand in the International Precision Rifle Federation World Championships, so
38:24
Speaker 3: the IPRF World Championships. They were held... about an hour
38:28
Speaker 3: and a half west of Fort Worth, Texas. So, yeah,
38:32
Speaker 3: 19 of us just finished shooting, well, the closing ceremony
38:35
Speaker 3: was yesterday, and, yeah, along with 32 total supporters and stuff,
38:41
Speaker 3: so it's been a great event.
38:45
Speaker 1: You've done pistol shooting for quite a while, though.
38:48
Speaker 3: Rifle shooting?
38:49
Speaker 1: Rifle shooting, sorry.
38:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been sort of evolved from hunting...
38:56
Speaker 3: and just an enjoyment of long-range shooting. And then, yeah,
38:59
Speaker 3: just got into the competitive side. It's one of those
39:03
Speaker 3: things I quite enjoy. Well, it's quite analytical, I guess,
39:07
Speaker 3: so a little bit of a light-night day job, but
39:09
Speaker 3: also it's something that's quite different as well, so it
39:12
Speaker 3: gets me away from the office. And someone once told me,
39:15
Speaker 3: some wise person once told me to de-stress yourself from
39:17
Speaker 3: the office. You've got to re-stress yourself doing something else,
39:20
Speaker 3: so that's what I'm doing currently.
39:22
Speaker 1: De-stress to re-stress, that's an interesting say. Describe Texas Forest then,
39:26
Speaker 1: because we hear about everything being bigger and bolder there.
39:30
Speaker 3: That's a very true statement. It is, well, we've been
39:35
Speaker 3: to a few big sporting goods stores that are absolutely enormous.
39:39
Speaker 3: For example, we're in one over there called Shell's, which
39:42
Speaker 3: has got a Ferris wheel inside. That's like three stories tall. Massive, big...
39:49
Speaker 3: aquarium with live fish, waterfalls, all sorts of stuff. It's just, yeah,
39:55
Speaker 3: it's really hard to believe unless you come here. And
39:59
Speaker 3: big vehicles. Yes, it's actually a really cool experience, to
40:05
Speaker 3: be fair.
40:06
Speaker 1: Would you say life's prosperous over there at the moment
40:08
Speaker 1: for its citizens?
40:11
Speaker 3: It's a bit of a mixed bag, actually. Like, for example...
40:15
Speaker 3: I did some rough calculations just on the road today
40:18
Speaker 3: just around the cost of some groceries and fuel and
40:21
Speaker 3: that sort of thing. So ribeye steak in the supermarket
40:27
Speaker 3: is $ 28 a pound, which works out roughly at the
40:29
Speaker 3: moment in New Zealand dollars, $ 112 a kilo. Where chicken's
40:34
Speaker 3: between $ 4 and $ 5 a pound, so that's about $ 12
40:36
Speaker 3: a kilo. Sorry, $ 20 a kilo. So there's a big
40:38
Speaker 3: difference there in some of that cost.
40:39
Speaker 8: Petrol's... $ 1. 70 to $ 1. 85, depending on grade. And diesel is
40:52
Speaker 8: about $ 2.
40:52
Speaker 3: 90. So it's actually pretty close to New Zealand diesel
40:55
Speaker 3: price at the moment. So it's a bit of a
40:57
Speaker 3: mixed bag, to be fair.
40:59
Speaker 1: So is that an American currency or New Zealand currency,
41:02
Speaker 1: you're quoting?
41:02
Speaker 3: That's converting back to New Zealand dollars. So it's in gallons.
41:07
Speaker 3: So petrol is about $ 3. 85 a gallon. diesel about $ 6
41:14
Speaker 3: a gallon over here so yeah it's a bit of
41:19
Speaker 3: a mixed bag as I say and just in terms
41:22
Speaker 3: of we've had a drive around today we've been up
41:24
Speaker 3: in Oklahoma been through a bit of the grain belt
41:27
Speaker 3: and quite a bit of cattle country and it is
41:31
Speaker 3: extremely extremely dry through that area so there's been pressure
41:36
Speaker 3: on from a farming perspective.
41:37
Speaker 1: As well But in general, though, like agriculture, is it
41:40
Speaker 1: in a pretty good place, would you imagine?
41:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, well, definitely beef is in a really
41:49
Speaker 3: good place. Green is probably possibly slightly better than what
41:55
Speaker 3: it is in New Zealand currently. I read a little
41:58
Speaker 3: bit of stuff around cotton. There's a bit of pressure
42:00
Speaker 3: on there. So, yeah, I think that in general it's
42:04
Speaker 3: sort of, OK, but maybe not as prosperous as what
42:08
Speaker 3: New Zealand is at the moment, I wouldn't have thought.
42:10
Speaker 1: Now, people struggle driving around roundabouts here in Gore. What's
42:14
Speaker 1: it like going over to the freeway system of Texas?
42:19
Speaker 3: Well, it was a baptism of fire. We arrived in
42:21
Speaker 3: at Houston at 4 on a Friday afternoon, and I
42:28
Speaker 3: was the driver. We were straight onto the big freeways, but, yeah,
42:32
Speaker 3: you've just got to trust Google and make sure that
42:34
Speaker 3: you're that your steering wheel was in the middle of
42:37
Speaker 3: the road, not on the outside of the road. That's
42:41
Speaker 3: bad news. I've only done it twice on 2,000 miles,
42:43
Speaker 3: so I'm relatively OK with it.
42:46
Speaker 1: So there are no cars coming the other way, obviously,
42:48
Speaker 1: when it did occur? No, no.
42:52
Speaker 5: It was.
42:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, you come off some of the big motorways onto
42:57
Speaker 3: an exit, and then you go straight onto a two-way road,
43:00
Speaker 3: and it's just seemed natural to... swung onto the left-hand
43:04
Speaker 3: side of that two-way road. But you've actually got to
43:07
Speaker 3: cross over the centre line, which seems a bit bizarre,
43:09
Speaker 3: but it's... Yeah, so I'm... Yeah, I'm OK with that.
43:15
Speaker 1: So a couple more days, then you're back over to reality,
43:18
Speaker 1: to Terra Firma in New Zealand?
43:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, so tonight we're going to stay just on the
43:25
Speaker 3: border of Oklahoma and Texas, and then tomorrow we're heading
43:27
Speaker 3: down to Houston, which is where we fly out of, Thursday,
43:31
Speaker 3: this group of us going through the International Space Museum,
43:35
Speaker 3: which is in Texas. And then, yeah, home on Friday.
43:38
Speaker 3: So back to reality, back in the office on Monday.
43:41
Speaker 1: Good on you, Sam. Well, safe travels. It's not every
43:44
Speaker 1: day you talk about tax to somebody who's over in Texas,
43:47
Speaker 1: but we've managed to achieve it today, along with your adventures.
43:50
Speaker 1: Always appreciate your time on the muster.
43:51
Speaker 3: We could almost make this trip tax-flexible, I think, wouldn't we?
43:56
Speaker 1: Well, you're the accountant. You'll know. Very good.
44:00
Speaker 3: Cheers, Andy.
44:04
Speaker 1: Laugh out loud with Ag Proud, because life on the
44:07
Speaker 1: land can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by
44:10
Speaker 1: Shearwell Data, working to help the livestock farmer. I've opened
44:14
Speaker 1: a gym where the instructors would go from door to
44:16
Speaker 1: door telling people about the benefits of joining it. I've
44:19
Speaker 1: called it Jehovah's Fitness. And of course you can't become...
44:25
Speaker 1: That's us over in Dunworth for the afternoon. The podcast
44:28
Speaker 1: will be up shortly, courtesy of iHeartRadio. I'm Andy Muir.
44:32
Speaker 1: The muster is brought to you by Peter's Genetics. Blue
44:34
Speaker 1: sky outside. Go and enjoy it. See you tomorrow, 1 o'clock.
44:45
Speaker 1: Stock selling action occurred courtesy of PDG Wrightson. It was
44:49
Speaker 1: at the Balclutha sale yard this morning. Mark Coulter's on
44:53
Speaker 1: the line to give us a rundown on prices. G'day, mate.
44:55
Speaker 1: How do we fare?
44:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, g'day, Andy. Yeah, not too bad here again in
44:59
Speaker 4: Balclutha this week. It was a small yard again, but
45:02
Speaker 4: what was in sold very well for what it was.
45:04
Speaker 4: Getting into the prime lambs, your big heavy prime lambs
45:07
Speaker 4: are $ 280 to $ 310 at a very big push. Your
45:10
Speaker 4: good mediums are $ 240 to $ 260, and your lighter end
45:16
Speaker 4: primes are still $ 180 to $ 210. A few cut teeth
45:20
Speaker 4: starting to come through now. We had a couple of
45:21
Speaker 4: handfuls here today. They sold anywhere from $ 150 to $ 200
45:25
Speaker 4: for your big fresh cut teeth. Store lambs, there was
45:30
Speaker 4: not many of them today at all. What was in
45:33
Speaker 4: the Ford stores are $ 150 to $ 175, and there was
45:37
Speaker 4: a handful around at the end there. They were anywhere
45:41
Speaker 4: from $ 50 to $ 130. Into the ewes, some big, heavy
45:44
Speaker 4: prime ewes come through again today. They were $ 280 to $ 310.
45:48
Speaker 4: You've got mediums still fetching well at $ 240 to $ 270.
45:51
Speaker 4: And your light rain girls have done the winter and
45:54
Speaker 4: spring tough for $ 110 to $ 160. I was up here
45:57
Speaker 4: at Balclutha, and cattle sale coming up down here on
46:00
Speaker 4: the 14th, so get in touch with your local agent.
46:02
Speaker 1: Cheers.