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The Muster- Steve Henderson: Seeing Light At The End Of The Tunnel · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Muster. The theme today for the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: music is Electric Avenue, the music festival in Christchurch with
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: artists going there. No bigger name than Calvin Harris. That
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: song there, I'm Not Alone, he's got a plethora of bangers.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: That's happening in Christchurch in, I think, possibly February of
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: next year. We're away down to Avarua next, though, to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: catch up with Steve Henderson, dairy farming down that way. Steve,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: how's things, ground conditions down at your neck of the woods?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Andy and listeners. It's probably as wet as
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: anyone else. But I suppose one good thing about down here,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: we've got a lot of open ditches, so the water
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: does get away, but it's still a bit unique. It's
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: got sort of a, you've got about a half a
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: foot or a foot of top soil, and then you're
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: down into an iron pan. So it does have, you know,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: it's issues with drainage with the tiles and overflows. So
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: we do hold a lot of water in. in those
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: sort of basins. So, yeah, no, we're certainly wet. We're
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: certainly wet. And, you know, all the stats show it
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: too with the wettest winter and what have it. So, yeah, no,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: we're about onto our second round probably on Sunday. So
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: that'll be the test of paddocks.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I think rainfall records started in 1917, 1980 being the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: standout there. This is second to that one.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, which I honestly thought the last two springs
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: were wetter, but maybe we're just getting used to it and,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: A wet spring is almost normal now. But looking back,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: it is frigging wet and everything's just like everybody else.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: It's hard work to go and do something because it
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: takes a bit more effort and you've got leggings on
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: and the jobs aren't quite as straightforward. So yeah, it's
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: the third one in a row now, like everybody's saying.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: But you'll get to November, December and dare I say it,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: you'll be looking for a share of rain.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Devil's advocate there, but that's just the nature of the game, mate. Hey,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: so as far as the calving situation, are you getting
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: well through? I'd imagine so.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, we've got about 60 on left to calve. So,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: you know, we had no calves today, and they've got
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: all calved by about the 10th of October, so they'll
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: come through. But on a day like this, you don't
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: mind having no calves because you sort of get tidied
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: up earlier, and we've actually got the old coffee cart
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: calling in for the neighbourly shout, so... That'll be good.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: It'll lift a bit of morale, and we'll talk the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: same stuff I'm talking to you with the neighbours, and
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: we'll probably have no different outcome, and then, yeah, we'll
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: carry on on Friday. So, you know, well, animal health-wise
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: has been pretty darn good, too. Yes, a bit of mastitis, but, yeah, metabolics, yeah,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: sort of few and far between, which has been a
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: bit of a saviour this spring. You know, a down
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: cow takes a fair bit of time, and if you've
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: got two or three of them, yeah, that's a lot
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: of your day taken just tending to those cows.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: The coffee cart, you guys just working together as a
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: neighbourhood and do something at this time of year traditionally? Yeah,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: we did.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: It was last year when we had the power outages,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: which was obviously October. So, yeah, we got the one
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: out of Invercargill. And, holy shit, we had a good turnout. So, yeah,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Trace scored a bugger at Friday. We'll get it again. So, yeah,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: we'll catch up with people. And it's good. People just
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: turn up in their leggings and gumboots and have a
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: coffee on us and carry on.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Do you find your mindset changing when you've got a
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: current situation like we're facing, Steve? Now, you're a pretty
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: relaxed character at the best of times, but you're always
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: looking at the glass half full approach. What does this
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: situation mean for you? What do you do differently when
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you approach it?
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: You sort of look at the big picture. So, you know,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: like I said in November, December, where we wanted a
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: shower rain, so just think about the now. What can
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: you do to those cows? You know, can you just
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: graze that paddock, get them off, save your pasture, save
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: your soils, stand them off on concrete. What other tricks
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: have you got up your sleeve? And also, you know,
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: tending to the now. So we've had a lame cow
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: guy come in twice already this season, which is probably abnormal.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: We try to keep on top of them ourselves with
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: getting someone in maybe once or twice. But you've got
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: to go, righto, we're calving, we're busy, we've got mating
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: around the corner, we've got lame cows, we've got foot rot,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: probably the most we've ever seen. and a bit of
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: white line so sometimes you've got to employ someone else
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: with expertise to do that job while you carry on
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: and do your own job that you're good at and
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: along those lines actually with lame cows and different things
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: that are happening because of the season that's where you've
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: got to have those conversations if you're a contract milker
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: you've got to have that conversation with your farm owner
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: or your supervisor and just say hey this is out
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: of the ordinary can we compromise and get a lame
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: cow guy to come and to enter those feet because
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: I'll run off my feet and we know mating's around
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: the corner and we need to get cows back in calf.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: So there's a few of those conversations that are probably
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: not normal to have, but, you know, the sooner you
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: have them, the sooner you'll get those cows tidied up
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: because I've never ever seen a lame cow fix itself.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: And being very mindful of, you know, mating's around the corner.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: So animal health issues, given the season we've got, what
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: are you seeing differently apart from a bit of lameness?
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Nothing out of the ordinary?
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: No, nothing out of the ordinary. T condition, mastitis is
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: nothing out of the ordinary. And yeah, metabolics, like I
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: was saying, we haven't had too many. So no, it's
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: just probably lameness. And a lot of them are just
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: tender feet, you know, thin soles. Like you sitting in
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: the buddy puddle for the last two months, you go
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: a bit wrinkly and you just sort of almost had enough.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's what's happening. You can shorten up their walks,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: try and make the night walk shorter and mix the
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: mobs up so they walk in different distances. But yeah, Yeah,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: it does take each week as it comes. Yeah, so
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: in the weekends we just try and do the bare minimum.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: So right now we're drafting up springers and we'll get
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: bales out for the weekend and try and do as
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: much feeding out for the weekend as we can. So
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: you say the bare minimum, but milking and picking up
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: calves still takes a fair bit of time. And you
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: do got to remember it is still October. Sorry, August, September, October.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: It's a busy month, or three months, sorry. So no,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: you just got to take it with a grain of
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: salt and you enjoy your holidays later on and stuff.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: As long as staff know the plan, they understand that
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and recognise that, you know, we are doing a few
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: more hours here, but we'll definitely get them back somewhere else. So, no,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: you just try and ease the workload as much as
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: you can and prepare for the unexpected, really.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Good on you, Steve. All the best for the weekend.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Enjoy that coffee car. We'll catch up again.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: No worries. Cheers, Andy.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Steve Henderson with some words of wisdom heading into through September,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I should say. Andrew Wilderson and Newstalk ZB's up next.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Let's talk some sport.