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The Muster- Ben Dooley: Keeping The Mindset · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: The muster on the farm with Southland District Council working
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: together for a better Southland.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Ben Dooley farms at Wyndham, sheep, beef and YouTube farmer
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: and joins us once again. G'day Dills. It's wet around
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: the province. We're your base here at Minnehau, just out
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: of Wyndham. How's the situation?
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, knock, knock. much like everyone, I think everyone's going
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: through it. We do seem to be exceptionally hard hit
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and it's easy to think we're the worst, but I
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: don't think we are. I think everyone's getting it pretty evenly.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: But yeah, no, that rain last night, that was me
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: getting up this morning going, well, I think we'll try
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: again next year. But God, I'm not driving around this morning.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Things weren't as bad as expected. About four or five
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: days ago, I shed it out of probably 40% of
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: my mixed-age maternal paddocks, we were, you know, half, two-thirds
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: of the way through because those paddocks were just so
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  Speaker 1: muddy underfoot. Lands that were up and going were fine,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: but lands that had just been born were, well, most
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  Speaker 1: of them weren't making it. So, yeah, sort of made
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  Speaker 1: a decision. We were down to numbers enough where it
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: could be done, but that means that the other 60%
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of those paddocks are now sort of, between 20 and
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  Speaker 1: 25 ewes per hectare. They're just better underfoot. But it
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: is nice driving around seeing those lambs get born alive
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: and actually get up and get going. But as everyone
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: will be able to understand, a week or two down
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  Speaker 1: the track, that's going to have some other very serious
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: implications when the feed runs out. So no, no, she's
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: not good. I would almost go as far as to
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: say maybe not result-wise, but condition-wise, this is probably just
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: about worse than 2010.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I've seen the videos you put up there on your
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  Speaker 2: social channels, and getting through gateways seems to be the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: biggest issue for a lot of people, and especially when
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: it comes to shedding out, you just can't do it.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, 100%. Like when I say shedding out, I
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: was only focusing on the ones that were still in land,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: so it was sort of easier to move them. If
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I was trying to get weird dries out as well,
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  Speaker 1: I would have been pulling my hair out. I would
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: have probably hit the bike down a gully somewhere. It
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: just wouldn't have happened. We, you know, we're bringing lambs home.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: We're rearing lambs in the shed. We're not doing any
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: mothering on because by the time you actually catch a ewe, well,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: for starters, you've upset the whole paddock. You've probably put
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a bite down a gully. Yeah, you're lucky if you're
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: still standing on two feet and it's just that ridiculous underfoot.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: There's very little you can actually do out there to
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: achieve anything.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: So you've just had to change your whole lambing routine
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: based on ground conditions?
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we're not super intensive anyway when it
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: comes to a lambing bait. We try to just, you know,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: it's that whole conundrum between breeding an easy-care sheep on
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: ground that you want to do a lambing bait on
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: when it comes to time when you've got a, well,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: you know, easy-care sheep don't like being driven around. We've
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: got to give them the opportunity to do it themselves.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Focus more on the things you can do. Like I say,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that shooting out the other day, by getting those ewes
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  Speaker 1: out of those paddocks, we sort of, you know... Improve
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: some outcomes a little bit there. Focusing, you know, if
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: a ewe needs land or whatever, you're going to do that.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Those wet, cold, hungry lambs, just pick them up and
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: bring them home. Don't try and do anything else with them.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: If a ewe's got one lamb on her in the paddock,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty happy right now. So, yeah, and you're definitely
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: only going around once a day. Just keeping an eye on,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: like I say, those things that you can actually make
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a difference on. If we went around twice a day,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: we're just going to have twice as much mud at
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the moment. So, yeah.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: As far as rainfall figures, it's pretty substantial. What have
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: you got there?
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  Speaker 1: I haven't been keeping records for a few years because
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: my electronic rain gauge broke and I'm too lazy to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: do the basic one out every day. But I did
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: see Matt McRae put something up yesterday. I think they
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: were sitting at about, they might be a little bit
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: higher than us, but about 250 mils to the month.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: And there has to have been 20 mils, sorry, overnight
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: and this morning, and it's still going on too. So... Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: heading very fast for that 300 for the month, which
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I think last year we were 350 for six weeks
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  Speaker 1: from the start of September to mid-October. September to mid-October, sorry.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: And we thought that was ridiculous. Well, we're just about
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: going to get that within one month, the one month
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: we need to try and cooperate a little bit. So, yeah,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm guessing it'll be a record. It's
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: certainly right up there.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: With the change of approach to your lambing due to
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: the ground conditions, Dills, what are you doing to actually
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: keep yourself focused at the moment? I mean, it's all
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: well and good me sitting there saying to give little
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: bits of advice, but coming from guys actually out there
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: in the fields, it's got a bit more meaning.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, just like I say, focusing on the things you
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: can do and not stressing. It's easy to say not
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: stressing when you're sitting there watching money go down.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: The drain, but.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: If you're stressing about things that you can't change, then
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: you're just going to wind up in a really bad spot.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: If you can't do anything about it, if you can't
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: improve that outcome, you just have to drive past, as
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: simple as that. So you go around the years in
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: the morning, there always seems to be something to do.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: The kids are home for school holidays now, so do
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: some stuff with them. Oh, we went out for tea
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: with some people the other night. It was good just
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: to get away. It's bloody hard to get off farm
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: at this time of year, especially during the day. And,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: you know, it is a thing that's set off, just
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: get off farm. And it is bloody hard to do.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: So sometimes it's not practical, but you do have that option,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: you know, go into the pub, catch up with a
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: few mates, give someone a ring, go see someone down
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the road, just whatever. But, yeah, that and also just,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: you know, trying to keep up on top of some
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: maintenance stuff. We've had a pretty big fencing project going
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: on here since sort of mid-August. So, well, I feel
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: like I'm being productive if we're going to do a
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: bit of that. We're just about finished now. But just
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: the last few things, like stamping on insulators and stuff
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: like that, doing the boards on the ends, just something
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to keep your head straight to make it feel like
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: you're achieving something is, yeah, quite important because most of
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: us aren't the kind of people that just want to
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: sit down and do nothing, are we?
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, when you're going out and about, put some
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: headphones on as well. That's a really simplistic, basic thing,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: but I remember doing the lambing beat on the bike,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: and headphones were non-negotiable for me. You just sat there
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: and just stimulate your mind while you're going around so
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: you're not just having to focus on what was in
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  Speaker 2: front of you.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 100%. I've got the old bloody earbuds in the
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: whole time, podcasts or a bit of music or whatever
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: you want to listen to, find something you want to hear, and,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you know, that just... It sounds like not much, and
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: it sounds like it wouldn't make a difference, but those
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: of us that do it do understand that it does.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Just a different perspective on things and something completely unrelated
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  Speaker 1: to farming. Yeah, no, it can be quite good.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: So your tractor work, the tailing, that'll get done? It's
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: just a matter of focusing on the now and looking
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: after yourself?
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it'll get done. I think it was a
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: couple of months ago you asked me about doing tractor
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: work and if I go early, and I always said, look,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: we do normally go early. But we go when conditions
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: are right. Well, yeah, that hasn't happened. And that won't
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: be happening for a wee while, I don't think. But
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  Speaker 1: it'll happen when it does. We've got a few things
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: on this year. We've got a mate's wedding and another
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: 40th together in October. And I've got school camp in
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Stewart Island in November to squeeze in. So there is
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: a bit of pressure on there. But we've got to
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: make sure we go and do those things. So, yeah,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the work will happen when the work happens. You can
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: go away, come back, and it'll still be there to do.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well said, Dills. We'll leave it there, mate. Always
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: good to catch up.
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  Speaker 1: Nah, bloody good, Andy.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Ben Dooley, sheep and beef farming. Sheep and beef farmer,
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  Speaker 2: that is. Just out of Wyndham. You're listening to The Muster.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Change of tact next. Logan Savory out of the Southland Tribune.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: And then before the end of the hour, Alan McCleary
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: of Shewell, New Zealand.