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The Muster- Julie Edwards: Shearwell UK · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:13
  Speaker 1: This is the muster on Hokonui.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: We're away over to the UK next to catch up
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: with Julie Edwards out of Shewell, UK. Of course, we
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: catch up with Ellen McCleary every month here on the
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: programme and Julie as well, but where Shewell is based
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: over there.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Julie, good afternoon. Finally, it sounds as though you've had
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: some rain. Happy days.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, good afternoon, Andy. Yes, we have, and I'm pleased
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: to report that, yeah, since we last spoke, we've had
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  Speaker 3: a decent amount of rain. It's still warm. So the
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  Speaker 3: grounds are greening up and, yeah, we've got a reasonable
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  Speaker 3: amount of grass growth now. It's amazing what can happen
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  Speaker 3: in a few weeks. So, yeah, complete change from when
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  Speaker 3: we last spoke, which is good news.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: The mood of the rural sector has changed as a
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: result of that rain, I suppose?
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. And particularly, you know, for the livestock sector,
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  Speaker 3: for those thinking about... flushing their ewes and putting the
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: rams in, you know, this is just very timely now. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, some nice, decent, fresh grass for them. It's ideal. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I think, yeah, the mood is pretty good at the moment.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Prices are up as well. So, yeah.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Last time we spoke, I think you were saying, Julie,
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  Speaker 2: you had four heat waves, possibly a fifth that was
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: on the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: But just having that hot, stifling weather, very un-UK-like.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I might have said before, actually, we
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: all get excited if it gets to about 20 degrees.
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  Speaker 3: That's our summer normally. But the fact, you know, we
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: were in the 30s, mid-30s for quite some time. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we did have five heat waves. It was quite a
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  Speaker 3: phenomenon for us, I think. And, you know, we're just
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: not really set up for it over here. So I
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  Speaker 3: think it took everybody by surprise. And the fact that
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: it was so prolonged was a challenge for So, you know,
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  Speaker 3: certainly if that's something that we're going to see on
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: a more frequent basis, then I think, you know, we're
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: all going to have to think about how we do
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  Speaker 3: things moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: We're having a couple of days of sunshine, which is
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  Speaker 2: breaking away from the norm of our spring, which has
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: been anything but settled. But the other thing, I suppose,
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  Speaker 2: is over there, the harvest season. Last time we spoke,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of concern around the fire risk and et cetera.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: How's that panned out?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, not so much. Well, nothing on the news now,
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  Speaker 3: but certainly at the time it was worrying. There were
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  Speaker 3: quite a few wildfires across the country. But I think
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  Speaker 3: now we've had the rain and I think, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the vast majority of farmers have harvested early as well.
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  Speaker 3: I think there were one or two people still at
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: the moment getting maize in. But we're all, I think,
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: well ahead of schedule. So, yeah, it's now just down
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  Speaker 3: to planting and and sorting out the ground and working that,
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  Speaker 3: which they're able to do now, now that we've had
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: a decent drop of rain and the soil's still warm
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: as well. So planting should be fairly successful.
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  Speaker 2: Now, a lot going on around the world as far
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: as political stability. Over in the UK, Andy Burnham took
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  Speaker 2: over from Sir Keir Starmer not that long ago. Keir
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  Speaker 2: Starmer notoriously wanting to put on farm taxes more and more.
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  Speaker 2: Andy Burnham, how's he been received?
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Good. I would say reasonably well at the moment, but
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  Speaker 3: as with a lot of politicians, he's saying all the
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: right things. It'll actually be the actions and the doing
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: which will be the proof in the pudding, I think,
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: in terms of what impact he has for the farming sector.
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  Speaker 3: And as you just mentioned, the inheritance tax, which I
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  Speaker 3: think has caused a tremendous amount of concern for farmers
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  Speaker 3: over here, could have huge ramifications for lots of farming
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  Speaker 3: businesses if they've suddenly got to find money to pay
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  Speaker 3: for huge tax bills um you know farm farms are
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  Speaker 3: notoriously asset rich and cash poor and i think what
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: it has done actually though is really made made people
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  Speaker 3: start to think about having those discussions about succession planning
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: which perhaps in the past hasn't been something on the
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  Speaker 3: forefront of people's minds but um it would be good
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  Speaker 3: if our prime minister andy burnham did um rescind or,
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  Speaker 3: I guess, change the legislation that was brought in by
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Keir Starmer. But we'll have to wait and see, I guess.
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  Speaker 2: One person who's been very well received around the world
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  Speaker 2: regarding the view of UK farming is Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson's farm,
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  Speaker 2: it's really brought agriculture into the spotlight.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, yes. He's probably done more for farming than probably
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  Speaker 3: most of the programmes that have ever been on television. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, he's been... I think the thing that people
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  Speaker 3: like about him is just his honesty. And I think,
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  Speaker 3: you know, it's been a real insight when he sits
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  Speaker 3: down with his accountant, Charlie, and they talk about the
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  Speaker 3: profit or the loss that he's made. And the investment
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  Speaker 3: he's made in huge pieces of machinery have been, I think,
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  Speaker 3: quite astounding for people. They just hadn't realized the amount
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  Speaker 3: of money some of these machines cost. You know, and
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  Speaker 3: the hours worked and then, you know, the actual profit
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  Speaker 3: that's made at the end of it. I think people
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  Speaker 3: have been quite shocked. I mean, there's been some funny
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  Speaker 3: bits as well. I always remember when he bought some,
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  Speaker 3: he decided to buy some sheep and he let them out.
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  Speaker 3: And the first thing they all did was one by
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  Speaker 3: one jump over the fence. I think he was stood
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  Speaker 3: there and I think you could hear the expletive. So
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  Speaker 3: I think we've all been there both.
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  Speaker 2: Do you have the younger generation coming through wanting to
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  Speaker 2: be farmers? I mean, we had Country Calendar on here
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  Speaker 2: the other day, which is a programme that showcases rural,
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  Speaker 2: predominantly for an urban-lensed audience, but a school up in
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  Speaker 2: the North Island puts agriculture into the curriculum in a
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  Speaker 2: big way. Are you seeing that in the UK, the
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  Speaker 2: younger generation keen to get involved?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we are. We're starting to see more of that,
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  Speaker 3: and I think there are a lot of very good
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  Speaker 3: advocates for... encouraging schoolchildren to go out on the farm.
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  Speaker 3: You know, there are initiatives over here where, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you are encouraged to get people on the farm. And
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  Speaker 3: some of these farms, you're seeing, you know, several thousand
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  Speaker 3: people turn up when they have an open day. And
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  Speaker 3: the local schools as well, they tend to adopt a
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  Speaker 3: local farm. And people are sort of doing some farm
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  Speaker 3: to fork initiatives where they're inviting schoolchildren out onto the
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  Speaker 3: farm to see the animals, to actually understand how they're grown,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and the fact that they go into the
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: food chain, but also the cereal side of things as well.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: So they're trying to engage people more with where their
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  Speaker 3: food comes from rather than, you know, I think the
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: disconnect for a while was pretty extreme. And, you know,
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: people just thought that food came from the supermarket. They
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  Speaker 3: had no idea where it was produced. So I think
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  Speaker 3: there's some big efforts going on and some big investment. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the fact that You guys have got it
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: on the curriculum, and I think, you know, we need
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: to follow suit over here as well.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: As far as Sherwell, Alan McCleary, the great man with
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: his heatwave milk feeders at the moment, going gangbusters.
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  Speaker 1: How's everything been from your perspective?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, very happy. As I think I've mentioned before, you know,
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  Speaker 3: we've got Alan in the South Island, Ben in the
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  Speaker 3: North Island, and Ray at Mosgill, who's handling all the
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: phone calls and the orders. Um, you know, and we're
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: seeing tremendous orders for ear tags coming in as well.
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  Speaker 3: So I guess the message to your listeners is, you know,
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  Speaker 3: if you're, if you're lambing now and you need tags,
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: then give the guys a call. They can certainly help
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  Speaker 3: you out. Um, and I think you mentioned earlier when
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  Speaker 3: we were chatting off air, you know, people are saying,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they're getting there, you're having some triplets, you know,
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  Speaker 3: if you've got spare lambs, then, um, you need a
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  Speaker 3: heat wave. So get them on the heat wave. Cause
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  Speaker 3: you know, these animals are, you know, they're making good
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  Speaker 3: money now. So, um, We've got products there that can
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  Speaker 3: help them, so just let us know.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, good on you, Julie.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: We'll let you carry on. Always good to catch up
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  Speaker 2: on the muster and shear well. You guys keep.
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  Speaker 1: Doing what you're doing.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Andy. Lovely to talk to you.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Julie Edwards of Shewell UK.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Like I said, we talk to Ella McCleary every month
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: here on the muster. Well, Julie's part of the Shewell
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: UK division. Always great to catch up. Josh Bennett's up
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: next from Waitangi Young Farmers.