Latest / The Muster on Hokonui / The Muster Full Show: 29/09/26

Transcript

The Muster Full Show: 29/09/26 · The Muster on Hokonui

0:07
Speaker 1: Good afternoon and welcome to the muster on Hakanui. I'm
0:10
Speaker 1: Andy Muir. The show is brought to you by Peterson Helix.
0:14
Speaker 1: Welcome along to a Tuesday which sees overcast skies with
0:18
Speaker 1: a bit of rain. Well, showers coming through town every
0:21
Speaker 1: now and then. But there's good news on the horizon tomorrow.
0:24
Speaker 1: It's looking pretty good. We'll talk the weather shortly. Before
0:27
Speaker 1: we go any further as well, happy birthday to Chuka Wilson,
0:31
Speaker 1: turning the big five vote. Now, there's a road cone
0:34
Speaker 1: on the toilets in the middle of town. Looks very
0:36
Speaker 1: much like a party hat anyway, so perhaps that's just
0:39
Speaker 1: a salute to Chuka's 50 years on the planet. So
0:41
Speaker 1: good on you, Chris. Hope you have a good one.
0:43
Speaker 1: The beans in the family. later on today. Music today
0:47
Speaker 1: as well, straight into it. This was the winner of
0:49
Speaker 1: the inaugural, inaugural, the first, I hate saying that bloody word,
0:54
Speaker 1: of the first American Idol competition back in 2002, Kelly Clarkson,
0:59
Speaker 1: her big single, Breakaway.
1:00
Speaker 2: I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky.
1:05
Speaker 3: Hakanui's five-day forecast with Twin Farm, Tefrom and Softex.
1:09
Speaker 1: The proof is in the progeny. tefrom.co.nz It doesn't matter
1:14
Speaker 1: how often you practice some words, sometimes you just can't
1:17
Speaker 1: spit them out. But I will try and get the
1:19
Speaker 1: weather out and hopefully there's not as many spits as
1:21
Speaker 1: what we've seen over the past few weeks. This afternoon
1:24
Speaker 1: showers in breezy Westerlies 11, but tomorrow sunshine, sunny with
1:28
Speaker 1: breezy nor Westerlies 10 and 18. Thursday cloudy with breezy
1:32
Speaker 1: nor Westerlies 12 and 17. Friday a few showers of
1:36
Speaker 1: west nor Westerlies 6 and 16 and Saturday morning showers 11.
1:40
Speaker 1: With calm variable winds, 3 and 13. So temperatures to
1:43
Speaker 1: Hanover and Southland, 8.5. Riverton, 10.2. Te Ania, 9.1. Titiroa, 8.8.
1:50
Speaker 1: Winton and Woodlands at 8.3. So the soil temperatures are there.
1:55
Speaker 1: We just need a bit of big yellow to get
1:57
Speaker 1: that grass growing, right? Mark Patterson gets us underway this afternoon.
2:02
Speaker 1: He's at the Red Meat Sector Conference. Up in Wellington,
2:06
Speaker 1: followed up by Grant Disaster McMaster on the edges of
2:10
Speaker 1: Lake Wakatipu, basic Closeburn station. Farm consultant Graeme Butcher is
2:16
Speaker 1: in here for Lambing Dates Part 2. Graeme was on
2:19
Speaker 1: the show a couple of weeks ago talking about the
2:22
Speaker 1: lambing date situation and why he thinks it's certainly something
2:25
Speaker 1: to consider, a later lambing. Sean Malloy, Sheffield Peak Farmer
2:30
Speaker 1: based in Canterbury. We have our regular catch-up and then
2:33
Speaker 1: Emma Wilson. Otago Southland Chair for Young Farmers has a chat.
2:38
Speaker 1: Sam Riley of PDG writes in, gives a rundown of
2:40
Speaker 1: the stock prices from the Louisville sale, which was held
2:43
Speaker 1: this morning. Then we'll crank into it with Mark Patterson.
2:46
Speaker 1: This is the muster until two o'clock. Thanks to Peter's Genetics.
2:49
Speaker 1: Seven after one.
2:53
Speaker 3: This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it.
2:57
Speaker 4: Been so long I forgot how to turn.
3:00
Speaker 1: It up, up, up, up all night long. Oh, up,
3:04
Speaker 1: up all night long. Mark Patterson joins us this afternoon
3:13
Speaker 1: from the Red Meat Sector Conference, which is up in Wellington,
3:16
Speaker 1: of course. He's a Minister for Rural Communities, Associate Minister
3:20
Speaker 1: of Agriculture, as well as Regional Development. Good afternoon, Mark.
3:23
Speaker 1: The song's called the Heartbeat Song. What's the heartbeat of
3:26
Speaker 1: the red meat industry up there?
3:28
Speaker 5: Oh, look, the heartbeat's strong in the red meat sector
3:30
Speaker 5: at the moment. Andy, probably the strongest I've ever seen
3:34
Speaker 5: it in my life. 35, nearly 40 years being involved. So, yeah,
3:39
Speaker 5: couldn't be anything other than positive this year.
3:42
Speaker 1: Is that just regarding the pricing that we're seeing at
3:44
Speaker 1: the moment? I mean, the scheduling of the $ 12 mark?
3:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, obviously the caveats around, you know, the
3:52
Speaker 5: weather conditions in South and South Otago primarily. But, yeah,
3:58
Speaker 5: from a market perspective, it's not just from a market perspective.
4:01
Speaker 5: I think also some of the the innovation that's going
4:05
Speaker 5: on and we're seeing the adoption of collars on hill
4:09
Speaker 5: country farms for cattle and it just seems like the
4:13
Speaker 5: stars are aligned in terms of that combination of pricing,
4:19
Speaker 5: innovation and productivity gains that are on offer. We just
4:22
Speaker 5: need the weather to play the part now, Andy, don't we?
4:25
Speaker 1: So you talk about the mood of the sector being
4:27
Speaker 1: good up there. What are you seeing at this event
4:29
Speaker 1: that is really driving that sentiment?
4:34
Speaker 5: Just the demand. We've got some international speakers there, particularly
4:38
Speaker 5: from the States, just talking about the demand for protein
4:42
Speaker 5: that's coming through and some of the trends over there
4:44
Speaker 5: that are hugely positive for our red meat sector. And
4:50
Speaker 5: of course, that's a very high-paying market. So that's a
4:54
Speaker 5: snapshot of what we're hearing. But as you say, a
4:57
Speaker 5: $ 12 market lamb schedule, talking to one senior meat industry
5:02
Speaker 5: official saying that he can't see the price going below
5:07
Speaker 5: about $ 10. 50 this year. So, you know, that's in the
5:12
Speaker 5: peak of the season. So that's a really confident way
5:15
Speaker 5: to go into this particular season. Fantastic to stack another
5:21
Speaker 5: season on top of last season.
5:22
Speaker 1: So is that for lamb $ 10.
5:24
Speaker 6: 50?
5:24
Speaker 1: Is that correct?
5:25
Speaker 5: Lamb 1050, yeah, so that's where he thinks the bottom sits,
5:29
Speaker 5: and this is a very senior meat company official. I'd
5:33
Speaker 5: better not quote him and just leave him unattributed, but yeah,
5:37
Speaker 5: so they're very, very positive about the state of this sector.
5:43
Speaker 5: You know, we just need it to dry up a
5:45
Speaker 5: little bit so we can fill our boots.
5:47
Speaker 1: The US market's an interesting one too. Given that President
5:51
Speaker 1: Trump is letting a lot of terror-free beef into the US,
5:54
Speaker 1: does that affect New Zealand much?
5:57
Speaker 5: Potentially, yes. But there's a global shortage of protein, so
6:04
Speaker 5: I guess it opens up opportunities elsewhere as well. So
6:09
Speaker 5: the supply and demand factors are very much in our
6:12
Speaker 5: favour seemingly, so that's great news.
6:16
Speaker 1: Now, given the geopolitical situations around the world, Mark, is
6:19
Speaker 1: it still a lot of buoyancy in the economic space
6:23
Speaker 1: for New Zealand lamb?
6:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so. I mean, we're a relatively small
6:28
Speaker 5: part of the protein section, certainly compared to beef or
6:33
Speaker 5: chicken or pork. So we're very much niche. So while
6:38
Speaker 5: we're getting swept along by the wider protein story, lamb
6:43
Speaker 5: has got a unique place in that. So you know,
6:46
Speaker 5: the people in the sector that know it far better
6:49
Speaker 5: than I do in terms of the cold face of
6:51
Speaker 5: the market. So, you know, nothing but positive at the moment.
6:55
Speaker 1: You talk about wool. We'll mention this because, you know,
6:58
Speaker 1: your party's not a fan of this India Free Trade Agreement,
7:01
Speaker 1: but you were over there not long after that announcement
7:03
Speaker 1: on behalf of wool growers as such. What was the
7:06
Speaker 1: mood over there regarding the fibre?
7:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, very positive. I mean, the importers of New
7:12
Speaker 5: Zealand wool, I mean, the free trade deal... You know,
7:16
Speaker 5: there's 2.75% tariff coming off wool. So, you know, the
7:20
Speaker 5: auction goes up and down by that every week. So
7:22
Speaker 5: it's around the margin. The real opportunity over there is
7:25
Speaker 5: they're looking at tripling the size of an already huge
7:28
Speaker 5: textile industry. So New Zealand wool's got some real opportunities there. And,
7:35
Speaker 5: you know, we're really the only place in terms of
7:37
Speaker 5: those strong white wools that they can get in the
7:39
Speaker 5: volume and quality that we provide. So, you know, there again,
7:42
Speaker 5: we're in a good position.
7:45
Speaker 1: So it's fair to say this free trade agreement's going
7:47
Speaker 1: to work in New Zealand's favour, more so than not?
7:50
Speaker 5: Well, you know, dairy's not in, beef will never be in,
7:54
Speaker 5: of course. So there is some advantage for lamb, but
7:59
Speaker 5: coming off a very, very low base, horticulture potentially. But
8:03
Speaker 5: there's a few things that you've got to look at
8:05
Speaker 5: both sides of the ledger, Andy, where there's uncapped student
8:10
Speaker 5: numbers that we can get coming in here with work rights,
8:13
Speaker 5: so that's going to end badly. We've got plant variety rights,
8:17
Speaker 5: which is very, very weak protections over there for the
8:20
Speaker 5: likes of our G3 kiwifruit or MV apples. And, of course,
8:24
Speaker 5: we've got this extraordinary, preposterous figure of $ 35 billion New
8:28
Speaker 5: Zealand dollars that we're expected to invest in the Indian economy,
8:32
Speaker 5: which is... You know, New Zealand First was never going
8:35
Speaker 5: to sign up to that rule for the free trade
8:37
Speaker 5: part of it, but these other aspects are... You know,
8:43
Speaker 5: we just... We just couldn't get close to agreeing to that.
8:46
Speaker 5: I mean, they deserve more scrutiny. We gave it to them,
8:49
Speaker 5: Labour folded, and I guess National wanted to get it
8:53
Speaker 5: over the line for political purposes before the election.
8:56
Speaker 1: But a market of 1.3 billion people can't be ignored
8:59
Speaker 1: at the same time.
9:00
Speaker 5: No, and it's in our coalition agreement with National to
9:03
Speaker 5: progress a free trade agreement, a free trade agreement, not
9:07
Speaker 5: an open immigration agreement. outward investment and gifting of plant
9:12
Speaker 5: variety rights agreement, which is what we've ended up with. Unfortunately,
9:16
Speaker 5: it would have been better to take a little bit
9:17
Speaker 5: more time and not trade away so much to get
9:23
Speaker 5: what is essentially a headline. Yes, there'll be some benefits
9:26
Speaker 5: for lamb, although I think we send about 60 tonnes
9:31
Speaker 5: in there. Last year, the Aussies have got quite a
9:34
Speaker 5: free access and they send very little in there because...
9:38
Speaker 5: Markets like the US and China just pay far more.
9:41
Speaker 5: So you've got to see some perspective and some context
9:47
Speaker 5: of what we're actually getting out of this in the
9:48
Speaker 5: short term, which is not actually very much.
9:51
Speaker 1: Just finally, the entertainment last night on stage was a
9:54
Speaker 1: boning demonstration of a lamb carcass. That's not something you
9:58
Speaker 1: see every day in Wellington.
9:59
Speaker 2: No.
10:00
Speaker 5: No, and you know, fair play to Nathan Guy and
10:04
Speaker 5: the Meat Industry Association. It was actually really interesting. I mean,
10:09
Speaker 5: we've all seen and boned out carcasses, and I know
10:13
Speaker 5: we have as good as Rua, who was doing it
10:16
Speaker 5: for us, but actually just talking through where each cut
10:20
Speaker 5: was going, where they're, you know, what they're doing for
10:23
Speaker 5: each individual market. And, you know, it is quite a...
10:26
Speaker 5: There's a lot of moving parts to the red meat sector,
10:28
Speaker 5: a lot of different horses for courses in terms of
10:31
Speaker 5: different cuts for different markets and how they did it.
10:34
Speaker 5: So it was actually really engaging and informative. And, you know,
10:39
Speaker 5: better than just the usual kind of, you know, get together.
10:45
Speaker 3: It gave it a little bit of.
10:47
Speaker 5: Colour and Purpose, and well done to the Meat Industry Association.
10:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a bit different to karaoke, Mark Patterson. Thanks
10:53
Speaker 1: for your time, as always.
10:56
Speaker 6: Thanks, Andy.
10:58
Speaker 1: Mark Patterson up at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Wellington.
11:01
Speaker 1: You're listening to The Muster from Wellington to Closeburn Station.
11:05
Speaker 1: Grant McMaster's up next. I'll spread my wings and I'll...
11:20
Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Muster. It's a busy old show
11:23
Speaker 1: and it just gets busier as we catch up with
11:25
Speaker 1: Grant Disaster McMaster out of Closeburn Station. And he's brought
11:29
Speaker 1: to us by Arby Rural. Good afternoon, Grant.
11:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, good afternoon, Andy. Good afternoon, everybody.
11:34
Speaker 1: Situation at Closeburn since last week. What rain have you seen?
11:38
Speaker 3: Well, we've had 25 mils and we had a 20
11:42
Speaker 3: mil and then a 5. So that's been OK. And
11:47
Speaker 3: we had a lot of snow on Saturday night. So
11:51
Speaker 3: Sunday the snow was right down just about to lake
11:53
Speaker 3: level and, yeah, very cold. yesterday was, you know, the
11:59
Speaker 3: snow's still about, it's gone, it's lifted a bit now,
12:01
Speaker 3: but man, it was a cold breeze yesterday. But today
12:04
Speaker 3: it's sitting at 12 degrees and our soil temperature is
12:09
Speaker 3: at 7.3.
12:10
Speaker 1: Laming date, can't be far away.
12:11
Speaker 3: No, about the 8th of October, so that's the year,
12:17
Speaker 3: just as we've been speaking, I've just been sorting a
12:20
Speaker 3: few more paddocks out, taking a few sheep out, adding
12:23
Speaker 3: a few here and there. Cows are starting to get
12:25
Speaker 3: a few calves now, which is about on time. So
12:29
Speaker 3: with all the sheep set stocked and the cattle set
12:32
Speaker 3: stocked now, they've picked up a bit since we've spread
12:38
Speaker 3: them out. There's been more sun than we've had for
12:41
Speaker 3: a long time. So it doesn't take much for them
12:44
Speaker 3: to get that bit of a pick of grass and
12:46
Speaker 3: start getting along. We see them sort of bagging up
12:48
Speaker 3: a bit. So yeah, just ready on the countdown.
12:52
Speaker 1: Well, it's good to see the sun's been out somewhere.
12:54
Speaker 1: I think tomorrow is not bad for the south ground,
12:57
Speaker 1: but since we spoke last, it's just been the same old,
13:00
Speaker 1: same old. So at least up there in central Otago,
13:02
Speaker 1: you're seeing some yellow.
13:04
Speaker 3: Oh, no, absolutely. And while, you know, 12 degrees today,
13:08
Speaker 3: last weekend on Saturday over in Alexandra, it was 20 degrees.
13:14
Speaker 3: And the next day here, and it was about 14
13:17
Speaker 3: or 15 here, and then the next day she was
13:19
Speaker 3: down to three with that snow. So just that spring
13:22
Speaker 3: weather that gets, you know, every spring it happens. And,
13:26
Speaker 3: you know, sometimes we have had our biggest snowfalls in
13:29
Speaker 3: late spring over the years. And, you know, it wasn't
13:32
Speaker 3: too bad the other day, but there was, you know,
13:34
Speaker 3: Kynette Peak got another covering, and so did the Remarkables. It's, yeah,
13:39
Speaker 3: at least good for the skiers, I suppose.
13:41
Speaker 1: Well, I've got James Edgar on the show tomorrow based
13:43
Speaker 1: at Moa Flat, and they're just getting snowfall after snowfall.
13:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, that Moa Flat area, if there's anything going,
13:50
Speaker 3: they collect it, don't they?
13:51
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Hey, you want to talk today about community resilience
13:56
Speaker 1: and group meetings regarding it. I mean, this is something
13:59
Speaker 1: when you're living rurally you think about, but you don't really.
14:02
Speaker 1: And when it comes to being organised, what have you got?
14:05
Speaker 3: Well, it's quite interesting. We had a meeting on Sunday
14:11
Speaker 3: in our barn for the community. So that's from like
14:16
Speaker 3: Alpine Retreat and up to Bob's Cove and Close Burns
14:19
Speaker 3: in the middle of that. So, you know, there's a
14:21
Speaker 3: lot of people live up in Alpine Retreat and through
14:24
Speaker 3: Bob's Cove, places like that. So they held a meeting
14:28
Speaker 3: with civil defence and a community group. And Craig from
14:32
Speaker 3: Civil Defence, I found it very interesting, he said to
14:34
Speaker 3: the group, there's about 40 people attended it, and he said,
14:38
Speaker 3: you know, who is Civil Defence? And sort of, oh, well,
14:42
Speaker 3: people that sit in an office and sort of with
14:44
Speaker 3: a whiteboard, as I'm thinking. He said, well, actually, he said,
14:47
Speaker 3: you are Civil Defence, the public of Civil Defence, the plumbers,
14:51
Speaker 3: the guys on the road, the fire crews, the ambulance,
14:53
Speaker 3: you know, he said, you are all there to man
14:57
Speaker 3: what you can and so the idea of these community
15:00
Speaker 3: resilience groups they're doing them throughout the country and at
15:04
Speaker 3: the moment there's 18 of these groups that have been
15:06
Speaker 3: set up in Queenstown so like the Talbot Heights Fern
15:10
Speaker 3: Hill and the various other places so basically it's just
15:14
Speaker 3: to get to have an idea of what, and this
15:18
Speaker 3: sounds pretty basic but what to do in an emergency
15:22
Speaker 3: in a community so You know, he said, he gave examples.
15:26
Speaker 3: He said, like, it's all very well someone coming down from,
15:30
Speaker 3: or over from Dunedin and saying, right, you need to
15:32
Speaker 3: do this, this, this, and they put in a bit
15:34
Speaker 3: of paper and they go away and it's in a
15:35
Speaker 3: file somewhere. He said, it's got to be, it's sort
15:38
Speaker 3: of a living document. He said, so, you know, within communities,
15:42
Speaker 3: there's a lot of people that have lots of skills. Now,
15:45
Speaker 3: you sort of think of it, you know, this is
15:47
Speaker 3: slightly different than being in the country where, You know,
15:51
Speaker 3: we're used to that. If something happens, you try and
15:53
Speaker 3: get it fixed, and you deal with nature all the time.
15:57
Speaker 3: But you sort of think of in towns, and the
16:00
Speaker 3: big three things in Queenstown, and especially at this end,
16:03
Speaker 3: is fire, flooding, and earthquakes. And we've had a few
16:09
Speaker 3: earthquakes of late, and I'm sure at some stage there'll
16:12
Speaker 3: be one. It's just to have people that know what
16:16
Speaker 3: to do in situations like that. as the result of
16:19
Speaker 3: this meeting. Everybody gave them their number, and they're going
16:22
Speaker 3: to hold another meeting to get a nucleus of people
16:26
Speaker 3: and to sort of say, right, oh, well, what do
16:28
Speaker 3: we need? And so-and-so's got a generator, someone's got a chainsaw.
16:35
Speaker 3: And they have sort of a checklist of when a
16:39
Speaker 3: group of people get to a hall or a church,
16:41
Speaker 3: and that's something we don't have around here, So you
16:45
Speaker 3: need a meeting place that people can get to, and
16:48
Speaker 3: that can change depending on what the emergency is. But
16:51
Speaker 3: he just pointed out that you arrive and someone says, right,
16:58
Speaker 3: what do we need? And the guy from Civil Defence said,
17:01
Speaker 3: they're sitting in their headquarters, and until you ring up
17:06
Speaker 3: and say, hey, look, we've got no power. We need
17:09
Speaker 3: a generator, or the road's out, or the bridge is out.
17:13
Speaker 3: He said, people, you know, they don't know. And then,
17:15
Speaker 3: you know, they can then form their plans. He said,
17:17
Speaker 3: but it's so important that you've got people. And it's,
17:20
Speaker 3: you know, you're not having a lift as long as
17:22
Speaker 3: you are. It's just the basic things that people can
17:25
Speaker 3: go somewhere and then people can take charge and let
17:29
Speaker 3: the authorities know what happens. And, you know, it sounds
17:32
Speaker 3: pretty simple, and it is really. And you think about
17:36
Speaker 3: an earthquake or whatever, you don't know what it's going
17:40
Speaker 3: to chuck at you. But I think people went away
17:43
Speaker 3: from that with a little bit of peace of mind,
17:45
Speaker 3: and that's the main thing. And the other thing he
17:47
Speaker 3: said now was communication. So, like, we've always had poor
17:50
Speaker 3: cell phone coverage around this area. Well, with Starlink and
17:54
Speaker 3: satellites now, you know, that's not a problem. And he
17:56
Speaker 3: said one of the biggest things that people worry about
17:59
Speaker 3: is letting their families know, hey, we're okay. So, you know,
18:03
Speaker 3: you've got all those things now. And, yeah, I think
18:05
Speaker 3: it was really good. I was just thinking about it
18:08
Speaker 3: and thought, well, you know, it's worth talking about because,
18:10
Speaker 3: A lot of people in towns, you know, they can be,
18:13
Speaker 3: something happens and, you know, what do we do?
18:16
Speaker 1: We just had the situation last October with the wind
18:19
Speaker 1: events grant and every single generator in the South Island
18:23
Speaker 1: being used. And it just does bring the bigger question
18:26
Speaker 1: to mind as well. Are we prepared for an emergency?
18:30
Speaker 3: That's right. And at this meeting, you know, because you
18:32
Speaker 3: were individuals, someone can get a chainsaw and use it. And,
18:37
Speaker 3: you know, you haven't got to wait for authorities to
18:39
Speaker 3: be there and have bloody tickets to drop start the
18:42
Speaker 3: old pole land you know you just can get in
18:44
Speaker 3: and do things and people in communities you know you
18:47
Speaker 3: have your electricians and your carpenters and women you know
18:51
Speaker 3: forestry workers or whatever it may be that everybody's got
18:53
Speaker 3: skills and it's just a matter of basically you know
18:56
Speaker 3: saying what this is what we have got and if
18:59
Speaker 3: we need it this is what we can do and
19:01
Speaker 3: um it's just something that uh you know i think
19:03
Speaker 3: it would be you know i think it's really good
19:06
Speaker 3: and and uh I know, like they said, Wanaka have
19:09
Speaker 3: them set up. And Wanaka, they've got a big trailer
19:13
Speaker 3: that has generators in it and this and that. But
19:15
Speaker 3: then you get into the situation. You know, money for
19:19
Speaker 3: that you've got to raise. And, you know, you need
19:21
Speaker 3: one of the fitnesses and stuff like that. But just
19:23
Speaker 3: for the individual thing, to get things going and basically
19:26
Speaker 3: to let people know what's happening, what you need, it's
19:29
Speaker 3: pretty simple steps, really. And as I say, everyone sort
19:32
Speaker 3: of felt pretty good after the meeting.
19:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, now really wise words today as always, Grant. We'll
19:37
Speaker 1: catch up with you next week.
19:39
Speaker 3: Okay, and let's hope it stops raining down south.
19:43
Speaker 1: Grant and Master, weekly here on the muster, thanks to
19:46
Speaker 1: Arby Rural. Up next, Graham Butcher, farm consultant. We're going
19:50
Speaker 1: back to talk about lambing dates, which Grant talked about
19:53
Speaker 1: two weeks ago and certainly has been a conversation starter
19:57
Speaker 1: by the sounds of it. Welcome back. This is the
20:10
Speaker 1: muster on Hokanui. I'm Andy Muir and I'm joined in
20:13
Speaker 1: studio by farm consultant Graeme Butcher. How are you doing?
20:17
Speaker 7: I'm doing very well.
20:19
Speaker 1: A lot of talk out there in the farming sector
20:21
Speaker 1: at the moment. You spoke about this a couple of
20:24
Speaker 1: weeks ago. Incidentally, Henry Buckingham was on just a couple
20:27
Speaker 1: of days after we had our chat. He's doing an
20:30
Speaker 1: early October lambing this year and this has got a
20:33
Speaker 1: lot of tongues wagging.
20:35
Speaker 7: It has. It's created quite a lot of interest and
20:37
Speaker 7: quite rightly so. I mean, The key issue here is,
20:41
Speaker 7: is the pattern we've had for the last three years,
20:43
Speaker 7: is it going to continue along this vein? That's a
20:47
Speaker 7: critical issue to sort out. And I mentioned before, or
20:51
Speaker 7: two weeks ago, that if the issue of later lambing
20:55
Speaker 7: really revolves around how you can feed your animals and
20:58
Speaker 7: what the storm events are like, if you can create
21:01
Speaker 7: issues or if you can create a condition on your
21:04
Speaker 7: farm early September when most of us are thinking about lambing,
21:07
Speaker 7: where you can provide about three kilos intake for the
21:10
Speaker 7: ewes and know that you're not going to have really
21:14
Speaker 7: severe storms for extended periods going through. If you know
21:18
Speaker 7: you can do that, probably not a lot of point
21:20
Speaker 7: in changing. But how do you know you can do that?
21:23
Speaker 7: I mean, the last three years have just been horrendous.
21:27
Speaker 1: Well, that was the argument some people have put against
21:29
Speaker 1: us as well, saying, I've got three mobs lambing, got
21:31
Speaker 1: your terminals first, your main flock, then your hogget starting.
21:35
Speaker 1: roundabout now too and they said you're going to experience
21:37
Speaker 1: a bit of crap weather some way through through.
21:39
Speaker 7: That pattern i think even if you go considerably later
21:43
Speaker 7: you're still going to strike storms but the thing is
21:46
Speaker 7: and i'll talk a bit about that woodlands trial in
21:49
Speaker 7: a minute um the thing is the later you go
21:53
Speaker 7: you're going into a period where you're more likely to
21:55
Speaker 7: have better feed conditions and the feed deficit is going
21:58
Speaker 7: to be for a shorter period so that's the key
22:01
Speaker 7: issue the the The tough conditions you have are going
22:04
Speaker 7: to be shorter. You may not avoid them completely, but
22:07
Speaker 7: that's the issue.
22:07
Speaker 1: And that's the thing, because people are sick of September.
22:10
Speaker 1: What did Jamie McCoy call the phrase the other day? Shit-tember.
22:14
Speaker 1: Makes sense, too. Well, it does.
22:16
Speaker 7: And thinking back 10, 12 years ago, there were lambings
22:20
Speaker 7: where the sun shone and it was burning in your slippers.
22:23
Speaker 3: Yeah.
22:23
Speaker 7: I haven't seen one of those for quite a few years.
22:25
Speaker 1: Year 2000 sticks out for me. That was a good year. But,
22:28
Speaker 1: I mean, that's all.
22:29
Speaker 7: 26 years ago. Yeah.
22:31
Speaker 1: Well, there you go. Anyway, that's a long time ago
22:33
Speaker 1: and that's not the current issue. So you want to
22:35
Speaker 1: just go back in a bit more detail regarding this trial?
22:38
Speaker 7: Yeah. As I said last time, this trial was started
22:41
Speaker 7: in the early 1980s down at Woodlands. And it's quite
22:44
Speaker 7: important to think about how they set this trial up.
22:47
Speaker 7: And if you want a copy of the actual trial,
22:49
Speaker 7: can they text or email you with their email address
22:53
Speaker 7: and I can ping it on?
22:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, they can send it through to me on the
22:56
Speaker 1: muster page there. Yeah, message me.
23:02
Speaker 7: The sort of ewes they had back in the day
23:03
Speaker 7: in the early 1980s were different from what we've got now.
23:05
Speaker 7: They were lighter.
23:08
Speaker 1: Buffhead Romneys. Buffhead Romneys.
23:11
Speaker 7: Well, these were mated. These were Romney-Cookworth cross.
23:13
Speaker 1: Right.
23:15
Speaker 7: Yeah, so they're better sheep. So the lambing date was
23:19
Speaker 7: set for 6th of September, 23rd of September and 6th
23:22
Speaker 7: of October. And that'll be when Henry Buckingham is doing
23:26
Speaker 7: his about early October. So... Very important they set the
23:31
Speaker 7: trial up to investigate the impact of the date of
23:35
Speaker 7: lambing and the feed conditions appropriate to that date of lambing.
23:41
Speaker 7: So they had to even up the trial sites over
23:44
Speaker 7: that month. So the way they did that is they
23:47
Speaker 7: hard grazed it 54 days to 400k residual, which is
23:52
Speaker 7: like this desktop here, 54 days before lambing, and about...
23:57
Speaker 7: 10 days prior to lambing, they set stock the trial
24:03
Speaker 7: area with 10 ewes to the hectare, and six to
24:06
Speaker 7: nine days after lambing started, they chose the ewes at
24:11
Speaker 7: random they're going to put on their trial site, so
24:15
Speaker 7: it avoided the impact of lamb deaths. So when the
24:19
Speaker 7: trial started, the lambs were viable, up and running, stocked
24:22
Speaker 7: at 10 to the hectare for those three lambing dates,
24:25
Speaker 7: and the start, when the trial started, plots started, the
24:30
Speaker 7: three different lambing dates, the feed conditions were exactly the
24:33
Speaker 7: same for each group. So the whole impact of the
24:38
Speaker 7: results of this came from a later lambing date, lambing
24:41
Speaker 7: into better feed conditions. They didn't look at death rates,
24:46
Speaker 7: which would have confounded the whole thing anyway, which is
24:49
Speaker 7: why they chose six to nine days after lambing to
24:52
Speaker 7: set the trial up because that's when the deaths would
24:54
Speaker 7: have occurred. So it would have been really interesting to
24:57
Speaker 7: see what the death rates were So anyway, just looking
25:02
Speaker 7: at the lamb birth weights over those three lambing dates,
25:06
Speaker 7: they split it up into singles and twins. So they
25:08
Speaker 7: had three lambing dates, singles and twins. The lamb birth
25:11
Speaker 7: weights were actually pretty good for all the lambing dates.
25:15
Speaker 7: The 6th of September one, the singles were 5.5, the
25:18
Speaker 7: twins were 4.5, quite acceptable weights, even for the lighter
25:22
Speaker 7: ewes that they had, the lower body weight ewes. 23rd
25:26
Speaker 7: of September, again, the singles were 5.5 and the twins
25:28
Speaker 7: were 4.3, pretty much the same. And for 6th of October, again,
25:32
Speaker 7: 5.5 for singles and 4.6 for twins. So not a
25:39
Speaker 7: big difference in lamb birth weight. So they're all quite
25:42
Speaker 7: acceptable weights as well. If we look at the lamb
25:47
Speaker 7: growth rates for the first six weeks, 6th of September,
25:52
Speaker 7: the singles did 208 grams. and the twins did 135 grams.
25:57
Speaker 7: That's for the early lambing date. And I'll just talk
26:00
Speaker 7: about the 6th of October lamb growth rates for the
26:04
Speaker 7: first six weeks. The singles did 279, and the twins
26:09
Speaker 7: did 215. So just looking at the twin one, early lambing,
26:13
Speaker 7: they did 135 for the first six weeks. First six
26:16
Speaker 7: weeks of the later lambing, they did 215. Pretty significant difference.
26:23
Speaker 7: And that showed up in the lamb weaning weights because
26:25
Speaker 7: when all these three different separate groups, 6th of September,
26:31
Speaker 7: 23rd of September, 6th of October, they were all weaned
26:34
Speaker 7: on the 5th of January, right? There was basically no
26:39
Speaker 7: significant difference in lamb weaning weights for twins and singles.
26:43
Speaker 7: So those higher growth rates, better feed conditions, come up
26:46
Speaker 7: with the same results. Lamb weaning wage.
26:48
Speaker 1: This is from 1980, is that right?
26:50
Speaker 7: This is from 1980.
26:50
Speaker 1: Do you think they need to update this to 2020?
26:53
Speaker 1: It would be interesting if they ran the same trial again.
26:55
Speaker 7: Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. And this was done over two
26:58
Speaker 7: years as well. And I was just talking to Olivia
27:01
Speaker 7: out there before I came in, seeing if Beef and
27:02
Speaker 7: Lamb might be interested in actually running an update or
27:06
Speaker 7: even a meta-analysis of information related to this issue of
27:09
Speaker 7: lambing date.
27:10
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
27:12
Speaker 7: Because really, if you go to the Institute of Bioeconomic Research,
27:16
Speaker 7: Old Ag Research, Unless it's climate-related or GE-related, you probably
27:20
Speaker 7: haven't got a snowball's hell of a chance of getting
27:23
Speaker 7: funding to do this sort of stuff now, which is
27:24
Speaker 7: a real shame. So anyway, looking a bit further into
27:29
Speaker 7: this trial, they did out of volume because they.
27:35
Speaker 1: That is such a farmer's term, out of volume.
27:39
Speaker 7: Out of volume.
27:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
27:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
27:41
Speaker 7: And the way they do that is they just immerse
27:43
Speaker 7: the udder in a bucket of water and measure the
27:45
Speaker 7: volume of water that spills out, which is effectively the
27:47
Speaker 7: only way you can do it.
27:48
Speaker 1: Of course they did.
27:49
Speaker 7: So the udder volume was quite interesting too. If we
27:52
Speaker 7: go for, or just look at the twin mob, the
27:56
Speaker 7: udder volume at week four was 799 cubic cc's. That's
28:02
Speaker 7: how much water spilled out. For the later lambing date,
28:05
Speaker 7: at the same period, 6th of October, Four weeks after lambing,
28:09
Speaker 7: it was 1,444. So really significant, in fact, in lactation, right?
28:15
Speaker 7: That's quite a critical part. The ewe live weight gain,
28:19
Speaker 7: we talked about the lamb had a higher live weight gain,
28:23
Speaker 7: but the same live weights at weaning, right? So that's good.
28:28
Speaker 7: Ewe live weight gain for the twins in the early period,
28:33
Speaker 7: this is a ewe live weight gain for the first,
28:36
Speaker 7: Six weeks, they lost 241 grams a day. For the
28:41
Speaker 7: late lambing twins, they lost 62 grams a day. And
28:47
Speaker 7: the ones in the middle, the 23rd of September, are
28:48
Speaker 7: about in the middle. Similarly, the singles, for the early
28:52
Speaker 7: lambing ones, they lost 171 grams a day. Pretty significant loss.
28:58
Speaker 7: 6th of October, singles lost, gained 68 grams a day.
29:02
Speaker 7: All related to those feed conditions in the first six weeks. Now,
29:05
Speaker 7: the really interesting one is table three, the last line
29:08
Speaker 7: in table three, looking at pasture intake. We'll just look
29:15
Speaker 7: at the twins again. The pasture intake for the first
29:19
Speaker 7: six weeks of lactation for the twins was 1.45 k's
29:21
Speaker 7: of dry matter. For the later lambing ones, 6th of October,
29:27
Speaker 7: for the first six weeks of lactation, it was 3.34.
29:31
Speaker 7: And remember, these trial sites were set up with exactly
29:33
Speaker 7: the same feed conditions when they started. So that's very significant.
29:37
Speaker 7: 3.34 is about where they should be, 1.45 only half.
29:43
Speaker 1: How about we call the other volume, we rename it
29:45
Speaker 1: the boob factor? The boob, yeah, it's a good one.
29:48
Speaker 1: That'll do.
29:49
Speaker 7: Boob factor. It's really good. A very important issue.
29:53
Speaker 1: Good on you, Graeme. Interesting as always, especially considering the
29:56
Speaker 1: current situation.
29:57
Speaker 7: And if you want the full paper, just text you.
30:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, message me in here to the studio. Get on
30:03
Speaker 1: the Facebook page and send me a message. Good on you, Graeme.
30:05
Speaker 7: Okay, thanks.
30:08
Speaker 1: Graeme Butcher. Out of volume. Yeah, let's call that the
30:11
Speaker 1: boob factor. That sounds a bit better. Up next, we're
30:15
Speaker 1: away to Canterbury to catch up with Sean Malloy. This
30:24
Speaker 1: interview is brought to you by Agri Centre South. Branches
30:27
Speaker 1: in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ranfurly. Drop by your
30:31
Speaker 1: local Agri Centre South branch today. We're away to Sheffield
30:40
Speaker 1: in Canterbury this afternoon on the muster. Sean Malloy is
30:43
Speaker 1: our pig farming correspondent. He's on the New Zealand pork borg,
30:47
Speaker 1: pork board that is, pork borg. Sound like the sweetest chef.
30:50
Speaker 1: G'day Sean, I suppose the sweetest chef out in meatballs.
30:54
Speaker 1: I wonder if they're pork balls.
30:56
Speaker 4: G'day Andy, how you going? You get more pork balls
30:59
Speaker 4: down you, that's the one.
31:01
Speaker 1: Straight off the cuff, the pork industry on their social
31:04
Speaker 1: media channels, they're really making a play for the market
31:07
Speaker 1: at the moment, talking about the price of pork as
31:09
Speaker 1: opposed to beef and lamb.
31:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, mate, we're struggling a wee bit out in the
31:14
Speaker 4: market and we sort of can't understand it with the
31:16
Speaker 4: cost pressures that people have been under and with inflation
31:20
Speaker 4: and just everything going up and, you know, petrol prices
31:24
Speaker 4: being expensive. So we sort of said, hey, we need
31:27
Speaker 4: to really give us a bit of a nudge and just,
31:29
Speaker 4: you know, wake people up to pork that it hey,
31:31
Speaker 4: it tastes good and it's really affordable and it's really
31:34
Speaker 4: good quality and there's quite a price differential there at
31:38
Speaker 4: the moment and maybe we can provide a bit of
31:41
Speaker 4: relief for people's back pocket and move a bit more
31:45
Speaker 4: product and get a few more people eating a bit
31:47
Speaker 4: more pork, which would make us really happy.
31:50
Speaker 1: But why has it taken so long for the pork
31:52
Speaker 1: industry to realise that there is an opportunity here?
31:56
Speaker 4: I think they've been pretty good the last sort of
31:58
Speaker 4: three years and we've been able to get rid of
32:00
Speaker 4: product fairly comfortably, I guess. So probably from our point
32:04
Speaker 4: of view, we've probably just been on our hands a
32:06
Speaker 4: little bit and we just need to give ourselves a
32:08
Speaker 4: wee bit of a slap and wake up and get
32:11
Speaker 4: out there and compete a bit more.
32:14
Speaker 1: But because it's interesting on the social channels, just comparing
32:18
Speaker 1: a couple of dishes, saying what's the difference here? One's beef,
32:21
Speaker 1: the other one's pork, and there's a difference in the
32:23
Speaker 1: price straight away. So obviously the price, you know, there's
32:26
Speaker 1: still the money in the industry for New Zealand producers.
32:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, it's been okay. We are, this coming sort
32:35
Speaker 4: of season, grain prices are going to change a fair
32:37
Speaker 4: bit with a heap of dairy conversions going on up here,
32:41
Speaker 4: you know, the sort of moratorium been off on that.
32:44
Speaker 4: There's been quite a change, so it's all coming out
32:46
Speaker 4: of arable land that's swapping. So yeah, I think grain
32:51
Speaker 4: supply is going to get tighter. So we'll see a
32:54
Speaker 4: bit more cost pressure. So we need to, while we can,
32:57
Speaker 4: get people across there and think about our future because
33:02
Speaker 4: it's going to be a little bit more expensive than
33:04
Speaker 4: what it's been. So there's potential that it might take
33:07
Speaker 4: a bit more fun out of the game because it's
33:09
Speaker 4: been pretty good the last, like I say, three years.
33:12
Speaker 1: Now, you're based up at Sheffield in Canterbury. You talk
33:14
Speaker 1: about dairy conversions. Of course, they're back on the table
33:17
Speaker 1: up there. Are they just happening here, there and everywhere?
33:20
Speaker 1: Is there another dairy explosion in Canterbury?
33:23
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's quite an explosion, but there's
33:26
Speaker 4: definitely a significant swing. There's a lot of places converting.
33:31
Speaker 4: You're going around, you're seeing sheds going up, you're seeing
33:33
Speaker 4: bloody tracks going in. Yeah, I personally know four or
33:38
Speaker 4: five people that have... converting their properties, going from cropping to,
33:44
Speaker 4: or mixed cropping to dairy.
33:46
Speaker 1: You can understand that given the way the market's been
33:49
Speaker 1: for the arable sector too. It makes a lot of sense.
33:52
Speaker 4: Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. You can't blame the guys for doing that.
33:57
Speaker 4: You've got to look to your future and say, where
33:59
Speaker 4: can I get good long-term sustainable returns off the property?
34:04
Speaker 4: And it doesn't really feel like arable's Doing that, that
34:08
Speaker 4: whole sector sort of needs a bit of a shake-up
34:10
Speaker 4: in the way they do business too, I think.
34:12
Speaker 1: Now, you do some arable on your farm as well.
34:15
Speaker 1: Is this purely for yourselves or is it for the market?
34:18
Speaker 4: No, it's just for ourselves. But we've done a little
34:22
Speaker 4: bit of stuff here and there, and waiting 12 or
34:26
Speaker 4: 18 months to get your money after growing a crop
34:30
Speaker 4: is pretty poor. I don't know anywhere else where you
34:33
Speaker 4: do that. I think those sort of things.
34:35
Speaker 3: Have to change.
34:36
Speaker 4: But, yeah, we're fortunate. The vast majority of what we
34:40
Speaker 4: do just goes back into the pigs. So, yeah, it
34:42
Speaker 4: makes it easy for us.
34:43
Speaker 1: Last time we spoke to you, Sean, the price of
34:45
Speaker 1: land up there was something like $ 85, 000 or $ 90, 000 per
34:48
Speaker 1: hectare for farmland. Are we continuing to see these prices?
34:52
Speaker 1: I mean, Canterbury's in a real boom.
34:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not sure. I think that was some of
34:57
Speaker 4: the peaks of what we're seeing. I think probably neighbour stuff. But, yeah,
35:01
Speaker 4: it's definitely stepped up. I haven't really been across... anything
35:05
Speaker 4: else that's been trading for a wee while, to be fair,
35:07
Speaker 4: but yeah, it's definitely taken a step up, for sure.
35:10
Speaker 1: What are your rates like up there? Have you seen
35:12
Speaker 1: a big increase, given the way that we've seen an
35:15
Speaker 1: explosion in towns and the likes, for example, Rolleston and Darfield,
35:19
Speaker 1: the way they've exploded?
35:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, we're seeing a heap of pressure come on that,
35:24
Speaker 4: and the other one is the water swapping, separating out
35:28
Speaker 4: these water entities now. We've just been getting a few
35:31
Speaker 4: bills coming through for the farm and for rental properties,
35:34
Speaker 4: and it's sort of like, well, this is a little
35:37
Speaker 4: bit worrying where this might be going, so we just
35:39
Speaker 4: have to keep a monitor on that and hope they
35:42
Speaker 4: don't get too carried away with it.
35:44
Speaker 1: So just regarding the pork industry and pricing there, we've
35:47
Speaker 1: spoken about this before, but yourself as a producer, are
35:50
Speaker 1: you happy with returns? I suppose you're never happy, but
35:53
Speaker 1: are you content?
35:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're reasonably content, but like I was saying just before,
35:58
Speaker 4: there's a couple of headwinds coming with price rises and
36:04
Speaker 4: Building anything now is really, really expensive. And of course,
36:07
Speaker 4: you know, Aaron, she's on a countdown for our farrowing
36:11
Speaker 4: accommodation and a couple of other bits and pieces. So yeah,
36:15
Speaker 4: talking around some other guys that are trying to do
36:17
Speaker 4: stuff at the moment, they're all sort of eyes are
36:19
Speaker 4: watering a little bit at the cost of building now.
36:22
Speaker 4: It's just, it's really, really sort of got away. So,
36:26
Speaker 4: you know, you look at it and think, it doesn't
36:28
Speaker 4: even feel like it's quite economical, but So, yeah, we
36:32
Speaker 4: are content, but, yeah, there's some headwinds there that we're
36:36
Speaker 4: going to have to contend with.
36:37
Speaker 1: What's on farm inflation like for a peak farmer in Canterbury, Sean?
36:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, not too bad.
36:44
Speaker 4: There's stuff still rising, though, eh? Bits and pieces here
36:46
Speaker 4: and there, 5%, 6%. So that sort of stuff's still
36:49
Speaker 4: a little bit worrying. But, you know, a bit of
36:51
Speaker 4: that is also linked back to what's going on in Iran,
36:54
Speaker 4: with Iran and the US.
36:56
Speaker 6: So.
36:58
Speaker 4: Products that are made and require the petrochemical industry to
37:04
Speaker 4: a large extent to produce the goods. So the input
37:09
Speaker 4: costs have all gone up and some of the shipping
37:11
Speaker 4: stuff still at different times, depending on what's going on
37:14
Speaker 4: over there, things bounce around a fair bit. So yeah,
37:18
Speaker 4: we haven't sort of settled. I'm guessing that's going to
37:20
Speaker 4: go on for quite some time yet until something gets
37:23
Speaker 4: resolved there.
37:24
Speaker 1: Are you seeing younger people wanting to be involved with
37:26
Speaker 1: the pork industry as such?
37:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, we still do, but I think it's a bit
37:30
Speaker 4: of a challenge there. We're quite a small industry, so
37:33
Speaker 4: it's just trying to raise your flag, and certainly people
37:35
Speaker 4: have quite a different perception of pig farming to what
37:38
Speaker 4: actually goes on. People have a dirty, stinky job where
37:43
Speaker 4: you're just throwing a bucket of scraps across to a
37:45
Speaker 4: whole lot of hungry pigs, where it's quite different to that.
37:49
Speaker 4: There's a heap of technology, the buildings and things, and
37:53
Speaker 4: the gear we use is quite sophisticated. There's a hell
37:56
Speaker 4: of a lot more to it, and it's a lot
37:57
Speaker 4: more scientific than anybody would imagine, I believe.
38:03
Speaker 1: Is there concern in the industry about a possible change
38:06
Speaker 1: of government and what this would mean for pork farming regulations?
38:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, definitely. Yeah, that's a real concern. I'm hoping
38:16
Speaker 4: that we don't have much of a change to the government,
38:19
Speaker 4: just maybe a shuffle of the who's got how many
38:22
Speaker 4: seats and what that wee power balance is amongst the
38:25
Speaker 4: main one. But, yeah, who knows what's really going to
38:28
Speaker 4: happen here, eh?
38:30
Speaker 6: Sure.
38:30
Speaker 1: We've had an absolute dog of a season down here
38:33
Speaker 1: for September anyway in Southland. What's your growing season been
38:36
Speaker 1: like up there?
38:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, we've been pretty good, eh? We've sort of had steady...
38:42
Speaker 4: We've had a lot of winds, which we haven't had
38:43
Speaker 4: for probably three years. But we keep getting regular dollops
38:48
Speaker 4: of rain. Just when you think the wind's sort of
38:49
Speaker 4: going to dry it out, we get... 20, 30 mil
38:51
Speaker 4: of rain, and we just had snow on the weekend,
38:54
Speaker 4: which is getting fairly late in the season for that now.
38:57
Speaker 3: But, yeah, we're pretty good.
38:58
Speaker 4: Things are starting to kick away here now. There's contractors
39:02
Speaker 4: that have been bailing stuff up, which is pretty early
39:06
Speaker 4: on for that. So, yeah, we're in pretty good shape
39:10
Speaker 4: really at the minute.
39:11
Speaker 1: We've got a good forecast for the rest of the
39:12
Speaker 1: week down here in the deep south shore, and we'll
39:14
Speaker 1: take that. Always appreciate your time on the muster.
39:17
Speaker 7: Thanks, Andy.
39:17
Speaker 5: Cheers, mate.
39:18
Speaker 1: All the best. Sean Malloy, peak farmer based at Sheffield
39:23
Speaker 1: up in Canterbury. You're listening to The Muster. Up next
39:27
Speaker 1: from Young Farmers, we're catching up with Emma Wilson. MUSIC
39:43
Speaker 1: Kelly Clarkson is the music this afternoon. That song there,
39:47
Speaker 1: pretty relevant. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Ain't
39:51
Speaker 1: that the truth? Emma Wilson joins us next. She is
39:54
Speaker 1: chair of Otago Southland Young Farmers. Emma, good afternoon. You're
39:58
Speaker 1: based up in Dunners. I take it it's a little
40:00
Speaker 1: bit drier than what we've seen down here in Southland.
40:04
Speaker 6: Yeah, probably not hard at the moment. We've got a
40:05
Speaker 6: little glimpse of sunshine, so I hope it sticks around
40:08
Speaker 6: and makes its way south.
40:09
Speaker 1: We've got a good forecast for the next couple of days,
40:12
Speaker 1: so we're going to go with that. Young farmers, though,
40:15
Speaker 1: I mean, like I say, you're the chair for the region.
40:17
Speaker 1: How have you found things recently, weather aside?
40:20
Speaker 6: Everyone's just being heads down, bombs up, getting stuff done
40:23
Speaker 6: on farm, but everyone's starting to get busy again come October.
40:26
Speaker 6: There'll be heaps happening in the region again. It's good
40:29
Speaker 6: to have a few things for everyone to look forward
40:30
Speaker 6: to once they get through this tough patch.
40:32
Speaker 1: There's quite a bit coming up. What's a couple of
40:34
Speaker 1: things for people to look forward to?
40:37
Speaker 6: Oh, I want to say there's about three bar cuts
40:39
Speaker 6: coming up around the region, which would be pretty cool.
40:41
Speaker 6: First one, I think, will be Te Anau, where the
40:44
Speaker 6: wellbeing event is as well for the region, and then
40:46
Speaker 6: districts and all sorts.
40:49
Speaker 1: What's the wee wellbeing event? I've read about this. This
40:51
Speaker 1: is a really good initiative too. That's all part of
40:53
Speaker 1: the bar cut with the Te Anau crew, is that right?
40:56
Speaker 6: Yeah, we thought we'd do it beforehand just to make
40:58
Speaker 6: sure it makes the trip worthwhile tying them in together
41:01
Speaker 6: and hopefully eat a few more along to both events.
41:03
Speaker 6: It just kind of is wee. Just wanted to put
41:06
Speaker 6: something on for the members, kind of a way for
41:09
Speaker 6: them to check in, maybe learn a few things, and
41:11
Speaker 6: got an awesome guest speaker coming down who sounds real
41:15
Speaker 6: practical about the way they approach it, so hopefully members
41:18
Speaker 6: can connect it to it.
41:20
Speaker 1: I've been speaking to various people over the past few
41:22
Speaker 1: weeks who say that connecting with members through social media
41:25
Speaker 1: and the likes while they're in the trenches at the
41:28
Speaker 1: moment has been a lifesaver for a lot of people. Well,
41:30
Speaker 1: not literally, but just to have a better connection and
41:33
Speaker 1: just catch up with other people. What are you guys
41:37
Speaker 1: hearing as far as connection between clubs and the likes
41:40
Speaker 1: at the moment? Just it's a case of everybody being
41:42
Speaker 1: in this boat together?
41:44
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely, and it's kind of nice too that everyone's
41:47
Speaker 6: supporting each other as well, clubs doing events together, not
41:50
Speaker 6: just relying on the same people within your club to
41:53
Speaker 6: do it, helping each other out. If you only have
41:55
Speaker 6: to organise one every two months or something, it makes
41:58
Speaker 6: it a bit easier when you're flat out this far in.
42:00
Speaker 6: It's definitely easier when everyone can have a bit of
42:02
Speaker 6: a complaint to people who understand it as well and
42:04
Speaker 6: are going through the same thing.
42:05
Speaker 1: You've got to be able to have a venting network.
42:08
Speaker 1: That goes without saying. It doesn't matter who you are.
42:11
Speaker 6: I feel like that's the first part of young farmers
42:13
Speaker 6: meetings is where everyone gets to get off their chest
42:16
Speaker 6: what you need when you get on with business.
42:18
Speaker 1: Now the district finals, ironically enough, they're not far away too.
42:22
Speaker 1: They're at Riverton this year, is that right?
42:25
Speaker 6: Yeah, out that way in November, coming up pretty quickly.
42:29
Speaker 6: We get a cap of 30 just because there's only
42:32
Speaker 6: so much time in the day that we can save running,
42:34
Speaker 6: but should be doubling next year as we're going back
42:37
Speaker 6: to two districts, which would be quite cool to see
42:39
Speaker 6: more getting involved.
42:40
Speaker 1: Interesting. So you say you're going back to district, so
42:43
Speaker 1: it'll be Otago, then Southland. Why the change?
42:46
Speaker 6: Just kind of keen to get more people giving it
42:48
Speaker 6: a go when there's only 30 every year. And sometimes
42:52
Speaker 6: when you take our region, it spans all the way
42:54
Speaker 6: up from Ranfurly down. It can be a bit of
42:56
Speaker 6: a hike depending how it's split. So just more people
43:00
Speaker 6: that can give it a go and test their skills.
43:02
Speaker 6: At first year, there's always a bit of a trial
43:04
Speaker 6: and error year. You usually get keen on it and
43:07
Speaker 6: then come back next year stronger.
43:09
Speaker 1: So Otago South in general though, consensus seems to be
43:12
Speaker 1: it's an area with the New Zealand young farmers that's
43:15
Speaker 1: really going ahead in leaps and bounds. Would that be correct?
43:17
Speaker 1: Is that what you're saying?
43:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, we'll definitely be claiming that and singing it from
43:22
Speaker 6: the mountain tops. The region of the year awards have
43:25
Speaker 6: definitely helped back up what we're saying too though.
43:28
Speaker 1: So what's working so well for the organisation down here, Emma?
43:32
Speaker 1: You'll know this, you're on the cold face.
43:35
Speaker 6: I think, honestly, it's everyone on the ground driving it too,
43:38
Speaker 6: the culture between the clubs and across the region. Everyone
43:42
Speaker 6: just loves doing stuff together and getting involved and putting
43:45
Speaker 6: on things and turning up to each other's events. So
43:48
Speaker 6: it builds everyone up and makes everyone stronger.
43:50
Speaker 1: And especially after the slammy slash carving season, everybody will
43:54
Speaker 1: be keen to get out there and just get back
43:57
Speaker 1: into it, the meetings and the likes and reconnect. That's
43:59
Speaker 1: the key message, eh? Yeah, definitely.
44:02
Speaker 6: Just getting off farm as well. Most important this time
44:05
Speaker 6: of year.
44:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the big.
44:06
Speaker 6: It's only for an hour.
44:07
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and that's the key messaging too. We'd like to
44:10
Speaker 1: share that today. Just make a chance to catch up
44:13
Speaker 1: with other people because you all know what it's been
44:15
Speaker 1: like about going over the obvious, right? Yeah, definitely.
44:18
Speaker 6: Everyone always says that getting off is the hardest part,
44:20
Speaker 6: but once you get to the pub and catching up
44:23
Speaker 6: with friends, it's always so much better.
44:24
Speaker 1: It's too easy to put things in the too hard
44:27
Speaker 1: a basket these days, isn't it? That's what it boils
44:29
Speaker 1: down to.
44:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely.
44:31
Speaker 6: And everyone in the club around the place seems to
44:33
Speaker 6: be egging each other on to turn up if they
44:35
Speaker 6: haven't seen someone in a while, which also does help
44:37
Speaker 6: as well.
44:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, awesome, Emma. Hey, thanks very much for your
44:41
Speaker 1: time once again. Young Farmers doing some cool stuff. And
44:44
Speaker 1: it won't be too long, we'll get a few meetings
44:46
Speaker 1: up and running. Good on you.
44:47
Speaker 3: Cheers.
44:51
Speaker 1: Laugh out loud with Ag Proud, because life on the
44:54
Speaker 1: land can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by
44:57
Speaker 1: Shearwell Data, working to help the livestock farmer. The invention
45:02
Speaker 1: of the shovel was groundbreaking, but do you realise it
45:04
Speaker 1: was the invention of the broom that truly swept the nation? Right,
45:11
Speaker 1: there's a few events that are happening here over the
45:14
Speaker 1: next few days. over at Transport Services tomorrow at nightcaps
45:18
Speaker 1: at 11am. They're having a lunch then at Sinclair's Transport,
45:23
Speaker 1: 11am as well on Friday. Waikaka at the Rugby Clubs
45:27
Speaker 1: having a shout there for the community this Friday from 11.30.
45:29
Speaker 1: Grab the other bit of paper here, of course, Rural
45:34
Speaker 1: Support Trust Brunch with Us event happening tomorrow at Dipton
45:38
Speaker 1: at the Golf Club from 11am. And a flip over
45:41
Speaker 1: the bit of paper, RTL as well, tomorrow at Lawrence
45:44
Speaker 1: on the 30th And Beef and Lamb Spring Shout, here
45:50
Speaker 1: we go. These are happening too. Getting underway tomorrow at
45:53
Speaker 1: the Tokanui Rugby Club from 5pm. Then on Thursday, Central
45:57
Speaker 1: Pirates at 5pm as well on the 1st. So various
46:00
Speaker 1: events happening around the province. Let me know what's going
46:03
Speaker 1: on there. More than happy to get it out there,
46:06
Speaker 1: give people a chance to have a bit of a
46:08
Speaker 1: catch-up and a chinwag. I'm Andy Muir. The muster is
46:11
Speaker 1: brought to you by Peters Genetics. Shout-out to Clayton and
46:13
Speaker 1: the team. Podcast will be up shortly, thanks to iHeartRadio.
46:17
Speaker 1: And I'll see you tomorrow, 1 o'clock. Forecast tomorrow is
46:20
Speaker 1: looking better. Stock selling action comes courtesy of PDG Wrightson.
46:38
Speaker 1: It occurred at the Lawville sale yards this morning. And
46:41
Speaker 1: Sam Riley is our agent on the ground to give
46:43
Speaker 1: us an update on prices. Good afternoon, sir. How did
46:46
Speaker 1: we go? G'day, mate.
46:47
Speaker 2: How you getting on, Andy? Just a medium outing of
46:51
Speaker 2: primes in today, which was a reasonably tough market. Steel
46:55
Speaker 2: cattle was a race full of steel cattle, which again,
46:57
Speaker 2: just for the weather conditions, was a reasonably tough market
47:00
Speaker 2: as well, mate. and still a few prime lambs coming
47:03
Speaker 2: in from last season, and quite a few ewes in
47:06
Speaker 2: today with a few wet-drys coming out of some of
47:09
Speaker 2: these farmers. So we'll talk with the prime cattle for
47:12
Speaker 2: a start. Those stairs and heifers, 588 kilos, they were $ 4.
47:14
Speaker 6: 81.
47:14
Speaker 2: Bulls at 500 kgs, $ 4. 50, and the cows, 450 kilos plus,
47:18
Speaker 2: they were $ 2. 60. The store cattle, two-year-old Angus across stairs
47:21
Speaker 2: at 420 kilos, $ 21. 50. Some charolais cross steers at 447
47:31
Speaker 2: kilos over $ 22.
47:31
Speaker 1: 70.
47:31
Speaker 2: Yelling charolais cross steers at 300 to 330 kgs, $ 15.
47:33
Speaker 7: 50 to $ 17.
47:33
Speaker 1: 50.
47:33
Speaker 2: And yelling beef cross heifers at 280 to 350 kgs, $ 13.
47:37
Speaker 5: 50 to $ 15.
47:37
Speaker 3: 80.
47:37
Speaker 2: So that's grouped up the cattle into the sheep, the
47:40
Speaker 2: prime lambs. The best of those, the heavy lambs, $ 300
47:42
Speaker 2: to $ 380 dollars. The medium's $ 240 to $ 290, and the
47:57
Speaker 2: lighter end primes at $ 180 to $ 230. The ewes, the
47:58
Speaker 2: best of those ewes, heavy ewes, $ 300 to $ 336. Medium's
48:00
Speaker 2: $ 200 to $ 290, and the lighter end ewes at $ 150
48:03
Speaker 2: to $ 195, with a handful of rams in today at $ 100.
48:05
Speaker 2: Still a handful of store lambs coming through. The best
48:09
Speaker 2: of those, $ 180 to $ 200. Medium's $ 170, and the lighter
48:12
Speaker 2: end store lambs, $ 130 to... 140, and some ewe and
48:27
Speaker 2: lambs all counted at 150 to 157 in that range. So, yeah,
48:30
Speaker 2: that's a lovely one.