Latest / The Muster on Hokonui / The Muster- Jeanna Close: Dairy NZ

Transcript

The Muster- Jeanna Close: Dairy NZ · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the muster it is time to catch
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: up with gina close out of dairy nz gina welcome
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to the muster good to chat.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Yay how are you andy okay.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Gina tell us tell us about yourself your involvement with
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: dairy nz your background Yeah, right.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, Gina Close. I am covering the area manager
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: spot for Northern Southland. So I've worked on dairy farms
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: in the past with my husband, which has given me
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: a real appreciation for the realities and the challenges of farming.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: So I started working for Dairy NZ in about 2020
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: as a contractor before moving into the event space and, yeah,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: now as an area manager.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: A lot of positivity for the sector at the moment,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: would you say? I think you'd have to agree there
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: would be.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, definitely. And one of the key things that
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I'd like to talk to you about today is the
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: opportunity that we have for farmers right now to help
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: shape Dairy NZ's future direction. So, yeah, over recent years,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: farmers have always told us that they want a stronger
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: voice than where Dairy NZ sort of focuses its efforts
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: and its levy investments. So, yeah, as we go forward
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: and plan out the next five years, we're asking farmers
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: to tell us where they think their levy can make
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the biggest difference.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: As far as the sector itself, what are you really
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: enjoying about it at the moment, Gina?
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: For myself, obviously I've worked with the event space and
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes of the events, but getting out and
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: seeing what great things farmers are doing. At the moment,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: we've just finished up a series of events, our Pastor
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: to Profit, and highly attended events, and it was really
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: good just to get out and see what good farmers
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: are doing.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I heard about that event last week. We were
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: catching up with Jared while he was there, and It
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: sounded like a massive turnout, too, on a farm that's
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: doing good things.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. It was fantastic. It was great
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: to see everyone come out and, yeah, just sort of
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: celebrating what great farmers we have in Southland.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Now, you're going to be based as the area rep
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: for Northern Southland, is that correct?
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, yep, yep, looking after... Northern Southland, so I am
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: based down in Makarua, but yeah, always enjoy a nice
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: drive up Northern Southland.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: So you've been with Dairy NZ for, what did you say,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: about five or six years now. What did you do
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: prior to that? Just working on farms in the likes
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: of your hubby, or?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Yep, worked on farms, and we were also up in
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Glenorchy for some time on a sheep and beef farm
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: up there, so a bit of change of pace.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Glenorchy, worst places in the world to be than up there.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Definitely.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: That pub goes good.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it does, it does. It always goes off.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: So was there any rationale or change from going to
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: dairy from sheep and beef, Gina?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Just a change of scenery as such?
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just we were always, we were from Southend, so yeah,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: it was just coming back to the family roots. So yeah,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: here we are.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: And how have people got through the spring from what
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: you've seen, knowing that the situation has been.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: What it's been?
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think people are, yeah, they're getting back. It's
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: definitely very sort of pocketed to where the weather hit
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: the worst. And so, yeah, I think people's main focus
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: has been getting conditioned back on cows for, you know,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: obviously we're heading into mating now. So, yeah, making sure
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: they're in tip-top form.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: So once again, regarding the strategies for the next five
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: years for Dairy NZ, you encourage people to go online
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and submit?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, so just for everyone to keep an eye out
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: for our newsletter, which comes out tomorrow, and that will
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: have a link to the form, which only takes a
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: couple of minutes to fill in. So yeah, whether you
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: have a new idea, a challenge that you'd like the
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: RNZ to focus on, or feedback on what you've seen
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: that we've been doing well. So yeah, the more farmers
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: that participate, the clearer the picture we will have for
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: what matters most for our sector.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: So farmers can expect to see your cheery face at
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: events popping up around the region.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely. I'll be out and about.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Good on you, Gina. Thanks for your time this afternoon.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Good to catch up.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. See you.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Gina Close of Dairy NZ. As we catch up with
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: the team on a regular basis, you're listening to The Muster.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: A change of text next. Elliot Warrender.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: He's away to the Young Auctioneer of the Year competition
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: happening in Christchurch next week.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: We have a catch-up.