August 14, 2026 • 39 mins
Jamie Mackay talks to Steve Allen, Bryce Neyland, Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Jane Smith, Jen Corkran, and Jo Luxton.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Best of the Country with Rubbobak.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Choose the Bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Grow with rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Good Morning, New Zealand. I'm Jamie McKay. Welcome to the
Best of the Country. Coming to you this morning from
our Auckland Studios. I'm like a traveling salesman. I'm all
over the country. Earlier in the week, I spent a
few days in Queenstown and you'll hear some of the
interviews that I recorded while I was in the Queenstown studios.
Going to kick it off with Steve Allen, the retiring
(00:51):
chair of the Tatua Dairy co Op, the Little co
Op that Could. He's stepping aside after two decades at
the helm. Also while I was in Queenstown, I caught
up with a young Aussie by the name of Bryce
Neeland twenty twenty six, Australian winner of the Zander MacDonald Awards,
and he shared an intimate Richie mccau story with us.
(01:11):
Doctor Jack willn Rowath was my third guest out of
the Queenstown studios. We talked about a big issue that
One News raised earlier in the week. About nitrates in
the water in Canterbury and having witness firsthand the traffic
jams of Queenstown. It's terrible. It's a dog's breakfast. We
(01:32):
discussed whether we're dragging the chain on infrastructure productivity in
this country. Jane Smith north Otago farmer, a bit of
a favorite here on the country and therefore on the
Best of the Country, former winner of the Balance Farm
Environment Awards. We talked about a tense leadership battle in
the beehive that was happening on the day that Jane
(01:56):
was on. She compared that to what was happening in
the sheepyards with husband Blaire. We also talked about the
four hundred dollars lamb brickbats and bouquets and who or
what gets a vote this year. Jen Corcoran out a rabobank.
There was no mincing words about it. We looked at
mince and why beef mints at twenty four dollars a
kilo is no longer a staple for New Zealand families.
(02:17):
But it's not all bad news for the economy. And
we're going to wrap it with Joe Luxton, Labour's agriculture
spokesperson making a long awaited appearance on the country this week.
But where's the RAG policy. It's all on the best
of the Country, brought to you by Rabobank. So Steve
(02:38):
Allen is the chair of Tartua, the little co op
that could based out of Morerinsville, stepping aside after thirty
years service, more than two decades as chair. What is
the secret, Steve Allen to Tartua's success?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Oh, very much the people. We've just been blessed with
contenuously good and great people. We've got a lot of
staff within Tartua who have been there fifty years, forty years,
thirty years, twenty years, tens very common and we've just
had a succession of fantastic people and leaders throughout the organization,
(03:19):
So that the secret is the people.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It is a closed shot, though, isn't it. It's a
dress circle. If you're not in the dress circle, you
can't supply Tartua. Do you ever take on new suppliers?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Yeah, we do so we have a supply right and
prior to de regulation, we spend a lot of time
on our constitution and developed a supply right which was
based on cooperatives in the USA called New Generation cooperatives.
And the concept there is that the supply right gives
(03:52):
the right to supply, and for us, the importance of
that was that if we were successful post deregulation, which
which has happened, we didn't want to get pushed around
by milk that we couldn't control.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Coming to us.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
That's very really one of the most fundemental things we
did de regulation was to put that supply right instrument
in place with a new constitution, and that's enabled us
to concentrate on adding value to our existing milk rather
than growing volume of milking being pushed into commodity processing.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Am I right in saying that Tartuua farm costs roughly
twice that of a farm across the boundary fence, which
may not sit in Tatoo's catchment.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I don't know. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Well, there's the hang on Steve. There's definitely a premium though,
isn't that.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Where there is a premium, And that's just a function
of farmers' perceptions of performance, both current and future. So,
like anything, that value is reflected in the supply right
as a to the land, So land for land, it's
all pretty similar in our district, depending on the farm
(05:05):
and the infrastructure and those sorts of things, But it's
the supply right which has really reflected most of the
value back to the shareholders.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So traditionally you've outperformed everyone else when it comes to
milk price. Let's just use Fonterra as an example. As
it sits at the moment, forecast milk price is nine
twenty five. Where's Tatoo is sitting.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
For the current for the year. We're just starting for
the yes, six seventies. Yeah, we're we're we're indicating in
about the mid tens. So yeah, we're just early days
for us, but we've we've indicated at the moment that
we'll be heading towards an indication of around ten fifty.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Tatua has been innovators for years and years and years.
Weren't you. Weren't you the people who put the whipped
cream in the can.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
And that was some that was under the guidance of
the CEO or managing director, Neil Journey. So that was
really a discussion that was had within the company that
we needed to do something different. We weren't going to
be able to compete on scale as all the amalgamations
were happening and the company at the time experimented with
(06:20):
Berry Whippon. You know, it's been a great success and
it's still going today.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, you mentioned the name Judney. Mark Judney takes over
as the new chair and I was racking my brain
thinking when did I used to chat to Mark Judney
and several capacities as it turned out, when he was
at Fonterra, but perhaps most or more recently in my mind,
when he was the chief executive of PGG Rights.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yes, so Mark's a very long connection with the company,
has brought his father that held senior positions, of range
of senior positions within the company for some twenty five
maybe thirty years. Mark was born on the site, literally
living on the site in a brick dairy cottage, and
(07:06):
went on to university at Waikato and then worked for
Tatua for some time. I think he then went on
and worked for a food service business, actually worked for
the New Zealandery Group and beyond that Fonterra up into
Japan and then came back and with CEO of Life
Stock Improvement and then CEO of PGG Rights and so
(07:28):
he's had a range of roles executive roles across the industry.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Hey Steve Allen, it's been great catching up with your
congratulations on thirty years with Tartsowa. It's been a wonderful
success story in the New zealandery industry. Appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Thanks very much.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Sammy chairs the best of the Country with rubbobak Choose
the bank with one hundred and twenty years global agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Grow with rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, let's chat to a young Ossie bloke who's had
the time of his life in the past week or
so here in New Zealand. His name is Bryce neland
he was one of the winners of the twenty twenty
six Xander McDonald Awards. He won the Australian title, carm
Dallywell won the New Zealand title. He's just finished cashing
in his prize if you want. And that's the trip
around New Zealand. And They were joined by the twenty
(08:15):
twenty five winners, Jack O'Connor from Australia and Megan Blom
from New Zealand. Hey, Bryce, it was great to meet
you at the Zander McDonald Awards in christ Church in March.
Is this life changing what's happened to you?
Speaker 6 (08:27):
Ah? I think the energy you come away from a
trip like this and the exposure the incubator of leaders
that you get in such a short period of time
does really change your outlook and the past. You development passway,
coming away with so much energy and so many ideas
(08:48):
and really came to get back into the day to
day to start implemented.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So I obviously got to know you a wee bit
or got to see a bit about you at the awards.
As I said in March, you're like an engineer. You
do these massive engineering projects.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
Yeah, that's right. So I've come from family farming, but yeah,
left the family farm, went off and studied civil engineering
and was lucky enough to work for a consultancy that
specialized in irrigation design and over the last fourteen years
sort of linking both engineering and farming together. I've been
lucky enough to work on developments across Australia and New
Zealand and it's been such a rewarding career to combine
(09:29):
both and spend a lot of my energy developing farms
for better land. You so been a hell of the journey.
I now work for Select Harvest, so for an armored
production company. So we'll go after all their development projects
across their horticulture and processing team and started rewarding to
be able to design, implement and execute these projects with
(09:53):
the farming lens.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
You grew up on the banks of the Murray River
and New South Wales. Of course it is the greatest
water away in Australia. I know a wee bit about
the Murray River because my in laws have what they
call a shack it's a flash apartment really on the
banks of the Murray River, just down the river, down
the way a bit from Adelaide. How precious is water,
(10:15):
and I know there's a lot of demands on the
water from the Murray River.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I think if anyone's traveled along the Murray you see
how much water or any waterway, you see how much
the difference it makes to the communities and what you
can produce. And it is the lifeblood for a lot
of regions along that waterway. So the industries that have
(10:41):
been developed because of water in remote areas and the
opportunities that exists for people like me but young people
because of water in these areas without it, regional communities
in these areas don't exist. So it's no doubt it
is a hot topic. There's lots of demand for it,
there's lots of government policies and everyone has different ideas
(11:03):
on the best way to manage it. It's always can
be quite prickly, but without it, we don't have a
future in these areas so very sensitive and something so
lucky to have grown up so close to it. Three cautons, So.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Bryce, neland with us. He's the twenty twenty six Xander
McDonald Award. One of the Australian winner, of course, ours
was Calm Deliwall. We spoke to him last week on
the country. Okay, Bryce, what have been the highlights of
your trip around New Zealand? Do you still go in
one of those flash jet planes all over the place?
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Yeah, we jumped in it. We had a plane once,
I think, and we also jumped in a helicopter out
of Queenstown heading over to Mount Nicholas Station on Lake WAKATIFU.
Excuse my accents, but I think the special part and
defferent highlight for me a helicopter pilot was none other
than New Zealand. We'royalkey and Richie McCall, which yeah, you
(12:08):
can't buy that experience. And I think what was really
special in the highlight for me or on that you know,
anyone that's met Richie can attest to what a humble,
aspiring leader and bloke he is. But what's so unique
about the opportunities with the Xander Award is that environments
when the guard comes down. So many people have short
I'm sure I've heard Richie talk, but now to sit
(12:30):
in the wall shirt and have a cup of coffee,
or drive around and look at sheets and chat in
the back of the utes with none other than Richie
and also jump into the lake and so to get
comfortable being uncomfortable with him, That's something that I'll live
with the rest of my life. On that front and
that experience.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, I thought all of you assies were only interested
in NRL and Ossie rules. I'm surprised you know who
Richie mccaugh is.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
I know, when the God walks in, everyone everyone knows
who that is, right, So I can't Richie bloke And yeah,
it's gonna take a little while to get over that
one to be caught on.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
So well, there you go in the lake and your
undies with Richie mccawy. You can take that one home
and take it to your grave price.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
I don't think too many people can attest to that.
Very special, very social.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Well, Safe travels home to Australia. Great to catch up
and I know you would have had a great time
with the twenty twenty five winners. And also Calm Dally
Well he's a very impressive young man as well. Great
to meet you in christ Church in March. Safe travels home.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
Really appreciate that. Thanks, Matte talk Son.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The best of the country with Robobank.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Grow with Rabbobank.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
He is a leading primary sector academic. Her name is
doctor JAQUELN. Rowe. If I want to talk about night
trates in water and cant but before I do, Jacqueline Fortnightly,
you're kind enough to write a brilliant column for us
on our website The Country, dot co, dot and z.
This is about the cost of living and the cost
of food. You're suggesting food is now becoming too expensive
to eat and from a farming point of view, too
(14:05):
expensive to produce.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
Right, So I can do the calculations for the farmers.
What is concerning me is that people are putting together
all the cost of living and saying the problem is food,
because that's what they pay every fort oh well every
week or even earlier, more frequently. And actually we've got
some good data from Australia saying it's electricity and gas bills,
(14:29):
fuel and transport costs and rent to mortgage hikes which
don't leave enough at the end to buy the sorts
of food people used to buy. But on farm we're facing.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
All those costs.
Speaker 7 (14:40):
And I see data from the UK where they've had
a thirty or forty percent decrease in yields, and the
farmers are saying, we're making one penny from every loaf
you're buying. We can't survive like this. So can farmers
keep going unless people accept that food is going to
cost a bit more.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
When you look at what the punters or those polled think,
the cost of living is the number one concern healthcare
to economy three. It's interesting that climate change now comes
in at number eight. And I reckon Trump, rightly or
wrongly in this case wrongly, has changed the way we
think in this world. I think we've become. Dare I
say it, maybe more insular, may be more selfish, where
(15:22):
in many cases justly more concerned about ourselves than saving
the planet.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
I make the decision about what goes out of my
wallet and make the decision whether it's going to be
a lot or a little this week, whereas a lot
of people seem to think that climate changes somebody else's responsibility.
And so I see people complaining about the cost of
living in general. But there was an awful lot of
traffic on domestic and international flights and indeed in driving
(15:51):
around the country during the school holiday.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
So people make.
Speaker 7 (15:55):
Decisions about where they're going to spend their money, and
some of them are having a impact on everybody as
opposed to personal.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Let's talk about this issue the nitrates in the drinking
water in Canterbury A and you're not allowed a duck
for cover on this one on I stress that you'll
wear your scientist hat, not your dairy and z hat.
Now is the problem intensive dairy farming in Canterbury or
as one text has suggested on yesterday's show, and it
raised the ire of an arable farming friend of mine
(16:26):
that it might be the cropping farmers. Who's responsible for
the high night rates and the water in Canterbury.
Speaker 7 (16:32):
They've been there for a very long time, so I
don't think anybody who's alive now was actually responsible in
the way that people are trying to point a finger.
What happened on the Canterburry planes is that people have
started living there. And I look at some data from
ESR what used to be called Environmental and Scientific Research,
and see that eighty three percent of the groundwater samples
(16:55):
and they crossed the Canterbury planes had caffeine, sucraloseoprofen, steroidal hormones.
That's contraceptive or some block in them, though I don't
think that's cows. What's tended to happen on the Canterburry
plane so is that people have decided this is a
good place to produce food, so they come in. There
are more septic tanks, there is more activity. Certainly more
(17:18):
fertilizer has been used on the Canterbury planes. But when
we look at the dairy cow, she is producing more
food the essential amino acids that humans need for the
greater number of people for the least impact in terms
of nitrogen loss to groundwater, fewer screenhouse gases, escaping and
(17:39):
best water use efficiency and we have those, Baker, So
it's not the dairy cow per se, which is where
you started remembering. I did a lot of work on
the Canterbury planes during the late eighties and nineties. What
we have is a whole series of things which includes
the gorse and the broom and people well environment Canterbury
(17:59):
has actual He said, this is a very complex issue
and just saying we'll get rid of the dairy cow
will not fix what people see as a problem. But
they should be able to relax because an awful lot
of the statements that have been made about the dangers
of nitrate are actually creating fear rather than based on anything.
(18:20):
But if it was true, this would happen. And there
are a lot of data around pre term babies or
early liked babies or coorectal cancer that simply aren't supported
by the geographical distribution of the people affected and the
nitrate in the water. So let's relax and sort out
(18:41):
how do we best use the Canterbury planes. We've got
research that supports what is happening.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Hey really quickly to finish on a social bit of
social commentary for me, and I know you were down
on Queenstown at the behest of our great friend Brews
Dickens the dodgy hedgecutter from Member Cargo and June, and
you saw for yourself the congestion, the gridlock in this beautiful,
beautiful part of the world. I'm looking out from our
studio at snow capped remarkables, but I'm also looking out
(19:08):
at the Frankton Roundabout. It's a ball's up. I don't
know how long this is taking. And as I walk
from where I'm parking to the studio each day, or
I have for the past two days, I have seen
workmen and women standing not on the end, not leaning
on their shovel like they used to in the good
old days. With the ministry works are these people? Young
people are sitting on their phones? How's that productive? We
(19:30):
have a productivity issue. The Chinese would build this.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
In a month, but the Chinese wouldn't have the health
and safety concerns that we have, and the regulations about
getting home safety and all of those sorts of things.
We might have gone a little far. I hope that
the young people are doing some study while they're there,
and aiming to pass some new qualifications because we've had
a fuss about that, but it's possible they're not. And
(19:54):
one of the things we've done, I think is probably
overcompensate in terms of what we're trying to do in
New Zealand to make sure, like the road cone issue,
that people are safe and we need to be not
looking at phones but actually looking at the traffic to
ensure that we don't walk in front of it.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, well, too many people standing around doing nothing. See,
we haven't got that productivity issue on the farms of
New Zealand. They get out and go hard. Anyhow, that's
just my observation. Thanks for some of yours today, Jacqueline,
see it lovely.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
Thank you fine.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Doctor Jacqueline Roweth on the Best of the Country. Good morning.
My name's Jamie McKay. The show was brought to you
by Rabobank. We are growing a better in New Zealand. Together,
we're going to hear from Jen Corchran from Rabobank on
why mince is no longer a staple and our diet
Joe Luxton, Labour's agg spokesperson. When are they going to
come out with some policy that's a good question. But
(20:52):
up next it is Jane Smith, North Otago farmer, former
winner of the Balance Farm Environment Awards, a bit of
a favorite here on the Best of the Country. Well
on Wednesday morning, while we were all waiting around to
see who would be Prime Minister, Jane said she was
having her own tense leadership battles. But hers was in
the sheepyards with the husband Blair. We also talked about
(21:15):
the four hundred dollars lambs believe it or not, land
sold for four hundred and sixty bucks this week in
the Canterbury sale yards. We're also going to talk who
or what gets her votes. It's all on the Best
of the Country and it's all brought to you by Rabobank.
Jane Smith up next.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Ever.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Blame as a growling for Lackey laggyty is something Harryillo.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
The Best of the Country with Robobank.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience grow with Rubbobank.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Jane Smith never won to miss an opportunity. Taler good
Yarn says there's been a tense leadership battle in the
sheepyards this morning with Happy Blair. Good afternoon Jane.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 9 (22:09):
Yes, it was really the usual power struggle at new
Haven Farms, and we did have a discussion around what
our caucus is going to look like going forward. Blair
at one point did say that the only cabinet I
should be in charge of is the kitchen cabinet.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I thought that was.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
Quite good, and you know, he did actually give a
really good argument that I do a lot of talking
and strategizing and bugger or work, so I'm more likely
to be this sort of the overhay cheer, and he
believes he's the overworked and undervalued CEO, so you know,
valid points. So at the end of the day, I've
(22:45):
just put him on another ninety day trial period and
just rolled that over for the umpteenth time. Jamie. I
think that's quite a good solution.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
In the end, in ninety days, Jane, we'll know who
is the new Prime Minister. If there is indeed a
new Prime Minister. It could be Chris Like and it
could be here at Christanford. It could be Chris Bishop,
it could be Chris Hopkins.
Speaker 9 (23:04):
Yes, one of my first thought, Jamie was my Scottish
Presbyterian gens was I hope they didn't send too much
taxpayer money booking last minute regional flights to Wellington. But
you know, this is sort of playing out of it
like the Hunger Games, and it's unhelpful. I guess having
a media that is less leaning and really speculating and
focusing more on those personality politics and I guess quite
(23:26):
a good distraction for the unionists and labor supporters because
they know that they're disintegrating into irrelevance. And of course
we've got those other parties on the far left serving
up another socialist smager board smagas board to Jamie. So
again we need to move on from personality politics and
actually just get the country moving, because at the end
(23:47):
of the day, this is not the captain of the
All Blacks or a host of a TV show. This
is a person that will be running a team to
run the country. So again that's really important that we
actually just knuckle down and do the work.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Jamie, this is meat Mattters week here on the country.
You're going you want to talk about the four hundred
dollar lamb Nathan Guy. I don't know whether you heard
what he said. He said, don't hold your breath.
Speaker 9 (24:10):
Well, it's really interesting, Jamie. There was actually some pricing
coming from one of the Southland sale yards. Was that
last week or the week before that had a four
hundred dollars mark on lambs, and I would suggest they're
probably more towards a hogitt than a lamb. But the
end of the day, it wasn't that long ago we
were talking about a lofty goal of one hundred and
fifty dollars. But you know, I do agree with with
(24:33):
market commentary around. We don't want prices to get too high,
but what we do want is stability in all of
those areas you know, lamb, beef, mut and wool, dairy,
venison and hopefully for the arable guys as well at
some point in the future Jamie. But you know, real
positive and it's making a lot of those other discussions
in terms of cash flow and the sheef and beef
(24:55):
sector a lot more I guess palatable and valid. So
it's really good to boats well for the future, Jamie.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Rick bats and bouquets, you've got some to hand out.
Speaker 9 (25:06):
Oh well, it's a really pleased to see Tama Potacker
and the Minister for Conservation announce another million, nine million
dollars for wilding pine control. So just to just I guess,
to revalidate the issue here, it's two million heat days
have already been infestated by wilding pines, and it's creeping
in at ninetieth and nine ninety thousand hitties a year
(25:30):
of you know, of land, food producing land that's been destroyed,
so actually potentially a worse problem than the creeping carbon
forestry problem. I just hope this funding goes to the
right place, not just an Edmond trail, but really good
to up the anty on weeds and hopefully peace as well.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
MONDI Jane. Is one million dollars enough, I know it's
going for people on the grounds, maybe even the volunteer
workforce and that. But they've already announced the funding by
my reckoning the story I read yesterday what one hundred
and nine million, So in terms of proportionality, it's not
a huge additional contribution.
Speaker 9 (26:07):
No, But I think this is also targeting areas that
hadn't been I guess taken into account before. So hopefully
that means that you know that the locals and the
landowners and the and the lease hold people in those
areas will actually have more of a say in terms
of where that goes as well, Jamie. So again the
drop in the bucket, but certainly in the right direction
in terms of where we need to be heading with
(26:28):
weeds and peace and speaking of peace, the brick back
that I did want to give out Jamie or is
believe it or not, to the Green Party, they've clearly
been smoking too much Golden Bay Hay. Once again, I
see they want to give specifically give Maria's two point
four billion dollars to upgrade. Now, nothing wrong with that
in itself, but you know that they've actually said that
(26:49):
the Mariza they do all the heavy lifting and emergency
situations for our communities, and you know that that in
terms of that assuming that special treatment versus you know,
there's lines clud and rugby clubs and schools and rural
halls that do plenty all times of the year, including
in emergencies, and many of our areas don't have amrise.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
So we've just got to be very very careful.
Speaker 9 (27:10):
That again we're not I guess diverging off to give
special treatment to areas, and I guess coming towards election,
there will be lots of lollly scramble handouts and over
promises but let's just get back to the basics, you know,
the big three infrastructure, health, and education, and that's who
gets my vote, Jamie, in terms of just sticking to
the basics. And ideally, imagine if we were big enough
(27:32):
to come up with a bipartisan agreement for a twenty
year plan and then they could just fight around the
fringes of everything else. But gosh, that would be a great,
great place to be in, Jamie, and much more interesting
than any sort of leadership battles out on the front.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Jane Smith, North Itago. Thanks for your time, good luck
on the sheep yess this afternoon.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Thanks Jamie.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
The best of the country with Rubbo Bag.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agri business experience grow with Rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Welcome back to the country. We're not mincing our words
on the show today. It's Meat Matters week and here's
an expert in the field. She is Rabobanks red meat
expert and from my poor pun on mincing words, Jen Corkran,
let's talk about mince. It used to be the domain
of the price conscious no longer.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
Good afternoon, Jamie. Yes, mintce is more expensive right than
it's ever been. And I think we might have touched
on this sometime last year when we had a check
here too, and you know, things are still still moving
in that space, and it is really driven by that
demand for trim, which is mince essentially out of the East,
which is a well sung story. But you know, we've
(28:43):
gone up another dollar a kilo for mince since about
October last year, sitting it just over twenty four dollars
a kilo on Everich, so not cheap at the supermarket
Jamien as you say it was, you know, or historically
it's been a real good go to red meat option
because it is very versatile in terms of what you
can do with it. But now it's not really that
(29:03):
cheap option. And if we look back to you know,
twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, we were sitting between fourteen and
sixteen dollars a kilo. So that's more than just food inflation.
It's driven by those export prices and the competition that
that creates for US as an exporting nation.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
So how are consumers changing their buying habits because let's
face it, or lambs not cheap, far from it, but
we do have those two cheaper options chicken or pork.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Yeah, that's right. So chicken and pork are kind of
steady as she goes, Jamie. You know, they've increase slowly
over over many years, but they are the cheaper protensions.
And I think what happens, you know, when we start
to see the red meat prices rise, is that you know,
consumers will often start to switch down to some of
these cheaper white proteins like pork and chicken breast, which
(29:52):
are sort of sitting close to that fifteen to seventeen
dollars pe kilo range in the supermarket for example. But
the other thing that happens is it's also expensive. If
we think about it in food service, with your quick
service restaurants such as McDonald's KFC, they end up kind
of offering up more chicken options, more budget options for consumers,
(30:14):
and so without realizing that, we'll see you know, more
and more of that being consumed because it's expensive for
everyone in the supply chain and then the value chain
when it comes to that consumer side. So it's just
an interesting time with our wonderful red meat price for
our farmers. But the slow on effects that we might
start to see from those high prices on the consumption side.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So Jen Corkram with U Surrabobanks red meat expert. Yeah, Look,
this is great news on the export front, not so
flash at all on the home front. And I think
you refer to it as sticker shock when you go
along to the supermarket and you see mints at twenty
four bucks a quilo, When, though, Jen, are we going
to see like price resistance and consumer or the consumer
(31:00):
changing his or her behavior at what price point? Does
this happen? Particularly in the US?
Speaker 8 (31:06):
Yeah, And this is the question, isn't it globally right now?
Because rid meat prices are really high across the globe
because of this whole you know, lack of supply situation.
But interestingly, in the United States, Jamie, the demand has
actually been holding up for beef, especially a lot firmer
and stronger than what you know, we might have expected. So,
(31:27):
you know, my colleagues in the US have talked about
the fact that the US beef demand has been a
lot more resilient than what you know, we may have
expected so far, at least even with these record prices,
And that kind of tells us that consumers aren't quite
kind of walking away from beef at this point, but
they're kind of changing within the category what they're purchasing,
so looking to more of that burger kind of thing,
(31:47):
which is great for his own because it's that important
trim that goes in with their ferny meat that they
need for burgers, but also choosing different categrees within the
value of those other cuts as well. So that's ending
in the But you know, one thing we often talk
about is that high prices can be the cure for
high prices. So at some stage, you know, we think
(32:08):
that there will be a point where the consumer says,
you know, this is this is getting enough for me,
and that might just naturally start to let things level out.
Remembering that we are at farmgate price level sitting anywhere
between fifty and sort of sixty or seventy percent above
the five year average across all cohorts of kettle right now,
so we've got a you know, we're at a high point,
(32:28):
and even if things come back a little bit, Jamie,
I think it's still pretty positive of the next you know,
a couple of years at least in terms of that
global demand for beef.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Jen Corchran out of Rabobank, out of Hamilton. Thanks for
your time today on the Country. Always appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Thanks Amy, the best of the country with Rabobank.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Grow with Rabobank.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
She is Labour's agriculture spokesperson and I'm is Joe Luxton
and I've been waiting for months and months and months
for Joe's agg policy. She's been a bit croc recently. Joe,
I think you've been avoiding me. But I think perhaps
on second thoughts, your tactic you're and Chippy's tactic of
doing nothing might pay off. Just let the opposition self destruct.
(33:14):
Maybe that's a master plan. Was that the master plan
all along?
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Oh? Can you tell me? It's always nice to talk
to you and I'd never ever avoid talking to you,
you know that. Great mate. Know there's been no master
plan here, but yeah, things have been pretty interesting in
the political world at this the last couple of days,
haven't they.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Indeed they have. Do you buy into my theory? And
I've been thinking about this for the last month six
weeks that if the Opportunity Party gets past five percent,
and you'd have to say now that every chance of
doing that, it is game over. It will be a
change of government and will have the four headed monster
or will we or is Chippy just going to kick
to party Mari to touch.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Hey, Well it's an interesting idea there. But we're campaigning
on two ticks labor. If people want to change the
government and we're asking for the two ticks for labor.
We're not too sure what will happen with other parties.
You never know until election and then those of coalition
type agreements and conversations will happen then.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
So I hate to ask Joe Luxton, but when are
you actually coming out with your ag policy because I
think your manifesto is going to be released very shortly
before the election because we're in the countdown mode now,
so I'm really interested to you know, what you're going
to do about emission's targets, what you're going to do
about agriculture and the ets. So those are questions that
(34:37):
I want.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
Answered, Yeah, and they will be answered in due course, Damy,
I promise you. You know, the manifesto you know will
be coming out soon. But it's not different to any
other election cycle. Often policies aren't released until that we're
the campaign a proper period, so you know, it's not
too to similar to other campaigns where we haven't released
(35:00):
policy yet, and we haven't released all policy yet either.
I mean there's been several policies that have announced. You know,
small business policies are really great policy. Lots of other
good points.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Wow, I hang on, Joe, it's a really great policy
unless you want to buy some new plant or equipment.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
Yeah, but not every farmer and every business buys new
plant and your equipment every year. So this is a
good policy. That is a good policy because it increases
you know it right, We increase it from one ten
thousand straight away, so rather than waiting to do for
it to appreciate over time. And it's got to be
a good thing for small business as well as the
(35:40):
part where you know, if you have turnover of ten
million dollars or less and big companies are going to
have to pay you with fifteen working days if they
owe you twenty five thousand dollars or less, and it's got.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
To be Yeah, no, I agree with you. In a
utopian sort of world, that would be wonderful. Get the
big companies who do use often smaller businesses as their
own banks, but it's going to be almost impossible to police.
I would have thought it's pie in the sky sort
of policy, isn't it.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
No?
Speaker 5 (36:10):
I disagree.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Why how are you going to make I don't know,
let's just throw out of Fonterra. How are you going
to make Fonterra pay people within fifteen days their suppliers.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Because these sorts of things are going to be legislated for.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
I still don't buy it.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
Well, we knew he just going to have to wait
and see, aren't you.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Jamie Hey, Joe Luxton always good to catch up and
you know, just give me a ring, text me as
soon as you've got some egg policy and I'm going
to take you straight to air.
Speaker 5 (36:38):
Sounds good, all right, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Best of the Country with Rubbo Bag. Choose the bank
with one hundred and twenty years global agribusiness experience, Grow
with Rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Joe Luxton rapping the best of the country. Good morning,
My name is Jamie McKay, coming to you from our
Auckland studio. He's got a bit of a North Island
tour going on next week. Looking forward to catching up
with the good folks of Taranga, Hamilton and Fong Ray.
It's been a really interesting week. Actually, next week will
be really interesting on the country because I'm talking to
(37:20):
my favorite guy from Rabobank. He's Michael every He's the
Thailand based global strategist. I call him a bit of
an alarmist. I want what he makes of the world
at the moment. We will be chatting to him on
Tuesday's show. Really looking forward to his up or his
geopolitical update on the environment and the economy. So that's
(37:42):
on next Tuesday's show. No doubt you'll hear it again
next Saturday morning on the Best of the Country. Well,
talking about the best of the country. In some ways
we saw the worst of the country this week with
the political shenanigans that were going on. Personally myself, without
getting too political on it, I'm pleased to see Christopher
Luxe staying in the job. You can say what you
(38:02):
want about the bloke, but as far as rural New Zealand,
the primary sector farming and farmers go, he's doing a
pretty good job. We'll catch you back at the same time,
same place next Saturday morning on the Best of the Country.
Get the jos sent after I right way said.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
They want hands.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
This's mill mess up by myself, don't I go?
Speaker 2 (38:39):
You wear I mean the shell in deeping every week
If you couldn't tell, they said, same one missing.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Joins a milk it suit to break out into baby.
(39:11):
You blame me, baby, I'll blame you. I that ain't
to sill.
Speaker 6 (39:19):
He ain't like I can make this kind of mess
out by myself, talking act like you won't help me
pull that bottle of the.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Shell he did every weekend. If you couldn't tell, they said,
see what makes a train?
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Or had some mail now
The Best of the Country with Rubbobak.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Choose the Bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Grow with rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Good Morning, New Zealand. I'm Jamie McKay. Welcome to the
Best of the Country. Coming to you this morning from
our Auckland Studios. I'm like a traveling salesman. I'm all
over the country. Earlier in the week, I spent a
few days in Queenstown and you'll hear some of the
interviews that I recorded while I was in the Queenstown studios.
Going to kick it off with Steve Allen, the retiring
(00:51):
chair of the Tatua Dairy co Op, the Little co
Op that Could. He's stepping aside after two decades at
the helm. Also while I was in Queenstown, I caught
up with a young Aussie by the name of Bryce
Neeland twenty twenty six, Australian winner of the Zander MacDonald Awards,
and he shared an intimate Richie mccau story with us.
(01:11):
Doctor Jack willn Rowath was my third guest out of
the Queenstown studios. We talked about a big issue that
One News raised earlier in the week. About nitrates in
the water in Canterbury and having witness firsthand the traffic
jams of Queenstown. It's terrible. It's a dog's breakfast. We
(01:32):
discussed whether we're dragging the chain on infrastructure productivity in
this country. Jane Smith north Otago farmer, a bit of
a favorite here on the country and therefore on the
Best of the Country, former winner of the Balance Farm
Environment Awards. We talked about a tense leadership battle in
the beehive that was happening on the day that Jane
(01:56):
was on. She compared that to what was happening in
the sheepyards with husband Blaire. We also talked about the
four hundred dollars lamb brickbats and bouquets and who or
what gets a vote this year. Jen Corcoran out a rabobank.
There was no mincing words about it. We looked at
mince and why beef mints at twenty four dollars a
kilo is no longer a staple for New Zealand families.
(02:17):
But it's not all bad news for the economy. And
we're going to wrap it with Joe Luxton, Labour's agriculture
spokesperson making a long awaited appearance on the country this week.
But where's the RAG policy. It's all on the best
of the Country, brought to you by Rabobank. So Steve
(02:38):
Allen is the chair of Tartua, the little co op
that could based out of Morerinsville, stepping aside after thirty
years service, more than two decades as chair. What is
the secret, Steve Allen to Tartua's success?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Oh, very much the people. We've just been blessed with
contenuously good and great people. We've got a lot of
staff within Tartua who have been there fifty years, forty years,
thirty years, twenty years, tens very common and we've just
had a succession of fantastic people and leaders throughout the organization,
(03:19):
So that the secret is the people.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It is a closed shot, though, isn't it. It's a
dress circle. If you're not in the dress circle, you
can't supply Tartua. Do you ever take on new suppliers?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Yeah, we do so we have a supply right and
prior to de regulation, we spend a lot of time
on our constitution and developed a supply right which was
based on cooperatives in the USA called New Generation cooperatives.
And the concept there is that the supply right gives
(03:52):
the right to supply, and for us, the importance of
that was that if we were successful post deregulation, which
which has happened, we didn't want to get pushed around
by milk that we couldn't control.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Coming to us.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
That's very really one of the most fundemental things we
did de regulation was to put that supply right instrument
in place with a new constitution, and that's enabled us
to concentrate on adding value to our existing milk rather
than growing volume of milking being pushed into commodity processing.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Am I right in saying that Tartuua farm costs roughly
twice that of a farm across the boundary fence, which
may not sit in Tatoo's catchment.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I don't know. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Well, there's the hang on Steve. There's definitely a premium though,
isn't that.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Where there is a premium, And that's just a function
of farmers' perceptions of performance, both current and future. So,
like anything, that value is reflected in the supply right
as a to the land, So land for land, it's
all pretty similar in our district, depending on the farm
(05:05):
and the infrastructure and those sorts of things, But it's
the supply right which has really reflected most of the
value back to the shareholders.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So traditionally you've outperformed everyone else when it comes to
milk price. Let's just use Fonterra as an example. As
it sits at the moment, forecast milk price is nine
twenty five. Where's Tatoo is sitting.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
For the current for the year. We're just starting for
the yes, six seventies. Yeah, we're we're we're indicating in
about the mid tens. So yeah, we're just early days
for us, but we've we've indicated at the moment that
we'll be heading towards an indication of around ten fifty.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Tatua has been innovators for years and years and years.
Weren't you. Weren't you the people who put the whipped
cream in the can.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Yep?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
And that was some that was under the guidance of
the CEO or managing director, Neil Journey. So that was
really a discussion that was had within the company that
we needed to do something different. We weren't going to
be able to compete on scale as all the amalgamations
were happening and the company at the time experimented with
(06:20):
Berry Whippon. You know, it's been a great success and
it's still going today.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, you mentioned the name Judney. Mark Judney takes over
as the new chair and I was racking my brain
thinking when did I used to chat to Mark Judney
and several capacities as it turned out, when he was
at Fonterra, but perhaps most or more recently in my mind,
when he was the chief executive of PGG Rights.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yes, so Mark's a very long connection with the company,
has brought his father that held senior positions, of range
of senior positions within the company for some twenty five
maybe thirty years. Mark was born on the site, literally
living on the site in a brick dairy cottage, and
(07:06):
went on to university at Waikato and then worked for
Tatua for some time. I think he then went on
and worked for a food service business, actually worked for
the New Zealandery Group and beyond that Fonterra up into
Japan and then came back and with CEO of Life
Stock Improvement and then CEO of PGG Rights and so
(07:28):
he's had a range of roles executive roles across the industry.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Hey Steve Allen, it's been great catching up with your
congratulations on thirty years with Tartsowa. It's been a wonderful
success story in the New zealandery industry. Appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Thanks very much.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Sammy chairs the best of the Country with rubbobak Choose
the bank with one hundred and twenty years global agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Grow with rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, let's chat to a young Ossie bloke who's had
the time of his life in the past week or
so here in New Zealand. His name is Bryce neland
he was one of the winners of the twenty twenty
six Xander McDonald Awards. He won the Australian title, carm
Dallywell won the New Zealand title. He's just finished cashing
in his prize if you want. And that's the trip
around New Zealand. And They were joined by the twenty
(08:15):
twenty five winners, Jack O'Connor from Australia and Megan Blom
from New Zealand. Hey, Bryce, it was great to meet
you at the Zander McDonald Awards in christ Church in March.
Is this life changing what's happened to you?
Speaker 6 (08:27):
Ah? I think the energy you come away from a
trip like this and the exposure the incubator of leaders
that you get in such a short period of time
does really change your outlook and the past. You development passway,
coming away with so much energy and so many ideas
(08:48):
and really came to get back into the day to
day to start implemented.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So I obviously got to know you a wee bit
or got to see a bit about you at the awards.
As I said in March, you're like an engineer. You
do these massive engineering projects.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
Yeah, that's right. So I've come from family farming, but yeah,
left the family farm, went off and studied civil engineering
and was lucky enough to work for a consultancy that
specialized in irrigation design and over the last fourteen years
sort of linking both engineering and farming together. I've been
lucky enough to work on developments across Australia and New
Zealand and it's been such a rewarding career to combine
(09:29):
both and spend a lot of my energy developing farms
for better land. You so been a hell of the journey.
I now work for Select Harvest, so for an armored
production company. So we'll go after all their development projects
across their horticulture and processing team and started rewarding to
be able to design, implement and execute these projects with
(09:53):
the farming lens.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
You grew up on the banks of the Murray River
and New South Wales. Of course it is the greatest
water away in Australia. I know a wee bit about
the Murray River because my in laws have what they
call a shack it's a flash apartment really on the
banks of the Murray River, just down the river, down
the way a bit from Adelaide. How precious is water,
(10:15):
and I know there's a lot of demands on the
water from the Murray River.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I think if anyone's traveled along the Murray you see
how much water or any waterway, you see how much
the difference it makes to the communities and what you
can produce. And it is the lifeblood for a lot
of regions along that waterway. So the industries that have
(10:41):
been developed because of water in remote areas and the
opportunities that exists for people like me but young people
because of water in these areas without it, regional communities
in these areas don't exist. So it's no doubt it
is a hot topic. There's lots of demand for it,
there's lots of government policies and everyone has different ideas
(11:03):
on the best way to manage it. It's always can
be quite prickly, but without it, we don't have a
future in these areas so very sensitive and something so
lucky to have grown up so close to it. Three cautons, So.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Bryce, neland with us. He's the twenty twenty six Xander
McDonald Award. One of the Australian winner, of course, ours
was Calm Deliwall. We spoke to him last week on
the country. Okay, Bryce, what have been the highlights of
your trip around New Zealand? Do you still go in
one of those flash jet planes all over the place?
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Yeah, we jumped in it. We had a plane once,
I think, and we also jumped in a helicopter out
of Queenstown heading over to Mount Nicholas Station on Lake WAKATIFU.
Excuse my accents, but I think the special part and
defferent highlight for me a helicopter pilot was none other
than New Zealand. We'royalkey and Richie McCall, which yeah, you
(12:08):
can't buy that experience. And I think what was really
special in the highlight for me or on that you know,
anyone that's met Richie can attest to what a humble,
aspiring leader and bloke he is. But what's so unique
about the opportunities with the Xander Award is that environments
when the guard comes down. So many people have short
I'm sure I've heard Richie talk, but now to sit
(12:30):
in the wall shirt and have a cup of coffee,
or drive around and look at sheets and chat in
the back of the utes with none other than Richie
and also jump into the lake and so to get
comfortable being uncomfortable with him, That's something that I'll live
with the rest of my life. On that front and
that experience.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, I thought all of you assies were only interested
in NRL and Ossie rules. I'm surprised you know who
Richie mccaugh is.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
I know, when the God walks in, everyone everyone knows
who that is, right, So I can't Richie bloke And yeah,
it's gonna take a little while to get over that
one to be caught on.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
So well, there you go in the lake and your
undies with Richie mccawy. You can take that one home
and take it to your grave price.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
I don't think too many people can attest to that.
Very special, very social.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Well, Safe travels home to Australia. Great to catch up
and I know you would have had a great time
with the twenty twenty five winners. And also Calm Dally
Well he's a very impressive young man as well. Great
to meet you in christ Church in March. Safe travels home.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
Really appreciate that. Thanks, Matte talk Son.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
The best of the country with Robobank.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Grow with Rabbobank.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
He is a leading primary sector academic. Her name is
doctor JAQUELN. Rowe. If I want to talk about night
trates in water and cant but before I do, Jacqueline Fortnightly,
you're kind enough to write a brilliant column for us
on our website The Country, dot co, dot and z.
This is about the cost of living and the cost
of food. You're suggesting food is now becoming too expensive
to eat and from a farming point of view, too
(14:05):
expensive to produce.
Speaker 7 (14:08):
Right, So I can do the calculations for the farmers.
What is concerning me is that people are putting together
all the cost of living and saying the problem is food,
because that's what they pay every fort oh well every
week or even earlier, more frequently. And actually we've got
some good data from Australia saying it's electricity and gas bills,
(14:29):
fuel and transport costs and rent to mortgage hikes which
don't leave enough at the end to buy the sorts
of food people used to buy. But on farm we're facing.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
All those costs.
Speaker 7 (14:40):
And I see data from the UK where they've had
a thirty or forty percent decrease in yields, and the
farmers are saying, we're making one penny from every loaf
you're buying. We can't survive like this. So can farmers
keep going unless people accept that food is going to
cost a bit more.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
When you look at what the punters or those polled think,
the cost of living is the number one concern healthcare
to economy three. It's interesting that climate change now comes
in at number eight. And I reckon Trump, rightly or
wrongly in this case wrongly, has changed the way we
think in this world. I think we've become. Dare I
say it, maybe more insular, may be more selfish, where
(15:22):
in many cases justly more concerned about ourselves than saving
the planet.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
I make the decision about what goes out of my
wallet and make the decision whether it's going to be
a lot or a little this week, whereas a lot
of people seem to think that climate changes somebody else's responsibility.
And so I see people complaining about the cost of
living in general. But there was an awful lot of
traffic on domestic and international flights and indeed in driving
(15:51):
around the country during the school holiday.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
So people make.
Speaker 7 (15:55):
Decisions about where they're going to spend their money, and
some of them are having a impact on everybody as
opposed to personal.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Let's talk about this issue the nitrates in the drinking
water in Canterbury A and you're not allowed a duck
for cover on this one on I stress that you'll
wear your scientist hat, not your dairy and z hat.
Now is the problem intensive dairy farming in Canterbury or
as one text has suggested on yesterday's show, and it
raised the ire of an arable farming friend of mine
(16:26):
that it might be the cropping farmers. Who's responsible for
the high night rates and the water in Canterbury.
Speaker 7 (16:32):
They've been there for a very long time, so I
don't think anybody who's alive now was actually responsible in
the way that people are trying to point a finger.
What happened on the Canterburry planes is that people have
started living there. And I look at some data from
ESR what used to be called Environmental and Scientific Research,
and see that eighty three percent of the groundwater samples
(16:55):
and they crossed the Canterbury planes had caffeine, sucraloseoprofen, steroidal hormones.
That's contraceptive or some block in them, though I don't
think that's cows. What's tended to happen on the Canterburry
plane so is that people have decided this is a
good place to produce food, so they come in. There
are more septic tanks, there is more activity. Certainly more
(17:18):
fertilizer has been used on the Canterbury planes. But when
we look at the dairy cow, she is producing more
food the essential amino acids that humans need for the
greater number of people for the least impact in terms
of nitrogen loss to groundwater, fewer screenhouse gases, escaping and
(17:39):
best water use efficiency and we have those, Baker, So
it's not the dairy cow per se, which is where
you started remembering. I did a lot of work on
the Canterbury planes during the late eighties and nineties. What
we have is a whole series of things which includes
the gorse and the broom and people well environment Canterbury
(17:59):
has actual He said, this is a very complex issue
and just saying we'll get rid of the dairy cow
will not fix what people see as a problem. But
they should be able to relax because an awful lot
of the statements that have been made about the dangers
of nitrate are actually creating fear rather than based on anything.
(18:20):
But if it was true, this would happen. And there
are a lot of data around pre term babies or
early liked babies or coorectal cancer that simply aren't supported
by the geographical distribution of the people affected and the
nitrate in the water. So let's relax and sort out
(18:41):
how do we best use the Canterbury planes. We've got
research that supports what is happening.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Hey really quickly to finish on a social bit of
social commentary for me, and I know you were down
on Queenstown at the behest of our great friend Brews
Dickens the dodgy hedgecutter from Member Cargo and June, and
you saw for yourself the congestion, the gridlock in this beautiful,
beautiful part of the world. I'm looking out from our
studio at snow capped remarkables, but I'm also looking out
(19:08):
at the Frankton Roundabout. It's a ball's up. I don't
know how long this is taking. And as I walk
from where I'm parking to the studio each day, or
I have for the past two days, I have seen
workmen and women standing not on the end, not leaning
on their shovel like they used to in the good
old days. With the ministry works are these people? Young
people are sitting on their phones? How's that productive? We
(19:30):
have a productivity issue. The Chinese would build this.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
In a month, but the Chinese wouldn't have the health
and safety concerns that we have, and the regulations about
getting home safety and all of those sorts of things.
We might have gone a little far. I hope that
the young people are doing some study while they're there,
and aiming to pass some new qualifications because we've had
a fuss about that, but it's possible they're not. And
(19:54):
one of the things we've done, I think is probably
overcompensate in terms of what we're trying to do in
New Zealand to make sure, like the road cone issue,
that people are safe and we need to be not
looking at phones but actually looking at the traffic to
ensure that we don't walk in front of it.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, well, too many people standing around doing nothing. See,
we haven't got that productivity issue on the farms of
New Zealand. They get out and go hard. Anyhow, that's
just my observation. Thanks for some of yours today, Jacqueline,
see it lovely.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
Thank you fine.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Doctor Jacqueline Roweth on the Best of the Country. Good morning.
My name's Jamie McKay. The show was brought to you
by Rabobank. We are growing a better in New Zealand. Together,
we're going to hear from Jen Corchran from Rabobank on
why mince is no longer a staple and our diet
Joe Luxton, Labour's agg spokesperson. When are they going to
come out with some policy that's a good question. But
(20:52):
up next it is Jane Smith, North Otago farmer, former
winner of the Balance Farm Environment Awards, a bit of
a favorite here on the Best of the Country. Well
on Wednesday morning, while we were all waiting around to
see who would be Prime Minister, Jane said she was
having her own tense leadership battles. But hers was in
the sheepyards with the husband Blair. We also talked about
(21:15):
the four hundred dollars lambs believe it or not, land
sold for four hundred and sixty bucks this week in
the Canterbury sale yards. We're also going to talk who
or what gets her votes. It's all on the Best
of the Country and it's all brought to you by Rabobank.
Jane Smith up next.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Ever.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Blame as a growling for Lackey laggyty is something Harryillo.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
The Best of the Country with Robobank.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience grow with Rubbobank.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Jane Smith never won to miss an opportunity. Taler good
Yarn says there's been a tense leadership battle in the
sheepyards this morning with Happy Blair. Good afternoon Jane.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 9 (22:09):
Yes, it was really the usual power struggle at new
Haven Farms, and we did have a discussion around what
our caucus is going to look like going forward. Blair
at one point did say that the only cabinet I
should be in charge of is the kitchen cabinet.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I thought that was.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
Quite good, and you know, he did actually give a
really good argument that I do a lot of talking
and strategizing and bugger or work, so I'm more likely
to be this sort of the overhay cheer, and he
believes he's the overworked and undervalued CEO, so you know,
valid points. So at the end of the day, I've
(22:45):
just put him on another ninety day trial period and
just rolled that over for the umpteenth time. Jamie. I
think that's quite a good solution.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
In the end, in ninety days, Jane, we'll know who
is the new Prime Minister. If there is indeed a
new Prime Minister. It could be Chris Like and it
could be here at Christanford. It could be Chris Bishop,
it could be Chris Hopkins.
Speaker 9 (23:04):
Yes, one of my first thought, Jamie was my Scottish
Presbyterian gens was I hope they didn't send too much
taxpayer money booking last minute regional flights to Wellington. But
you know, this is sort of playing out of it
like the Hunger Games, and it's unhelpful. I guess having
a media that is less leaning and really speculating and
focusing more on those personality politics and I guess quite
(23:26):
a good distraction for the unionists and labor supporters because
they know that they're disintegrating into irrelevance. And of course
we've got those other parties on the far left serving
up another socialist smager board smagas board to Jamie. So
again we need to move on from personality politics and
actually just get the country moving, because at the end
(23:47):
of the day, this is not the captain of the
All Blacks or a host of a TV show. This
is a person that will be running a team to
run the country. So again that's really important that we
actually just knuckle down and do the work.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Jamie, this is meat Mattters week here on the country.
You're going you want to talk about the four hundred
dollar lamb Nathan Guy. I don't know whether you heard
what he said. He said, don't hold your breath.
Speaker 9 (24:10):
Well, it's really interesting, Jamie. There was actually some pricing
coming from one of the Southland sale yards. Was that
last week or the week before that had a four
hundred dollars mark on lambs, and I would suggest they're
probably more towards a hogitt than a lamb. But the
end of the day, it wasn't that long ago we
were talking about a lofty goal of one hundred and
fifty dollars. But you know, I do agree with with
(24:33):
market commentary around. We don't want prices to get too high,
but what we do want is stability in all of
those areas you know, lamb, beef, mut and wool, dairy,
venison and hopefully for the arable guys as well at
some point in the future Jamie. But you know, real
positive and it's making a lot of those other discussions
in terms of cash flow and the sheef and beef
(24:55):
sector a lot more I guess palatable and valid. So
it's really good to boats well for the future, Jamie.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Rick bats and bouquets, you've got some to hand out.
Speaker 9 (25:06):
Oh well, it's a really pleased to see Tama Potacker
and the Minister for Conservation announce another million, nine million
dollars for wilding pine control. So just to just I guess,
to revalidate the issue here, it's two million heat days
have already been infestated by wilding pines, and it's creeping
in at ninetieth and nine ninety thousand hitties a year
(25:30):
of you know, of land, food producing land that's been destroyed,
so actually potentially a worse problem than the creeping carbon
forestry problem. I just hope this funding goes to the
right place, not just an Edmond trail, but really good
to up the anty on weeds and hopefully peace as well.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
MONDI Jane. Is one million dollars enough, I know it's
going for people on the grounds, maybe even the volunteer
workforce and that. But they've already announced the funding by
my reckoning the story I read yesterday what one hundred
and nine million, So in terms of proportionality, it's not
a huge additional contribution.
Speaker 9 (26:07):
No, But I think this is also targeting areas that
hadn't been I guess taken into account before. So hopefully
that means that you know that the locals and the
landowners and the and the lease hold people in those
areas will actually have more of a say in terms
of where that goes as well, Jamie. So again the
drop in the bucket, but certainly in the right direction
in terms of where we need to be heading with
(26:28):
weeds and peace and speaking of peace, the brick back
that I did want to give out Jamie or is
believe it or not, to the Green Party, they've clearly
been smoking too much Golden Bay Hay. Once again, I
see they want to give specifically give Maria's two point
four billion dollars to upgrade. Now, nothing wrong with that
in itself, but you know that they've actually said that
(26:49):
the Mariza they do all the heavy lifting and emergency
situations for our communities, and you know that that in
terms of that assuming that special treatment versus you know,
there's lines clud and rugby clubs and schools and rural
halls that do plenty all times of the year, including
in emergencies, and many of our areas don't have amrise.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
So we've just got to be very very careful.
Speaker 9 (27:10):
That again we're not I guess diverging off to give
special treatment to areas, and I guess coming towards election,
there will be lots of lollly scramble handouts and over
promises but let's just get back to the basics, you know,
the big three infrastructure, health, and education, and that's who
gets my vote, Jamie, in terms of just sticking to
the basics. And ideally, imagine if we were big enough
(27:32):
to come up with a bipartisan agreement for a twenty
year plan and then they could just fight around the
fringes of everything else. But gosh, that would be a great,
great place to be in, Jamie, and much more interesting
than any sort of leadership battles out on the front.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Jane Smith, North Itago. Thanks for your time, good luck
on the sheep yess this afternoon.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Thanks Jamie.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
The best of the country with Rubbo Bag.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agri business experience grow with Rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Welcome back to the country. We're not mincing our words
on the show today. It's Meat Matters week and here's
an expert in the field. She is Rabobanks red meat
expert and from my poor pun on mincing words, Jen Corkran,
let's talk about mince. It used to be the domain
of the price conscious no longer.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
Good afternoon, Jamie. Yes, mintce is more expensive right than
it's ever been. And I think we might have touched
on this sometime last year when we had a check
here too, and you know, things are still still moving
in that space, and it is really driven by that
demand for trim, which is mince essentially out of the East,
which is a well sung story. But you know, we've
(28:43):
gone up another dollar a kilo for mince since about
October last year, sitting it just over twenty four dollars
a kilo on Everich, so not cheap at the supermarket
Jamien as you say it was, you know, or historically
it's been a real good go to red meat option
because it is very versatile in terms of what you
can do with it. But now it's not really that
(29:03):
cheap option. And if we look back to you know,
twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, we were sitting between fourteen and
sixteen dollars a kilo. So that's more than just food inflation.
It's driven by those export prices and the competition that
that creates for US as an exporting nation.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
So how are consumers changing their buying habits because let's
face it, or lambs not cheap, far from it, but
we do have those two cheaper options chicken or pork.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
Yeah, that's right. So chicken and pork are kind of
steady as she goes, Jamie. You know, they've increase slowly
over over many years, but they are the cheaper protensions.
And I think what happens, you know, when we start
to see the red meat prices rise, is that you know,
consumers will often start to switch down to some of
these cheaper white proteins like pork and chicken breast, which
(29:52):
are sort of sitting close to that fifteen to seventeen
dollars pe kilo range in the supermarket for example. But
the other thing that happens is it's also expensive. If
we think about it in food service, with your quick
service restaurants such as McDonald's KFC, they end up kind
of offering up more chicken options, more budget options for consumers,
(30:14):
and so without realizing that, we'll see you know, more
and more of that being consumed because it's expensive for
everyone in the supply chain and then the value chain
when it comes to that consumer side. So it's just
an interesting time with our wonderful red meat price for
our farmers. But the slow on effects that we might
start to see from those high prices on the consumption side.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So Jen Corkram with U Surrabobanks red meat expert. Yeah, Look,
this is great news on the export front, not so
flash at all on the home front. And I think
you refer to it as sticker shock when you go
along to the supermarket and you see mints at twenty
four bucks a quilo, When, though, Jen, are we going
to see like price resistance and consumer or the consumer
(31:00):
changing his or her behavior at what price point? Does
this happen? Particularly in the US?
Speaker 8 (31:06):
Yeah, And this is the question, isn't it globally right now?
Because rid meat prices are really high across the globe
because of this whole you know, lack of supply situation.
But interestingly, in the United States, Jamie, the demand has
actually been holding up for beef, especially a lot firmer
and stronger than what you know, we might have expected. So,
(31:27):
you know, my colleagues in the US have talked about
the fact that the US beef demand has been a
lot more resilient than what you know, we may have
expected so far, at least even with these record prices,
And that kind of tells us that consumers aren't quite
kind of walking away from beef at this point, but
they're kind of changing within the category what they're purchasing,
so looking to more of that burger kind of thing,
(31:47):
which is great for his own because it's that important
trim that goes in with their ferny meat that they
need for burgers, but also choosing different categrees within the
value of those other cuts as well. So that's ending
in the But you know, one thing we often talk
about is that high prices can be the cure for
high prices. So at some stage, you know, we think
(32:08):
that there will be a point where the consumer says,
you know, this is this is getting enough for me,
and that might just naturally start to let things level out.
Remembering that we are at farmgate price level sitting anywhere
between fifty and sort of sixty or seventy percent above
the five year average across all cohorts of kettle right now,
so we've got a you know, we're at a high point,
(32:28):
and even if things come back a little bit, Jamie,
I think it's still pretty positive of the next you know,
a couple of years at least in terms of that
global demand for beef.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Jen Corchran out of Rabobank, out of Hamilton. Thanks for
your time today on the Country. Always appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Thanks Amy, the best of the country with Rabobank.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Choose the bank with one hundred and twenty years global
agribusiness experience.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Grow with Rabobank.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
She is Labour's agriculture spokesperson and I'm is Joe Luxton
and I've been waiting for months and months and months
for Joe's agg policy. She's been a bit croc recently. Joe,
I think you've been avoiding me. But I think perhaps
on second thoughts, your tactic you're and Chippy's tactic of
doing nothing might pay off. Just let the opposition self destruct.
(33:14):
Maybe that's a master plan. Was that the master plan
all along?
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Oh? Can you tell me? It's always nice to talk
to you and I'd never ever avoid talking to you,
you know that. Great mate. Know there's been no master
plan here, but yeah, things have been pretty interesting in
the political world at this the last couple of days,
haven't they.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Indeed they have. Do you buy into my theory? And
I've been thinking about this for the last month six
weeks that if the Opportunity Party gets past five percent,
and you'd have to say now that every chance of
doing that, it is game over. It will be a
change of government and will have the four headed monster
or will we or is Chippy just going to kick
to party Mari to touch.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Hey, Well it's an interesting idea there. But we're campaigning
on two ticks labor. If people want to change the
government and we're asking for the two ticks for labor.
We're not too sure what will happen with other parties.
You never know until election and then those of coalition
type agreements and conversations will happen then.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
So I hate to ask Joe Luxton, but when are
you actually coming out with your ag policy because I
think your manifesto is going to be released very shortly
before the election because we're in the countdown mode now,
so I'm really interested to you know, what you're going
to do about emission's targets, what you're going to do
about agriculture and the ets. So those are questions that
(34:37):
I want.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
Answered, Yeah, and they will be answered in due course, Damy,
I promise you. You know, the manifesto you know will
be coming out soon. But it's not different to any
other election cycle. Often policies aren't released until that we're
the campaign a proper period, so you know, it's not
too to similar to other campaigns where we haven't released
(35:00):
policy yet, and we haven't released all policy yet either.
I mean there's been several policies that have announced. You know,
small business policies are really great policy. Lots of other
good points.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Wow, I hang on, Joe, it's a really great policy
unless you want to buy some new plant or equipment.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
Yeah, but not every farmer and every business buys new
plant and your equipment every year. So this is a
good policy. That is a good policy because it increases
you know it right, We increase it from one ten
thousand straight away, so rather than waiting to do for
it to appreciate over time. And it's got to be
a good thing for small business as well as the
(35:40):
part where you know, if you have turnover of ten
million dollars or less and big companies are going to
have to pay you with fifteen working days if they
owe you twenty five thousand dollars or less, and it's got.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
To be Yeah, no, I agree with you. In a
utopian sort of world, that would be wonderful. Get the
big companies who do use often smaller businesses as their
own banks, but it's going to be almost impossible to police.
I would have thought it's pie in the sky sort
of policy, isn't it.
Speaker 7 (36:10):
No?
Speaker 5 (36:10):
I disagree.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Why how are you going to make I don't know,
let's just throw out of Fonterra. How are you going
to make Fonterra pay people within fifteen days their suppliers.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Because these sorts of things are going to be legislated for.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
I still don't buy it.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
Well, we knew he just going to have to wait
and see, aren't you.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Jamie Hey, Joe Luxton always good to catch up and
you know, just give me a ring, text me as
soon as you've got some egg policy and I'm going
to take you straight to air.
Speaker 5 (36:38):
Sounds good, all right, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Best of the Country with Rubbo Bag. Choose the bank
with one hundred and twenty years global agribusiness experience, Grow
with Rubbobag.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Joe Luxton rapping the best of the country. Good morning,
My name is Jamie McKay, coming to you from our
Auckland studio. He's got a bit of a North Island
tour going on next week. Looking forward to catching up
with the good folks of Taranga, Hamilton and Fong Ray.
It's been a really interesting week. Actually, next week will
be really interesting on the country because I'm talking to
(37:20):
my favorite guy from Rabobank. He's Michael every He's the
Thailand based global strategist. I call him a bit of
an alarmist. I want what he makes of the world
at the moment. We will be chatting to him on
Tuesday's show. Really looking forward to his up or his
geopolitical update on the environment and the economy. So that's
(37:42):
on next Tuesday's show. No doubt you'll hear it again
next Saturday morning on the Best of the Country. Well,
talking about the best of the country. In some ways
we saw the worst of the country this week with
the political shenanigans that were going on. Personally myself, without
getting too political on it, I'm pleased to see Christopher
Luxe staying in the job. You can say what you
(38:02):
want about the bloke, but as far as rural New Zealand,
the primary sector farming and farmers go, he's doing a
pretty good job. We'll catch you back at the same time,
same place next Saturday morning on the Best of the Country.
Get the jos sent after I right way said.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
They want hands.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
This's mill mess up by myself, don't I go?
Speaker 2 (38:39):
You wear I mean the shell in deeping every week
If you couldn't tell, they said, same one missing.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Joins a milk it suit to break out into baby.
(39:11):
You blame me, baby, I'll blame you. I that ain't
to sill.
Speaker 6 (39:19):
He ain't like I can make this kind of mess
out by myself, talking act like you won't help me
pull that bottle of the.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Shell he did every weekend. If you couldn't tell, they said,
see what makes a train?
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Or had some mail now
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