The Country 01/07/25: Steve Wilkins talks to Jamie Mackay

We catch up with a Northern Southland arable farmer on day two of the annual FAR Conference being held at Lincoln University.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Another person that was good to catch up with last
week in christ Church is the vice president. I think
that's his title of the Foundation for Arable Research, Steve Wilkins,
Good Northern Southland, A like myself. That's your title, isn't it, Steve.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
That's right? Yeah, thanks Jamie.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Good to have you on the show today and the
reason we've got you on. And I get accused of
a lot of things on this show. One of them
is from your mate block A Drysdale down on Balfa
of not having enough arable farmers on. So I'm going
to give you a crack today because your two day
conference finishes up today at Lincoln and the theme for
your conference, Steve Wilkins, is show me the money. And

(00:38):
it would be fair to say that arable farmers probably
haven't made as much money as I don't know, dairy
or beef farmers or key we for it growers in
the past year.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, thanks Jamie, and yeah that's probably right. I guess
you know, most of the sectors of sentiment have a
lifted income over the last few months. Terrible guys are
looking looking to share a bit of that. I suppose
you know, the costs have increased a bit over the
last few years. You know, we saw a bit of
a spike in prices with the Ukraine War three or
four years ago. That pushed the grain prices high, but

(01:09):
it also pushed the input prices that were the costs
up as well. So grain prices sort of settled a bit,
but some of those input costs heaven so much. So
we're a small industry, you know. I think last week
there's some numbers put up three hundred and fifty thousand, sorry,
three hundred and fifty million worth of export dollars, which
is is not that significant when you start comparing them,

(01:31):
and that with the red meat or with the dairy industry,
but you know, we do you know, those industries and
add a couple of billion to the New Zealand economy too,
So we can't forget about that.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
And the farable let me try that again. The Foundation
for Arable Research Combine Harvester. That's such an English sort
of word, isn't it. Workshops You actually one of the
big winners at the Penns Awards last week as well.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we were fortunately come over with
it Technology and Innovation Award there and it was around
a project that the fire team rolled out over the
last couple of years with combine workshops around the country
setting up getting increased productivity or getting the best out
of the combine harvester. You know, there's a significant piece

(02:19):
of investment for any farm and for somebody to replace
a one with a bit of scale new Now you know,
you're into seven figures. It's over a million dollars so
and it sits in the shed for nine months of
the year.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
You must have been wrapped, are you? Arable farmers? To
see your chief executive of the at the Foundation for
Arable Research, Allison Stewart become a Dame Companion in the
King's Birthday Honors and it was so good to see
someone who was kind of at the coal face and
agriculture being honored. She's just a wonderfully humble woman.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
It was great Jamie, you know, she said, a long
time in the industry and to see that recognition is
really good, and particularly at the stage in her career
now where she's just stepping down from far and it
was great recognition for the arable industry. But across you know,
across all the agriculture really I give yeah, it's wonderful

(03:11):
to see and she's she's very humbled by it, I think,
And you know, there's obviously been a bit of discussion
around the here over the last couple of days and
she's coming to terms of it. But it wasn't something
she certainly goes looking for, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
That was well deserved. Are you you're part of the
the I was going to say the empire, the Wilkins Empire.
That's not very fair, is it. You're part of a
very large skull arable cropping operation in Southland, the Wilkins family.
Perhaps New Zealand's best known arable farmer at the moment
is our Special Agricultural Trade Envoy haimas Shma, who we

(03:44):
spoke to recently, who he will no doubt be at
the conference.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Is he speaking, Yes, he, as he spoke yesterday, gave
a bit of an insight into into the global goings
on and for the arable and what that means. But yeah,
and some of those challenges that you know you're seeing
us faced with here, you know, they're not uncommon across
across the world as well, you know, and not just

(04:07):
a terrible but you know, in all sectors of agriculture really,
you know, everybody seems to be facing facing the same challenges.
But yeah Hamish, yeah, I spoke yesterday, had to catch
up with them last night and actually set episode them
this morning too, So.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, Steve Welkins, thanks for some of your time from
a Lincoln University of course for the far annual conference.
Was good to see Dame Allison Stewart, as I said,
recognized last night at your conference dinner. Enjoy the rest
of your conference which winds up this afternoon.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well do you think you very much for the for
the opportunity. Jami