The Country 04/09/25: Craig Hickman and Dean Rabbidge talk to Jamie Mackay

Today’s farmer panel pits Southland sheep and beef up against Canterbury dairy, ahead of Saturday’s Ranfurly Shield challenge.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's Farmer panel, and it's a good one. It's Canterbury
versus Southland Craig Dairyman, Hickman and mid Canterbury Dean Rabbage
out of Southland. Dean's a former Xander MacDonald Award winner
dairy man. What have you ever won.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Your praise?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Okay, other than my praise that's not worth much. But
have you won any farming titles?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
No? No, I've never never entered the farming awards. Also, no,
I am just a lowly, lonely farmer flogging away for
not for the glory mind.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
You of a lot most of the farmers I know.
You probably have one of the highest profiles on social media.
You certainly have an impact there.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, not always a good thing. But I have a
lookout for my next column coming out on Fonte divestment
needs to be in the papers in the next couple
of days.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
I'll look forward to that. What is your view on it?
Are you going to let us in on it?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Absolutely? I think it's a consolidation of the strategy that's
started with the fail at tip top and that's the
way to go. I'll be both in yet worked all
about putting more money and farm and po it no
matter what the payout. But it's about Vivid and not
farm gate nor.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Dean Rabbits joins us out of South and you've been
jumping up and down about carbon farming, Dean. But I said,
you're a sheepman beef farmer, and I thought you had
a dairy operation. Someone's texted in and said, I think
Dean has sold us dairy farm. Are you no longer
a cowkockie Dean?

Speaker 3 (01:29):
You know? And Jamie No, We took the whole biastraw
hats and went to attitude and I think I was
probably the only producer in the country that sold a
dairy farm and bought another sheep and beef farm at
the end of the season. So yeah, we're just purely
sheding beef.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Now why I would have thought dairy might have paid better.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Like it was just the size of it that you know,
there's only one hundred and eighty cows, and just with
inflationary pressures and regulation compliance costs sort of really needed
to be owner operated and their passion. There's really cheap
beef farming. So we capitalized on the positivity in the
sector at the moment and put on the market and
it's sold, So we're really happy with their their decisions.

(02:11):
So yeah, as where we were at.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Down in South and you've been leading the charge against
a couple of things, wind farms and carbon farming. What's
wrong with the wind farm?

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Oh, it's just an efficient way of producing electricity and
they just want to increase production by just increasing inefficiencies. Really,
and it's.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Got it's got to be. It's got to be better
for the planet than burning coal?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Is it? How they made? Where's all that come from?
It's all coming from China, but absolutely devastating to a
natural landscape. We've gone down here in South and we
keep going on about how important tourism is and so'll
wipe that off the face of the province. So yeah, nah,
it's just one of those things. Is a pretty angry
community down here on a couple of things, both wind
farms and carbon forestry. At the moment.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Are you seeing an abatement or reduction on the what's
going into carbon farming?

Speaker 3 (03:04):
No, unfortunately not. We've sort of had an acceleration of that.
Sins the government's big announcement on the fourth of December.
I was seeing some absolutely fantastic, stunning farms going into trees,
And it's just it's quite confronting when you drive around
the province and see see what's been planted in trees.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now, Craig Hickman up in mid Canterbury, well up from
where I am and where Deans is carbon farming an
issue in mid Canterbury. Your land's too valuable to plant
trees on, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
No, they're planting solar panels instead. The bag going on
but not too much in the way.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
And do you think solar panels are a blight on
the landscape like Dean thinks the turbines are.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
I think we've probably a better way we could do them.
I didn't see a recent proposal where solar panels to
be put on every public building like schools, where people
are there during the day, using the using the power.
I've got them on my cow sad Now I'll be
need to see how much that reduces the power of
all buy But I guess I'm a bit of a
bit of a ways. My least block, my least block,

(04:07):
I only got there that was going to turn into
ato a into a sole apartment, and I'm glad it didn't.
So yeah, I'm a bit conflicted on that. I think
there's there's there's better uses for the land. But you
can raise the panels and grave under them, then dual
use is probably a good way to go.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, okay, just just a rapid guys, because I'm short
of time. Surely being based in mid Canterbury, you're not
a Canterbury support. You've got to support Mid Canterbury and
the Heartland in the Heartland Cup or the Heartland the
Lahore and Meads Cup. Should I say, why why are
you cheering on the Cantabs against the Stags. Everyone wants
the Stags to one.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Oh everybody everybody's up of Canterbury wants Sta.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
And North and North of Canterbury as well.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Prosably north of Canterbury as well. But look, thank you
for keeping the field warm for a week for us.
We do appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Dan, you'll be going down there or are you going
to be flat out on the landing beat.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
We've got tickets purchase so we're going to try and
with it depending. Yeah. Look, I think it's just going
to this game or said it is going to be
huge really as they're not Canterbury going to kept to
come down not only played twenty three Stags players, but
they're going to have to front in front of ten
thousand people at Rugby Parking then the whole province. So
I'm hoping that Canterbury's going to go along Craig's lines

(05:22):
and not win anything in their life and go home
across the tablet in their legs.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Oh that's a good burn, Roddio, Lad's got to go there.
We go the farmer panel, Craig, Dairyman, Hickman and mid
Canterbury and Dean Ravage down on South