The Country 04/09/26: Neville Clark talks to Hamish McKay

Neville Clark joins the show from Gisborne to discuss strong livestock market conditions, the start of the spring bull sale season, and the opportunities emerging from significant vineyard removals across the region. He shares his outlook on farming through changing weather patterns, highlights the resilience and adaptability of East Coast farmers, and reflects on a busy rural events calendar, including rodeo season, fundraising for the rescue helicopter, and a successful Daffodil Day campaign that showcased the generosity of the local farming community.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But first we head to Gizzy, to Rafferty, East Coast,
Poverty Bay, all those things, all of the above, where
we're joined by Neville Clark.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good afternoon, Neville.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
G'day, Hamish, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah, no, fighting fit, thank you. Very, very good indeed.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I mean, lots going on in your part of the world,
but I guess you're sort of getting into the spring
bull sales underway?

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah, yep, we are. They've started them in the Waikato.
Cam Heggy does a lot of sales there for PTG
Rights up there, and I crank into it next week. And, yeah,
you know, I mean, the market's in good shape. I mean,
the opportunity to mate yearling cattle now with specifically bred
short-chested low-birth bulls is a good one, and it's an
opportunity for a lot of farmers to take advantage of that. So, yeah, no,

(00:47):
I think, yeah, looking forward to it. Yep.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
I guess the general stock sales vibe is good.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
At the moment too, and that all flows through.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
But there's a couple of things that are happening, particularly
in your area and down Marlborough way as well, with
the land use change. I mean, these vines coming out,
what's happening there?

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yeah, no, we've had a major number of vines out.
I'm not sure of the percentage, Hamish, but it's getting up.
It could be 60% or 70% of our vines on
Gisborne have come out. and, you know, we've all of
a sudden got 1,000 hectares of beautiful flat land available.
I mean, the quandary is, you know, cropping's just a

(01:27):
bit dodgy in places. But, I mean, you know, 30
years ago, we didn't have a lot of grass species
that could handle dry. We've now got your chicories, your sorghums.
You know, there's a lot more options, and I think,
you know, crisis is another invention, and our farmers up here,
we'll work our way around it, whether we provide, you know...

(01:47):
baled feed, I'm not sure, but, you know, or do those,
you know, those summer lambs, which are always a wee
bit tricky, but, I mean, at the end of the day,
you know, you've just got to work harder and make
it work.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
How many hectares did you say?

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, there's about a thousand hectares on the flat. All
of a sudden, it's either available or up for sale.
And Devon have been a big player here, but, I mean,
they're virtually all gone, plus a lot of other, you know, long-time,
long-time grape growers too. I mean, Some guys that you
thought have been right at the very bottom are 100% out. It's, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Remarkable.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
If you want posts, come to Gisborne.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
And El Nino, of course, you know, and I think
the forecasting around this and the predictability is.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Far more reliable now.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
So I guess you're seeing cockies farmers are planning with
this very much in mind.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Oh, very much so. I mean, it's slammed us at
the media, you know, come hell or high weather. It
is only 20% of our weather pattern. But, I mean,
it is in the back of our minds. And you're
just watching things. I mean, we're getting quite a bit
of wind. The days are good. We're getting a bit
of rain too. But, I mean, I guess you've got
to have a dollar each way, be light on your

(03:06):
feet and make the right moves. The good thing about it, Hamish,
is things are still selling well. I mean, our lamb
schedules are $ 12 or better. The cattle schedules, you know, $ 10.
Our store markets, you know, they're still very tradable. I mean,
the options are still good, and you're not going to
take a flogging by selling, you know. So, you know,

(03:26):
it's really positive for myself.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, positive all around.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
Now, of course, one of the other great passengers of
your life is the old rodeo.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
You know, what's going on in that world?

Speaker 3 (03:39):
No, well, we crank into it at Winchester and Methven
at Labour Weekend, and they've got a pretty full season
ahead of us. We've had some young teams go to
Australia and compete over there. We've had some in America.
So it's really good. It's like all our, you know,
like our sports. You know, there's plenty of things available
in universities around the world. So, I mean, you know,

(04:01):
we Kiwis are good at most things, and cowboying is
a good one for us. So, yeah, so that's... Yeah,
so we're looking forward to that, the start of that,
you know, which is good rural entertainment for a lot
of people. The big thing for me coming up, the
next three big items really, is the Gisborne A &
P show, which is a classic event for us. But

(04:23):
before that, we've got to cut the helicopter dues, rescue
helicopter dues. And Gisborne, we have a wonderful due here.
We raise a lot of money, you know, 80, 90,
100,000 for the night, all for the rescue chopper. And
this year we've got one, Bailey's in Hawke's Bay, putting
together one first time. And it's a Q & A

(04:44):
session with some of the greats, Ian Kirkpatrick, David Kirk,
Tane Randall, Darren Shan. And it's a Q & A night.
We've got a bit of a charity auction to put
money into the chopper, into the rescue chopper. So, you know,
there are three big items that, you know, set spring
alight for me. And, yeah, we roll into what will

(05:04):
be a great summer season.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
And you know the good thing about Ty Rafferty and
the Gizmen? People are pretty social, eh, Neville? They enjoy
a night out like.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
That, right? Oh, do we what? I mean, Christ, we're
a long time in the box. So, yeah, I mean,
you've got to make it happen. And that's what we
do on those nights. And just another thing, we had
Cancer Day, Daffodil Day here last Friday. We had 331
sheep donated by farmers. We raised $ 91, 000. They went to auction.

(05:39):
We raised $ 91, 000. We had one farmer donated 55 magnificent money,
Rondale lambs. They made $ 310. And in total donation, Dav
Meat and Hastings, they bought them. I mean, how good
is that? $ 90, 000 from, you know, just so awesome.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, no, fantastic, Neville. That's just brilliant. Great community.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
And, look, on a voluntary basis, I'd be more than
happy to come down and help you out with anything
if you ever need it. There's probably a local squash
farmer I could bunk down with, or if he won't
have me, I could go and stay with me mate, Kirky,
if you get him back from South Africa. I think
he's enjoying his time over there at the moment. He'd
be like God over.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
There, wouldn't he, being part of the 1976 team, I reckon. Well,
he is.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
He's got that, he has got that way about him,
and it's always lovely to see him. He supports a
lot of things up here, as you well know, but
he just brings that aura into the room, and, I mean,
he's just, well, he's not quite as fit as he was,
but he could still bloody go pretty good, old Kirky,
and as long as it went with him, no, we'd
just be lapping that up.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, he's nearly, apparently he's nearly 80, Kirky, right? But
my wife still goes weak at the knees. But anyway,
there you go.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Rightio, mate. Good to chat, Neville. Thank you very much.