September 6, 2026 • 4 mins
Lean on a Gate, Talk to a Mate founder on Mid Canterbury’s arable farming challenges and the palm kernel versus local grain debate. Plus, spring weather conditions, crop prospects, and workplace resilience training for rural communities.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's the man behind Lean on a Gate talk to
a mate. His name is Craig Wiggy Wiggins, based in mid-Canterbury. And, Wiggy,
they tell me, because I think you were clerking on
the old racecourse yesterday, that the Super El Nino and
the dry spring for the eastern parts of Canterbury, anyhow,
is taking its time getting there.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah, g'day, Jamie. Nice to have you back on here, mate.
I was a bit worried about you, but good to
see you still doing the job. Yeah, we've had a
lot of... North West is in Canterbury and there's been
a lot of work done with tractors and ploughs and
implements and stuff like that. But yesterday was definitely one
out of the box. It got to about four degrees
and I think we had about 35 mils of rain
(00:40):
while I was clarking in the afternoon at the Methan racetrack.
So it was pretty wet yesterday. So we are getting
a balance, but there has been some pretty strong winds
up till now too.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Now farming's ticking along quite nicely at the moment or
largely ticking along quite nicely at the moment. But the
poor old arable farmers, and you guys are the grain bowl,
the seed bowl of New Zealand in mid-Canterbury, are really struggling.
And I see that some of the arable farmers are saying,
probably quite rightly, why are dairy farmers using palm kernel
(01:10):
rather than locally grown grain?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think it comes down once again to costs and historics. Jamie,
you know, people have used palm kernel, I don't know,
for the last 20-odd years and find it as an
easy option. And grain, of course, even though it's locally grown,
is definitely more expensive. It's up to $ 200 a tonne
more expensive. But my daughter came home the other day
(01:33):
and said, Dad, I like pork ribs, but you're not
to buy any more pork ribs from Europe. I only
want New Zealand ones. So that's $ 5 or $ 6 a
pork rib side that I've got to pay. It's not
her money. But we have to make the choice of
what we're going to do. But when you get people
like David Clark and even the head of Federated Farmers
and that now talking about making– changes to the way
(01:54):
they run their arable farms to support the dairy industry
in other ways, the writing's on the wall that they
can't bang their head against the cost of palm kernel anymore.
They've actually got to look at making the changes that
make them competitive. Pretty tough decisions and obviously costly decisions.
If you've got a moral connection to the people that
(02:17):
supply you the grain, then maybe you can look at it.
But the big problem we have, Jamie, is the costs
of actually growing this grain. We've talked about that. David
Clark and some of those guys have certainly made no
bones about the fact of what diesel costs, what fertilizer costs,
what harvester costs there are now and transportation costs. So
a lot of that's been taken out of their hands.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Bit of a perfect storm for the poor old arable farmers,
to be perfectly honest. So as you say, crops are
in the ground, which is good. You've had some rain,
30 mils of rain. Never turned down rain in Canterbury,
I'd imagine, in September onwards.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No, it's great. And, you know, the soil temperature's just
starting to come along, and I have noticed the little
block that I've got now is really greening up, and
the robotic lawnmower is taking a hiding, trying to keep
up with it. So it means there is some growth
going on. But it's definitely one of those typical Canterbury springs,
like really strong, hot north-westers, and then a good dose
(03:17):
of rain. So, yes, I think we are looking at
some pretty good results for those that have got crops
in the ground now.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Good on them. OK, just very quickly to finish on,
lean on a gate, talk to a mate. What are
you up to?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Oh, we're busy, Jamie. It's been great. You know, we
did get the funding come through from MPI at the
Central District Field Days this year. We've done a lot
of trainings, workplace resilience trainings. The head of FarmStrong, Gerard Vaughan,
sort of said to us a little while ago, he said,
you guys, we do... We do wellness and well-being and
advertising and general awareness. You guys do workplace resilience and
(03:51):
training programs, and Rural Support Trust do all of the
support networks that they do. There's three really definite lanes,
and there's a fit for everybody. The milestone reports that
we've done for MPI show that what we're doing is
really working, and it's making some big cultural differences in
the workplaces, and people are seeking help and more help's available.
(04:12):
We just need to get some of those big companies
and bigger farms and even the smaller ones, we can
cater for the one-man bands as well to take up
these trainings. They're really cost-effective at the moment and get
on board with it because we can make that difference.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yep, mental health, it's all about the top two inches,
the top paddock. It's been good for my mental health
getting back on the tools today and even more so
chatting to you, Wiggy. Thanks for your time, mate.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Thanks, Jamie. Look forward to seeing you in the flesh.
Here's the man behind Lean on a Gate talk to
a mate. His name is Craig Wiggy Wiggins, based in mid-Canterbury. And, Wiggy,
they tell me, because I think you were clerking on
the old racecourse yesterday, that the Super El Nino and
the dry spring for the eastern parts of Canterbury, anyhow,
is taking its time getting there.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah, g'day, Jamie. Nice to have you back on here, mate.
I was a bit worried about you, but good to
see you still doing the job. Yeah, we've had a
lot of... North West is in Canterbury and there's been
a lot of work done with tractors and ploughs and
implements and stuff like that. But yesterday was definitely one
out of the box. It got to about four degrees
and I think we had about 35 mils of rain
(00:40):
while I was clarking in the afternoon at the Methan racetrack.
So it was pretty wet yesterday. So we are getting
a balance, but there has been some pretty strong winds
up till now too.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Now farming's ticking along quite nicely at the moment or
largely ticking along quite nicely at the moment. But the
poor old arable farmers, and you guys are the grain bowl,
the seed bowl of New Zealand in mid-Canterbury, are really struggling.
And I see that some of the arable farmers are saying,
probably quite rightly, why are dairy farmers using palm kernel
(01:10):
rather than locally grown grain?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think it comes down once again to costs and historics. Jamie,
you know, people have used palm kernel, I don't know,
for the last 20-odd years and find it as an
easy option. And grain, of course, even though it's locally grown,
is definitely more expensive. It's up to $ 200 a tonne
more expensive. But my daughter came home the other day
(01:33):
and said, Dad, I like pork ribs, but you're not
to buy any more pork ribs from Europe. I only
want New Zealand ones. So that's $ 5 or $ 6 a
pork rib side that I've got to pay. It's not
her money. But we have to make the choice of
what we're going to do. But when you get people
like David Clark and even the head of Federated Farmers
and that now talking about making– changes to the way
(01:54):
they run their arable farms to support the dairy industry
in other ways, the writing's on the wall that they
can't bang their head against the cost of palm kernel anymore.
They've actually got to look at making the changes that
make them competitive. Pretty tough decisions and obviously costly decisions.
If you've got a moral connection to the people that
(02:17):
supply you the grain, then maybe you can look at it.
But the big problem we have, Jamie, is the costs
of actually growing this grain. We've talked about that. David
Clark and some of those guys have certainly made no
bones about the fact of what diesel costs, what fertilizer costs,
what harvester costs there are now and transportation costs. So
a lot of that's been taken out of their hands.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Bit of a perfect storm for the poor old arable farmers,
to be perfectly honest. So as you say, crops are
in the ground, which is good. You've had some rain,
30 mils of rain. Never turned down rain in Canterbury,
I'd imagine, in September onwards.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No, it's great. And, you know, the soil temperature's just
starting to come along, and I have noticed the little
block that I've got now is really greening up, and
the robotic lawnmower is taking a hiding, trying to keep
up with it. So it means there is some growth
going on. But it's definitely one of those typical Canterbury springs,
like really strong, hot north-westers, and then a good dose
(03:17):
of rain. So, yes, I think we are looking at
some pretty good results for those that have got crops
in the ground now.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Good on them. OK, just very quickly to finish on,
lean on a gate, talk to a mate. What are
you up to?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Oh, we're busy, Jamie. It's been great. You know, we
did get the funding come through from MPI at the
Central District Field Days this year. We've done a lot
of trainings, workplace resilience trainings. The head of FarmStrong, Gerard Vaughan,
sort of said to us a little while ago, he said,
you guys, we do... We do wellness and well-being and
advertising and general awareness. You guys do workplace resilience and
(03:51):
training programs, and Rural Support Trust do all of the
support networks that they do. There's three really definite lanes,
and there's a fit for everybody. The milestone reports that
we've done for MPI show that what we're doing is
really working, and it's making some big cultural differences in
the workplaces, and people are seeking help and more help's available.
(04:12):
We just need to get some of those big companies
and bigger farms and even the smaller ones, we can
cater for the one-man bands as well to take up
these trainings. They're really cost-effective at the moment and get
on board with it because we can make that difference.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yep, mental health, it's all about the top two inches,
the top paddock. It's been good for my mental health
getting back on the tools today and even more so
chatting to you, Wiggy. Thanks for your time, mate.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Thanks, Jamie. Look forward to seeing you in the flesh.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!