The Country 08/07/25: John McOviney talks to Jamie Mackay

Waitomo sheep and beef farmer (and Steelfort chief executive) who reflects on some great prices for weaner calves and store lambs.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's a Whitomo sheep and beef farmer. We keep an
eye on a good eye on too. I might add
here on the country John McAvennie. He's also the chief
executive of Steel Fort. He's also an outspoken critic of
left wing politics. I'm not sure if I'll let him
off the chain on that one or not. But John,
I want to start with your calf and store lamb prices.

(00:20):
Geep that we talk about yellow gold with butter, but
what about black gold? The Angus calves.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, we sold these. We sold three hundred calves or
two hundred and ninety six calves in in Taupo last Thursday.
It took calves made thirteen hundred and seventy five backs
and the sins perkido is probably more relevant at six
dollars ninety ykilo, you know, whereas last year it was

(00:47):
four backs or thereabouts. You know, when you're getting thirty
one hundred and fifty backs a calf, and we've kept
our top one hundred and fifty calves, so what they
would have made is probably fifteen hundred dollars. So you know,
it's fantastic money. You know when you when you're selling
three hundred cabs and banking four hundred three, and you know,
they're making pretty good money. And you know, I look

(01:08):
at it on the basis that we put all the
time and effort into it, and the guys out there
and we're awing these calves. But when they walked into
the roster room last Thursday, they looked fantastic. And normally
we were going to hang onto these caves a bit
long of it. You know. Our agents said to me,
you need to get in there. Well, this money's around,
and that's what we did.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Well it looks like it's going to stay around for
two or three years as well, due to the beef shortage,
especially in the US. So you're selling Wiena calves at
thirteen hundred and seventy five dollars. You're selling store lambs
at one hundred and sixty bucks and these were what
thirty five kilos live. Wait, John mckavany, what are you
doing with all your money?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
You're trying to run a farm recently, Jamie. But it's
not cheap, you know, with wages, and you know, I
mean I was saying to the guys the other day,
you know, we were doing some fencing and they'd left
a few batons around the place, and as I drove passed,
I said to my grand Saint Greb those batons there,
and he's you know, and they just were there. You know,
I can remember when they were ninety eight cents. Now

(02:09):
they're two dollars twenty. So you know, it's expensive to
run a property these days, not only with wages and
drench and fencing and wire and all that sort of thing.
So you know, I don't believe we're getting over paid
for what we do.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Okay, let me honest. Move on. Yesterday, when I was
talking to Antonio Watson, chief executive of ain Z, you
sent me a text. Didn't get a chance to read
it out read the age of eligibility for National super
and you said it should be seventy and not means tested.
That's easy for you, John, You've got plenty of money
and you're well on the wrong side of seventy. Do
you think you're being a bit tough?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah? Probably, Yeah, I probably agree with you, Jamie, it
should be probably sixty seven. But you know, people are
living longer now. I mean, you know, I made in
next year, so I look at the situation and say,
you know, I'm probably reasonably. You know, my father died
at seventy eight, so you know, people are living longer now.
You know the nutrition and you know people were walking

(03:08):
and doing exercise and you know that sort of thing.
So people are living a lot longer these days. So yeah,
I don't Yeah, generally, I feel but they should lift
that age up to sixty seven. I mean, I think
that model that David Seamour put out a little while ago,
you know, it was it was a complex, It was

(03:29):
there a couple of months every six months or something
that they were going to put it up. I thought
that was quite a good model to do. And it's
an incremental so it would be reasonably easy to institute.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, and faced on over a period of time. But
I'll give you two reasons why that will never happen.
Winston Peters. Anyhow, I want to furnish with you when
you're not moon well you're not moonlighting. I think you
do more farming than running steel for these days, Gay
if you're offsider and Palmi runs that. But if I
wanted to buy a cub Cadet right on Moack, could
I screw you for a good deal at the moment,
John it's the off season. You want to get rid

(04:00):
of some stock.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, Jamie, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.
We've got a lot of products sitting around at the moment,
and we're always open to a deal. And we did
really well at the field Days this year, and you
know from what I get though, you know they can identify,
you know, something like fifty sales directly being involved in
the Field Days, which is fantastic as far as we're concerned.

(04:23):
So always open to a deal, Jamie, I know you are.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
John and macer Ny. Always good to chew the fat
with you. Thanks for not getting me in trouble today
because I was a bit worried about you.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
See you later, okay, Cheer