May 11, 2025 • 5 mins
Queenstown farmer and anti-wilding pines campaigner - but should we leave them there to sequester carbon? He’s also a leading dog trial commentator and judge who previews the NZ Champs coming up at Hanmer Springs later in the month.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's lighten things up a little on the country today.
Our next guest is called Grant Disaster McMaster for good reason.
He is well. He runs close spurned station Grant just
on the other side of Queenstown, on the Glenorky side
of Queenstown. But is it true that the only thing
you farm there, my friend is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Rich Americans, Jamie and good after and everybody. No, no,
we don't have too many rich Americans are all still
in America. But no, we have a few overseas owners.
But to be fair, out of the twenty seven owners here,
the majority of New Zealanders and Australians.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Well, you've got a working station there, and you've got
a block over by the Hills golf course as well.
You're living the dream. You must be mixing with the
risk risks, rich and famous. Should I say, a far
cry from the days when you used to be a
whity kaka farmer and then running the Waikaia Hotel.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, And as Ken McCrae, the former Greenvale Horseman in
South and Rugby Captain needs to say, the life of
the traveling soul salesman was never easy.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I'm going to talk dog trials with you because you
are to be fair a leading dog trial judge and commentator.
We've got the New Zealand Champs coming up later in
the month in hand, Miss Springs. But you took umbrage
at a text we got on the show last Thursday
from a guy by the name of Chris, and I'll
just read it out again for the listener's sake. Chris
(01:20):
texted and said, I wonder if anyone has done the
calculations on the net effect of planting pine trees on
one hand and shopping down millions of wild pines on
the other. And Chris went on to say, I reckon
wild and pines look cool and quite natural in our landscape.
I disagree with Chris on that one, But does he
(01:41):
have a fair point?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Oh no, he doesn't. Sorry, Chris, I'd like you to
come down to Queenstown and I give you a better
an hour of boredom and you'd certainly know where warren
pines stand. Am I and am I book here? But look, basically,
you know, let's uncontrolled? Was it they reckon? There was?
In two decads wardens will destroy probably five hundred thousand
hectares of land, and that productive potential was seven hundred
(02:06):
and fifty million dollars, so you know, they are a
terrible plight on the country. You know, they remember they
were they were put in back in the forties and
fifties to try and stop erosion. Big things with them,
you know that forty nineteen forties, fifties, the catchment boards
and the lands and survey and likes. Those things that
are introduced in the Zealand. They just go like topsy.
So you know, the hell of a virus, the bio diversity,
(02:30):
the terrible on indemic species. The thing is that you know,
they take so much out of the ground and underneath
the ground it's just where they are, nothing grows. It's
just like a nuclear bomber, is it. So you know,
the fight against wilden stepped up in twenty twenty Jamie
and we had there was the government to the MPI
gave one hundred million dollars to try and start getting
on top of these things. And now that that is
(02:51):
now back to ten million dollars year nationwide. So it's
starting against thunder and they just you know, they're pun control.
They say they will decimate at the end of the
New Zealand's environment a year. So you know, we've got enough.
We're struggling to feed our sols now and everything with farming,
so you know they're they're just so out of control.
And you know there's seventy management management units within New
(03:14):
Zealand a deal with Wardens, and nationwide this year only
thirty one of those will be funded under the National Management.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, and I get all of that grant, but I'll
bear a contrarian here because I think Chris's point was
when you know, back in your home province of Southland
and Otago, you look at some of the land and
you're well aware of this that is going into carbon farming.
Some of it previously had been arable land, cropping land.
I also know of a really good north facing hill
(03:43):
country that is going to pines. It's wrong. Are widening
pines any worse than that? Which is the biggest crime?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, the less of the evils, Jamie. I just look
at our place here. You know, we're still trying to
farm and we spend fifty thousand dollars a year on them,
trying to get the eradication of wild and pines. And
as for the look of the country, as Chris said,
he likes them, well, if you know, we've got beautiful
natural landscapes across the Lakey of Wilder Peak, Cecil Peak,
Mount Nicholas. They are iconic New Zealand landscapes. If Chris
(04:14):
wants to see wild and pines, go to Espon, Colorado
because that's where the buggers come from.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I'm against wilding pines and I'm against carbon farming on
good productive land. New Zealand Dog Trial Champs coming up
in Canterbury, hen Miss Springs later in the month. Are
you heading up?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
No, I'm not, Jamie. I'm I'm heading over seas to
site sought the wild and pines out in Wales. So
I'll have a breathe and then and I'm not heading up.
But the Islands, the North Islands have just finished up
in tay Happy and on the twenty fifth of May
they start. The South Islands in New Zealand started at
Hamna Spring. So there's one hundred and fifty one dog
(04:51):
trail clubs within New Zealand and that's divide in the
thirteen centers, so they'll be all representative. And yeah it'll
go for a week and it'll be a pretty good
a good shop there. They're great courses and those guys
that they will be running hot from the North Island
will come down. But they all start, they all start
off scratch again and it's anybody's show.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You've come to this show well informed as always, Grant
Disaster McMaster, safe travels.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Thanks Jamie
Let's lighten things up a little on the country today.
Our next guest is called Grant Disaster McMaster for good reason.
He is well. He runs close spurned station Grant just
on the other side of Queenstown, on the Glenorky side
of Queenstown. But is it true that the only thing
you farm there, my friend is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Rich Americans, Jamie and good after and everybody. No, no,
we don't have too many rich Americans are all still
in America. But no, we have a few overseas owners.
But to be fair, out of the twenty seven owners here,
the majority of New Zealanders and Australians.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Well, you've got a working station there, and you've got
a block over by the Hills golf course as well.
You're living the dream. You must be mixing with the
risk risks, rich and famous. Should I say, a far
cry from the days when you used to be a
whity kaka farmer and then running the Waikaia Hotel.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, And as Ken McCrae, the former Greenvale Horseman in
South and Rugby Captain needs to say, the life of
the traveling soul salesman was never easy.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I'm going to talk dog trials with you because you
are to be fair a leading dog trial judge and commentator.
We've got the New Zealand Champs coming up later in
the month in hand, Miss Springs. But you took umbrage
at a text we got on the show last Thursday
from a guy by the name of Chris, and I'll
just read it out again for the listener's sake. Chris
(01:20):
texted and said, I wonder if anyone has done the
calculations on the net effect of planting pine trees on
one hand and shopping down millions of wild pines on
the other. And Chris went on to say, I reckon
wild and pines look cool and quite natural in our landscape.
I disagree with Chris on that one, But does he
(01:41):
have a fair point?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Oh no, he doesn't. Sorry, Chris, I'd like you to
come down to Queenstown and I give you a better
an hour of boredom and you'd certainly know where warren
pines stand. Am I and am I book here? But look, basically,
you know, let's uncontrolled? Was it they reckon? There was?
In two decads wardens will destroy probably five hundred thousand
hectares of land, and that productive potential was seven hundred
(02:06):
and fifty million dollars, so you know, they are a
terrible plight on the country. You know, they remember they
were they were put in back in the forties and
fifties to try and stop erosion. Big things with them,
you know that forty nineteen forties, fifties, the catchment boards
and the lands and survey and likes. Those things that
are introduced in the Zealand. They just go like topsy.
So you know, the hell of a virus, the bio diversity,
(02:30):
the terrible on indemic species. The thing is that you know,
they take so much out of the ground and underneath
the ground it's just where they are, nothing grows. It's
just like a nuclear bomber, is it. So you know,
the fight against wilden stepped up in twenty twenty Jamie
and we had there was the government to the MPI
gave one hundred million dollars to try and start getting
on top of these things. And now that that is
(02:51):
now back to ten million dollars year nationwide. So it's
starting against thunder and they just you know, they're pun control.
They say they will decimate at the end of the
New Zealand's environment a year. So you know, we've got enough.
We're struggling to feed our sols now and everything with farming,
so you know they're they're just so out of control.
And you know there's seventy management management units within New
(03:14):
Zealand a deal with Wardens, and nationwide this year only
thirty one of those will be funded under the National Management.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, and I get all of that grant, but I'll
bear a contrarian here because I think Chris's point was
when you know, back in your home province of Southland
and Otago, you look at some of the land and
you're well aware of this that is going into carbon farming.
Some of it previously had been arable land, cropping land.
I also know of a really good north facing hill
(03:43):
country that is going to pines. It's wrong. Are widening
pines any worse than that? Which is the biggest crime?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, the less of the evils, Jamie. I just look
at our place here. You know, we're still trying to
farm and we spend fifty thousand dollars a year on them,
trying to get the eradication of wild and pines. And
as for the look of the country, as Chris said,
he likes them, well, if you know, we've got beautiful
natural landscapes across the Lakey of Wilder Peak, Cecil Peak,
Mount Nicholas. They are iconic New Zealand landscapes. If Chris
(04:14):
wants to see wild and pines, go to Espon, Colorado
because that's where the buggers come from.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I'm against wilding pines and I'm against carbon farming on
good productive land. New Zealand Dog Trial Champs coming up
in Canterbury, hen Miss Springs later in the month. Are
you heading up?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
No, I'm not, Jamie. I'm I'm heading over seas to
site sought the wild and pines out in Wales. So
I'll have a breathe and then and I'm not heading up.
But the Islands, the North Islands have just finished up
in tay Happy and on the twenty fifth of May
they start. The South Islands in New Zealand started at
Hamna Spring. So there's one hundred and fifty one dog
(04:51):
trail clubs within New Zealand and that's divide in the
thirteen centers, so they'll be all representative. And yeah it'll
go for a week and it'll be a pretty good
a good shop there. They're great courses and those guys
that they will be running hot from the North Island
will come down. But they all start, they all start
off scratch again and it's anybody's show.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You've come to this show well informed as always, Grant
Disaster McMaster, safe travels.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Thanks Jamie
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