The Country 16/12/25: Peter Newbold talks to Jamie Mackay

The GM of PGG Wrightson Real Estate and Livestock wraps a good year for both divisions of his company.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
For the final time in twenty twenty five. Here's the
head of livestock and real Estate for PGG Rights and
his name is Peter Newbolt. And Peter, I forgot to
tell you that I'm going to ask you in about
three minutes time for your AG person of the Year.
Sorry to land that on you. You think about that
while you're talking to me, and I'll see if you
can Multitask now which has been better for PGG Rights

(00:22):
and the real estate division or the livestock division in
twenty twenty five. I reckon it would be the livestock division,
wouldn't it?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yes? And no, I think if you look at the
livestock's been really good and at both businesses started to
see gains early this year. So if you look at livestock,
probably we turned the corner last January and things just
basically took off and have continued ever since. If you
look at real estate, and I was going back and
reviewing that probably about March April earlier in the year,

(00:54):
that's when basically we turned the corner. And we've seen
continued momentum right the way through to you know where
we are today. And I don't think that'll change and
as you know, there's some key drivers there that influence
that when you look at returns farmers are getting interest rates,
slowing of inflation, et cetera. So it's a really good

(01:15):
space for both. And I think the other thing, Jamie,
is that really the returns that the farmers are getting
is definitely influencing the real estate market.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
And so it should. I mean, the price of farm
should be related to yield, not capital gain. I think
that capital gain story is almost a thing of the past,
is it.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Oh, definitely, And that's one thing we have noticed is
especially some of those larger land sales, those that are
purchasing are definitely looking on a return basis, because otherwise
it just doesn't stack up and your bank's not not
going to lend you the money, et cetera, et cetera.
So definitely, there's the odd exception, but it's all looked
it's looked at from a yield perspective.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
These days, are you still selling dairy farms as quick
as you can list them? Because to be fair, even
since we last chatted in November, the dairy market has
called its jets awebit.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, it has cool, but I don't think it's made
any difference at this point. And also there's limited stocks,
so that probably helps that piece. But look, it's still
moving along, I think at a good rate, especially in
some of those key areas you know, mid cannabry or whatever.
It's still moving long strongly. There's not an oversupply, so

(02:28):
that maintains momentum. So no, I don't think things are changed,
and I don't know when you look at the long
term position, you'd still think dairy is in a good
space moving forward.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Absolutely, and the star of the stable at the moment,
because I don't know whether they're caught up on the
soapy numbers. This morning, meat and wall export revenue and
it's mainly meat. Let's face it, up seven percent to
thirteen point two billion dollars, So that's a great number
and that's got to encourage I would think investment in
sheep and beef farming.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, definitely, And we think we're going to see shepp
and beef come alive in the new year. We're starting
to see a bit of activity now. You know, the
last two months have been really strong, but the feeling
is as we go in to get through those early
summer months move into autumn, I think we're going to
see a big change in that space, which is good.
The only thing I think our vendors just need to

(03:22):
be mindful that, you know, they don't get ahead of
where the market is. Hey.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
The other one to quickly touch on meeting Walt Star
of the Soapy Report this morning, Horticulture not far behind,
up five percent to over nine billion now and ki
We fruit is very much driving that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
And ken We fruit just is quietly moving along. We're
starting to see more activity, We're starting to see more sales,
and again that momentum will continue into the next season.
I think the other thing, too, is some people need
to wake up and understand what the rural marketplace or
economy is doing for the wider country. And when you

(04:02):
see some of those numbers that have come out today,
you know, if we weren't backing our rural friends, we'd
be in big trouble.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Food and fiber, yes, responsible for eighty three percent of
our export. God, it's okay, Peter Newbold, You've had two minutes,
two and a half minutes to think about it while
we've been chatting away about real estate. Who's your twenty
twenty five ag Person of the year.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, it was pretty easy for me. Peter McBride. I
think he's a gentleman that quietly goes about achieving and
everything he seems to get involved in he adds some
value to it. So that's who I would pick for
the year. From where I sit.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well, you wouldn't get an argument from me. He is,
of course the chair of Fonterra, former chair of ZES.
Brief success follows that man around. Yeah, very much the
quiet achiever. Hey, thank you very much for your input
throughout twenty twenty five. We'll catch you back again next year.
And just from me as the ambassador for the IC,
CARF and Rural Scale, thank you to you and the

(05:01):
team at PGG Wrights and for everything you do. The
CARF sales have gone gangbusters, we've raised record money for
the IC. Have a good Christmas. We'll catch you back
next year.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah. Thanks Jermine, you have a good Christmas with your
family and we'll speak in January.