The Country 17/10/25: Rick Ladd and Dean Quinn talk to Jamie Mackay

Brandt’s director of sales and Gisborne territory manager on tough times for the viticulture industry in the region. Plus, how’s the market looking for those big green tractors?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, Rick, lad, I've got to apologize.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
I've created a bit of a monster for you here
in your home, Patrick Gisbine by making fun of your name,
calling you a seventies pawn star. I'm sorry for that,
but it does seem to have created quite a bit
of mirth amongst your colleagues here at Brand.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Yeah, good on you, Jamie Afternoon listeners and yeah, hey,
I put my battles made and you were never one
one of them.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
So any publicity is good for us.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Publicity in this job.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're an absolute, absolute out and out local hair. You've
got family farming operation just out under the hills there
from Gisban This I mean when we look at the
I guess what he called the Poverty Bay flats or
the Gisbone Flats, some of the best arable, vegetable intensive
horticulture land in the country.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, we're very diverse here on the East coast right,
and times like this, when things have been pretty tough,
it becomes quite a handy resource.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
I guess.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
So Yep might come from a pretty diverse background myself
in the cure fruit industry, citrus, grapes and apples.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Heah, tough times at the moment for the viticulture industry
with grapes A Man and Blenham Blizzard. MacLean tells us
about some of the contract growers not having wineries or
wineries to provide their product to. We're hearing of grape
vines being ripped out. Do you think this is a

(01:19):
temporary blip?

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Well, yeah, hey, I'm completely unqualified to make the statement,
but hey, I feel that the industry does need to
move at the time. Somewhat it is tough it. I
guess what I can say is that it's not just
the growers that are having this. You know that the
corporates and Salva got skin in the game too, and
there was there were grapes left on the vine down
in Melbourne themselves, right, So we're all in this together,

(01:44):
and yeah, is it. I was talking more men about
it the other day and two thousand and seven they
saw this go through it and we're going to come
out on the other side of it. Well, here's hoping
because we are very reliant on the viticulture industry.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Now, are you seeing more key going in here in
the Gisbon region, Because it's very well to say I'll
rip out of iron and chuck in some Keywi fruit.
But there's a small, small issue of buying a keyw
fruit license.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Absolutely licenses one part of it. Mate, if you want
to do it proper with this canopy. Yeah, it's a
huge investment. And at the moment when we do have
to pull out like we have, it's a pretty tough
decision to make when you know, you know, we don't
know what to put in, all right, and everything at
the moment is in such a low.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
The great crowd gathering here at the branch side, especially
the kids. You've got the little green tractors they can
buy for Christmas. I want to talk to you about
the big green tractors. I read a press release I
think yesterday or the day before from TARMA, which is
your tractor selling governing body or whatever it was. And
it was and I hate the terminology, but they were

(02:42):
talking about green shoots. Because let's make no bones about it,
selling tractors is a barometer of the rural economy. It's
been tough in the past few years post COVID, but
now we are seeing a definite improvement in the rural economy.
Is it coming through with tractor cells, Yes.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
It is slowly but surely we are up on last year,
you know, on a calendar year, but it's coming from
a very low place, you know, so it had to
get better at the moment here on the Gisbone East
Coast and Hawk's Bay and probably Melbourne as well due
to that viticulture, we've probably not seen the growth there,
but definitely through the central North Island West Coast Stratford

(03:19):
Dairy we have seen a jump, you know, throughout the year.
It's been great. I think we're currently in a bit
of a holding pattern at the moment till this decision
comes through from Frontira and a little bit of the
sheep and beef with the lions. But as soon as
that decision's made, we hope to see things perck up
in a bit of recovery.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
And I know which way you want the Fonterra vote
to go. That's three point two billion dollars back to
the dairy farmers.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, hey listen, I'll keep my comments of myself made.
I'm not all about selling asset, but yeah, hey listen,
I think it'll be.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Good for us. Yep.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Okay, Hey, Rick, lad thank you so much for hosting us,
and we've got it was interesting, I said the wreck.
I'm going to chat to a couple of the Brant
guys though we're all ducking for cover. But one man
did a violin and that was Dean quinn Quinne, who
tells me he's a very experienced radio man because he
does the local fishing slot on a news talks the'd

(04:10):
be here in Gisbon I do.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
I do the fishing results on a Thursday morning and
we we do the weather and who won and lost
after our draw on a Wednesday night and have a
bit of fun with that.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So how big a deal is fishing in the Gisbane region.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
We're very spoiled with our fishing here, Jamie, because we
can catch Marlon, we can catch tuner cherokee, hardpooker cod
and we don't have to go that far.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
So we are really.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Spoilt Gisbine For those people who haven't been here. And
I've mentioned I think this morning on with Brian Kelly
on the Country Sport Breakfast, it's a bit like in
Picargol in some ways. The climate's a bit better here,
but it's it's at the end of the line. You
don't drive through Gisbone to go to anywhere else you have.
It's a destination at the end of the line. So
not everyone's been here, but I must I say you're

(05:01):
and Ben and I went out for dinner in town
last night. You're in a town or I'm not going
to say city. I'm not sure whether Gismond's. The city
is very pretty.

Speaker 4 (05:10):
It is good time of the year. I mean, look
at today. Gismond's really turned it on for everybody today
and you can look on everyone's faces and the children
and that they're having a great time.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Okay, just before I let you go, you've got a
show special for sixteen thousand and sixteen thousand, five hundred
dollars plus g ST.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
I can buy myself a tractor.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
You can. It's a ten twenty three E and you
can drive it home tonight if you want.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
Well, no, I've got to go to a function with
you guys tonight. I don't know whether driving that I
might be breaking some sort of law. But to you
and Rick, thank you so much for hosting us.