The Country 18/02/25: Kevin "Smiley" Barrett talks to Jamie Mackay

Taranaki dairy farmer, and All Black stud breeder, comments on the Big Dry and Fonterra's latest emissions incentives and why he reckons he's not getting them.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kevin Smiley Barrett along with his wife Robin and White,
a family and dairy farmers and coastal Taranaki getting very
very dry Smiley. I might start with that and then
go to the emissions incentives. How how dry is it
getting on the farm?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good afternoon, Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie listeners. Yeah you're very dry, Jamie.
You should have rung me a couple of months ago,
as we had rain this morning. Yes, eight knows, but
year that's he's not going to do too much. But yeah.
Coastal strip round Taderaki, right from rob the seat to

(00:34):
the mountain. Really is rober kpee on this wire. It's
literally it's lesly ten ks and that literally went in
ten days. Two weeks were said easterly wins since weill
bone come on. There was about the sixteenth of January
and they just haven't stopped Jamie. But Sam met right,
you're right around Tohara, get up to the Alton road.

(00:56):
They're pretty green. The around the back of Stratford, englid
year about their having prett good seasons, but as it is,
that's farming and we just get on with it. Yeah,
yeah you do.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Now you've got a picture perfect dairy farm if you
don't mind me saying so beautiful laid out. You've got
the concrete lanes. She's all bells and whistles. Smiley, you're organic,
you're supplying a to milk. You run a pretty tight
ship there. You must be laughing all the way to
the bank with these new emissions that or emissions incentives
that Fonterra is going to hand out to the well

(01:24):
behaved dairy farmers.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Do you want to quick read this morning there where
you send me text? Here's they do at the homework
and I read the email cuickers want to come through
the at ten o'clock and yeah, it's ten ten to
twenty five cents available of estimated to three hundred to
three fifty farmers. But they're the lower court hole, the
better meet these missions ready. But what they're doing, Jamie,

(01:47):
is that they're not selling Fonteria, not going to sell
that as a need for us. They've given them to
Mars and Nestle. So here you go. You can have
these credits amusing where you like. It's just it's beyond me.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Honestly, what do you think it's a bit of Do
you think it's a bit of g in Washing. I
might I might have to get Miles on to defend
himself tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
We'll get them on. I mean that there. Well I
quickly read through it and read all the I mean,
how you have to quantify for it. But so the
thing is with again, we're different markets, you see, So
Nestlay and Mars of different markets. So they're putting it
out to the dimensional farmers to yeah, just lower the emissions.

(02:25):
But at the moment, I will I take the just
in the email, there's three hundred three stuffy that meet
there at the moment. But but I can actually use
their milk, you know, to give to Mars off to Nestle.
They just sell it, literally selling those credits to offset.
So Nestlake and offset there missions pick up.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Well, sorry, Smiley, Well well we will follow that one up.
But they also announced today an extra one to five cents,
which I admit on a ten dollar prices bugger all
for farmers that meet the climate criteria apparently more than
five hours and farms, which is half the supplies or
even a wee bit more. We'll meet that. So you'll

(03:05):
qualify for that, surely, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Sure, here we go. Yeah, that's that's crop of a
difference that's been in place for Courtney Jeremy probably three
years there. So you took the boxers and you're either
you either get year two cents, three cents or the
full five cents if you meet the criteria. So but
that's open to everyone, you know, So it's totally right
across the board. But this, to me, it's just it's

(03:28):
honest to you. There's going to be some You get
Miles on me and after all.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Well, well I'll see if I can get him on tomorrow.
We've got a GDT tonight. And by the way, I
don't want to be the better of bad news. Apparently
it's going to drop a wee bit tonight. I hope,
I hope my man Mike McIntire is wrong on that one.
I just before I let you go. Footy season has started.
I'd still be preferring to watch cricket to be perfectly
on us, but the boys are into it. How how's
Jordi going in Ireland? He seems to be going great guns.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, I actually wrung a mister. Actually was his birthday.
So to catch up with a new teen days off
a little bit of a break in with the International
Ze last week, so he was going to come home,
but yeah, no, it was teen days here and you
know he's tug him week to get over it, so
it wasn't worth it. So he ended up going to
the States. You bit of time and over he went
to the Gulf over here and meet up with Ryan

(04:16):
Fox and co. And your winness to Holm money talk
about hold of Mun's joy, you know, well done.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Well, every every dog, i mean every dog has its dying.
Sometimes lightning strikes once. It will never strike again, Smiley,
but you take it while it's on offer. Thank you
very much. And I'll try and get Miles hurl On.
I'm going to quote them that you're none too keen
on his new incentives as the missions incentives.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
All right, yeah, we well the thing is, i mean, yeah,
they stated there, it's they want to improve that. What's
the two noze? Sorry, they they want to Yeah, and
nextimizer returns to farmers, you know, so that's that's the motto.
So but anyway, it's in this that and age. You know,
why should we be subsiding someone else on the other

(04:58):
side of the world where they're I've got well.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yes, you're talking too much then sair, Hey gotta go mate,
I'm going to run out of time. Thanks very much
for yours.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Got to talk Damie. Have a good day to