The Country 18/11/25: Nigel Woodhead talks to Jamie Mackay

 We talk to the 2017 NZ Young Farmer of the Year about farmer's storm shout be hosted at the Woodhead farm at Lovell's Flat (halfway between Milton and Balclutha) from 3-7pm, Thursday week.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kicking off the show today from South Otago is the
twenty seventeen New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year, Nigela Woodhead. Nigel,
it's nearly four weeks on from that big event. How's
the recovery.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Going, Yeah, afternoon, Jamie. Well right here, it's going pretty slowly. Actually,
we've fled out to do another farm job. So yeah,
we got sort of one peddict that we needed to
get tidied up because it was in a work pedict.
We got it tied up pretty quickly in the fence
back up, but pretty much everything out on the ghost
fled out drench and lambs today and we've got crop paddocks,

(00:36):
the spray out and all sorts of other springtime jobs
to do as well. So the cleanup will start, or
has started, but it'll get started in an earnest once
we have some spare time.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, realistically, this couldn't have come at a worse time
of the year if it had happened for instance, no
time is a good time, But if this had happened
in March or April, at least you would have more
time on the farm, no on.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, but at the same time, we don't have any
control over it, so we'll we'll get on with it.
We've sort of got invested in a bit of gear
to make life a bit easier, and we know all
the bigger contractors around the place, for in the logging
contractors around the place is going to do pretty well
out of it. But we'll just chip away and get

(01:20):
it tidied up when we when we can.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Here. We know that North Canterbury is, particularly the colvin
and Ere area that basin was badly hit. The pivots
have been smashed, some of them won't get replacement parts
until the new year, so that's going to be a
real challenge in a dry spring early summer on the
east coast of the North End South Islands. It would

(01:44):
appear to me that like South Otago down south has
been as badly hit as anywhere.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, no, you're right, you're right. I don't know. We've
all the other disasters around the country over the last
ten or fifteen years we've managed to dodge, you know,
we haven't had any earth brakes or floods or winds
or anything much up until now. So it was it
was our time to get something I suppose was my
wors thinging about it, but yeah, it's there are definitely
pactes that have had an absolute hammering. And you know,

(02:12):
we've we've got a few plantations here and they look
pretty bad from the outside. We had our forestry advis
that come in the other day and have a look
around just so we knew what was going on, and
he said, yeah, it's not good. You've got a lot
of fiences flat, but some people have got teams of
hects trees like flatters, flat on the ground, not a
single tree standing. So we've escaped relatively unscathed. Really, we've

(02:33):
probably I haven't had a count up, but I'll guess
a couple of kilometers of fencing on the ground. But
apart from the fences, we've lost one fourteen gate and
that's the only thing of note. So we've been pretty lucky.
But some people have been really badly affected. And you know,
with with tree lines and hedges and things, winning winning
lambs in the next four or six weeks is going

(02:54):
to be pretty tough for some people.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, any good fences to keep them in one place.
I was in church last week. We launched the Makaiser,
our annual bear promotional bear with the team from Emerson's,
the Emerson's Tiny Pub. What a great spell they had,
not only at the christ Church aim or the Canterbury
amp Show and of course the races at Rickerton, but
we had a great day all be at a very

(03:17):
wet day last Thursday. The bloke, the marketing manager for Emerson's,
is a guy by the name of Greg Mensis, and
he said to me last week. Do you know what
he said? When I get this thing back down from
christ Church, I'd like to take it south somewhere and
shout the farmers, no strings attached, just turn up, have
a few bears and a bit of a feed on
us and a few other sponsors, and we've decided to

(03:39):
invite ourselves to your place next Thursday.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah. Well, I'd love to take some of the credit,
but all the credit needs to go to the Emerson
Skis and you, Jamie, for linking us all up. So
when when you rang me, I couldn't know. It's an
opportunity to have a couple of mobile bars turn up
at your farm you can't say no to. So yeah,
we made some phone calls the local Lions club. He
caught up a couple of sponsors and are going to

(04:02):
get some going to get some meat, some local and
some provided by Silver and Farms. And yeah, so all
the a few refreshments provided by Emerson's and some meat
provided by some locals and Silver and Farms, and it
should be good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Well Emerson's is of course under the Lion umbrella. You
know their other brand and iconic southern brand Spatees. Well,
Hayden Finch is a good South Otago boy. He got
wonder this and he said, if it's good enough for
Emerson's to bring the tiny pub down, he wants to
bring the Spates bar down. So you got two for
the price or one.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, it's going to be. It's going to be a
good afternoon. So encourage anyone who's been affected by by
the winds and south west of Tago eas the southlift.
If you feel like an afternoon off a couple of
tubes and some barbecue food and there were probably some
your rubbish yarns running around, then yeah, come on out.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
And the good news is it's the good news is Niger.
We have a health and safety plan, so we're going
to look after you while you're there, make sure you
get there and back safely. More about that. That's next Thursday.
Anyone who's been affected by the wind event, even if
you want to drive down from North Canterbury, you're most
welcome to join us. We'll tell you where and how
and why over the next couple of days. But I

(05:19):
just wanted to get this out there if you because
the trouble at this time of the year nager. If
you get a nice, fine sunny day, I'm assuming a
lot of farmers will probably be flat out making silence
or something like that. So it's a bit of a
pig and a poke.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, and you know the way it's shaping up. We
might have drip drills here, we might have playlish contractors
as well, but that's all part of farming. But yeah,
like if everybody's flared out then they won't be able
to make it. But hopefully with a with ten days
roughly warning, we might be able to get workloads sort

(05:53):
of sort of out and make a bit of a
plan so we can give a few people along. But
obviously realistic that it's probably the busiest time of year
on farm down Yep.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Well, they never look a gift torse in the mouth.
You are the twenty set or worthy twenty seven. Well
you still are. Actually it's not past tense. You are
the twenty seventeen Young Farmer of the Year. Your sheep
and beef. How much beef are you got?

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Not enough?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Not enough? Yeah, because you, I mean, if you're a
beef farmer at the moment Old Trump dropped the tariffs
and you and I'm going to be catching up with
Stefan Vogel shortly from rabobank and I just read had
a look at their agri commodity outlook. This is the
global one for twenty twenty six and beef's looking as
good as anything.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, no, things, things have taken on pretty good. We
rear freezing bull calves off dairy farms and then take
them through to eighty months, so our our yeelings are
looking pretty good and so I hope you will be
able to start killing them in the new year. And
then we've actually gone up a wee hand for calves
ready for the following year too, because sort of want

(06:53):
to get into a few more beefees. But yeah, it's
good to see a bit of positivity and even lambs
looking positive from lambs today and they're looking good, so
hopefully if they keep growing and the price days where
it is, we hopefully will be in a reasonable and
for a reasonable year.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Well this time next Thursday, talking about lamb, hopefully we'll
be chewing a bit of it at your place thanks
to Silver Firm Farms.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
No, no worries, We'll looking forward to put on

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Your Nigel and thanks for hosting Estair's Nigel What Heads
South Otago Farmer