The Country 19/12/25: Don Carson talks to Jamie Mackay

Our annual long-standing tradition - the Ag Person of the Year.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I've decided to kick off the country today with
not only Billy Mack love the song, loved the movie,
but with this man who is a long standing correspondence,
although a bit more irregular these days. In fact, he
makes one appearance a year, and that's at Christmas time.
He's a bit like Santa Claus. John Carson. And for
people who aren't aware of your fame or infamity, you

(00:22):
used to host midday and Rural Report on National radio
these days known as Red Radio, and you did an
excellent job. In the eighties, you went on to work
for the Wall Board. That's when we first became mates colleagues.
You worked with Federated Farmers all in the PR departments, Seaford,
New Zealand Forest Owners Association. But I remember back to
the glorious days of the Wallboard down in the nineteen

(00:44):
nineties and you were throwing cash around like it was
nobody's business.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, it was one of those institutions. You're making me
feel a bitter and feel like Bill Nheedier, Jamie. But yeah,
the War Board was one of those great dinosaurs when
farming was king and the entire cabinet was made up
of farmers, and parliaments worked around the haymaking season, so
those were different days. And certainly the will Board was
one of those last dinosaurs where there was no problem

(01:11):
that throwing a lot of money at it wouldn't resolve.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
We won't go there since the I reckon about the
late nineteen nineties. Every year you've named your ag person
of the year, and it may be someone who has
had more influence on farming. They may not necessarily be
someone here in New Zealand. I remember the year you
named the protest in Tieneman Square. Now I'm naming my
ag person of the year a wee bit later in

(01:37):
the show down, and I've got fingers and toes cross
that you're not going to steal the thunder here.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Okay, Well, I'll start up, Jamie by doing something that
I have never in all of the years of naming
the egg person of the Year done, and that is
a collective and this is your bolk standard New Zealand farmer,
be it dairy or sheep and beef over the past year.
And I say that because we've got the takeover there
of the Alliance Group and we have from Tierras selling

(02:06):
its branding and both are things that the farmers, stakeholders
and both of those parts of the New Zealand economy
could have done something about. You take Frontier example, sold
off its brand, use the four point two billion to
develop its ingredients. Think now, that's a sensible move. They'll
make money out of that. They've done their homework. But
on the other hand, there is a certain sentiment about

(02:28):
having New Zealand products, dairy products labeled with the New
Zealand brand like Anker those days ago. And the other one,
of course, the more famous one and the more deep
seated one, is Alliance selling out to the Irish dawn Meats.
You know, for the four k plus stakeholders in the
Alliance Group, if they had each dipped into their pockets
to the tune of mid range SUV, they could have

(02:52):
paid off that two hundred million debt and kept their
industry in their hands. So it's the New Zealand farmer
inability to pay for their own processing industry when they
would rather put more into the farm and over.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
OKNN, disagree with you. You don't throw good money after
bad in the case of the Alliance Group, But anyhow
will agree to disagree? Come on, get to the point
who's your agg Person of the Year for twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
The next one is and remember the rules and that
has had the most effect within the year that we
are talking about, and the Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggart
comes to mind for two reasons. One is the animal
welfare thing, which is always backwards as far as the
farmers are concerned, and always a progress as far as
animal rights concerned, and he managed to stem the abolition

(03:43):
eventually of sale farming pharaoh crates and the mating crates
for a much reduced period, so the animal welfare has
been enhanced, but they won't have to get rid of
them until twenty thirty five, so he's won that one.
And the other one which didn't get so many headlines,
was the announcement that there would be no agg pricing

(04:03):
for emissions and the methane would be disconnected from the
carbon dioxide and it's counting towards the targets of twenty fifty.
So as far as I'm concerned, former president of Federated
Farmers and you went quite well. When I worked in
Federated Farmers he was president. There is now the Associate
agg Minister and looking around the ag scene. I think

(04:23):
I won't change my rules. I won't use a collective
for the New Zealand Farmer, but I go for the
Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggart as my ag Person of
the Air for twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Don Carson, it's a long standing tradition. We'll catch you
back in twenty twenty six for your ag person there.
You have a good break mate, see you later.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Okay, very good, and I hope you don't come up
with the same name.