The Country 30/07/25: Todd Charteris talks to Hamish McKay

Rabobank’s chief executive on achieving top of the class in the bank report cards from Federated Farmers. Plus, he discusses a funding boost for Catchment Communities Aotearoa.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the last times I caught up with this gentleman.
He actually had the footy boots on Mouth Garden. Yeah,
it was a game of footy played at NA, the
Nartapa Rugby Club and the mighty Tyrafferty part of the country.
See Rabobank Todd chatter sod how are you, I'm.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good, thanks, famous, good to catch up again.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah you haven't pulled the footy boats on again or
done anything crazy like that.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
No, no, no, And I regretted that actually for a
few days after. But it was it was a great cause.
So I was privileged to be there, but I'm not
how to do it again for a number.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Of reasons understandable, righty, let's get into it. The you
would have been you would have been pleased at Rabobank
with the Federated Farmer's Banking Survey top of the class there.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, no, we were. I mean at the end of
the day, I mean it's what our clients so directly
to a set that really counts. But it's straight and
to have that sort of third party endorsement and yeah, yeah,
the keys for us is around that communication overall satisfaction.
So yeah, it really pleased with that and of course
there's always more work to do and we don't always
get it right, but it's good endorsement to all the same. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Look, I was I spent I split my time these
days between the Manawa two and Auckland, and I was
talking and I won't name her, but a member of
the Rabobank team, and she was off to a very
very high tech Manawatu dairy farm, you know, and I
just love the way she was going about her business,
you know, and you know, excited to be going up
there and seeing what this outstanding property was a farming

(01:31):
setup was doing. I mean, I just love that sort
of you know, boots and the mud stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah. No, Look, we've got a great team that is
hugely dedicated and I think just so well aligned to
our purpose. You know. They get up bed every morning,
they know exactly what we're doing and they just get
into it. And it's a real pleasure for me to
be part of leading that team. And yeah, we've got
a really dedicated team that's that's in boots and all.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
As you say, Yeah, okay, part of what you do
is the good stuff and this the catchment community. ALTI
tell us about that and the involvement of that.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, look, we're really delighted to partner with catchment communities
are tire and we're doing it in conjunction with MPI,
and I think it's another great example of private and
public partnership. You know, the catchment community is doing great
work coordinating you know what is about two hundred catchment
groups across the country and I'm really excited about We've

(02:32):
actually got their board and our officers today, so we're
hosting them, which is great for us to be able
to do that. I'm just really looking forward to getting
in behind what the great work they are doing and
how we actually promote that right across the country side
and have a sort of coordinated voice, if you like,
for all of our wonderful catchment groups that, as I say,

(02:52):
doing fantastic stuff. There's lots to do, of course, but
it's really ground ground up stuff and I think it's
really really great and so yeah, we're really pleased with
the partnership.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
In a couple of words, from an urban perspective, that's
about water. Isn't it making our water better? You know?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, well yeah, yeah it is. And if you think
about New Zealand, it's just a collection of catchments, you know,
water catchments, you know, because the catchments obviously water lands
comes out of sky and where does it end up?
And so it's it's it's broader than just farming. It's
it's whole community stuff. It's different businesses, e we you know,

(03:29):
a whole lot of things. And I think that's what
it's about. It's about understanding, you know, what makes up
the sort of ecology of of of our landscape. And
this is a big part of it. So Ye're super excited.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
The Farmer Confidence Survey has been out and some good
results across the dairy, sheep and beef, but a bit
more challenging for the for the arable boys at the
ladies at the moment.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, it is tough in that in that sector for sure,
and and so they've been going through a couple of
tough seasons and hopefully, you know, as we look forward
into the next twelve months, things will improve in that regard.
But he's certainly been some pressure on grain prices and
hopefully there's some relief there because it has been tough
and they haven't been able to enjoy some of those

(04:14):
higher commodity processes in those other sectors which continue to
look really really strong. And that's great to see because
that's what we need is a wider economy across New Zealand.
We need that agricultural based really pumping because the money
goes round and we need that to continue.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Todd Chatter rober Bik before you go, I've been doing
the survey this week early September, South Africa spring box
at Eden Park? Does Fortress Eden Park survive? Are we
going well enough to keep that record intact?

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh? Look, I think it's going to be a hunting
a homerfits for sure. I think it's a bit early
to say if we're going well enough. But look, I hope, so,
I really do. I think it's going to be an
outstanding game and really forward to it. And that's what
we all get excited about, right and yeah, and let's hope.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
So the next best thing to a Rugby World Cup final.
There you go, Todd, Thank you very much for joining us.
Todd Chatters their CEO of rubber Bank here on the country.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Cheers, Jamous, good on you