June 29, 2025 • 38 mins
Jamie Mackay talks to Julian Raine, Grant McCallum, Mark Cameron, Blair McLean, and Phil Duncan.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist in
John Deer construction equipment.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
My Rockin's heresday. It's better to fanning away.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
My.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Get a New Zealand and welcome to the Country. It's
brought to you by Brent. My name is Jamie McKay,
playing a little bit of Neil Young for you today.
One of the headline acts at Glastonbury. Pretty hot over there,
heat wave in Europe at the moment. You wouldn't describe
the weather in New Zealand at the moment as a
heat wave anything.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
But on of course, we've had.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Some bad flooding over the weekend, so we are going
to update what's happening in Marlborough and Nelson and the
far North with some farmers on the show today. So
Julian Rain, former President of Horticulture, and he's zelling to
kick off proceedings wearing both his horticulture and dairy hats.
(01:20):
A farmer well, they're a Northland dairy farmer slash MP
panel Grant McCallum and Mark Cameron for our Mark's coming
off dialysis to talk to us today. Few kidney issues.
He's a tough brute. Blair MacLean is our guy in Marlborough.
Tracy Brown's the chair of Dairy and Z. We've got
(01:40):
a new break even price for dairy farmers. You need
to get eight dollars sixty eight per kilogram of milk
solids or for a milk price, should I say, in
order to break even? And Phil Duncan on the weather,
we hope like hell there's not some more serious rain
coming later in the week. But Julian, rain it off
(02:00):
out of the Nelson region. Julian, you've been there a
long time. How bad was this one historically?
Speaker 6 (02:09):
Hi, Jamie, this is right up there. Historically the locals
are saying longest than living memory for those areas that
were really hard hit. So I'm expecting sort of a
one and one hundred euro eap.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Well, what sort of rainfall numbers did you get? Because
I think, for instance, and he'll update the number, no doubt.
Blair McLean over in Marlborough over the Hill, I think
they were into the two hundreds.
Speaker 6 (02:35):
What about you guys, Yes, definitely in the mid to
high two hundreds. Rangers probably generally two fifty to three
hundred and the Golden Bay they hit half a meter.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
So what about the damage, because we've seen and you'll
have to remind me of the place. They had it
on the news last night. Seventy k's inland that got
absolutely wiped out.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
The place helped me.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Here, khatu is that where? Yeah, where they've lost the
state highway Sex and still trying to put it all
back together.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Yeah, so you know, terrible numbers.
Speaker 6 (03:16):
Yeah, very high. It was quite uneven. So those people
who got smashed got really smashed. And it was it
was big rainfalls, you know, plus twenty five mills an
hour for you know, quite long periods like six hours,
and then it stopped and then it came back and
again for a good measure. So those higher areas had
(03:39):
quite intense rainfall. And the rain's got to go somewhere,
so it goes downhill.
Speaker 7 (03:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Absolutely. The some annoying noise in the background.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
Is that you or me?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Now?
Speaker 6 (03:49):
It's me Unfortunately it's a phone going off on a
desk of it never might stop.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Okay, well, well, thank you very much. It doesn't take
much to put me off. Carry on.
Speaker 6 (04:01):
So the Motorwacre Valley, the lower Military and the Dovedale
areas were particularly bad hit, badly hit. There's road closed
is everywhere, there's bridge approaches gone, there's houses that have
water through it, the sheds that have gone under water.
(04:22):
There's vehicles, tractors, various orchard equipment. There's been a lot
of land lost and top sort of stripped, particularly in
the Motorwaca Valley. You can't get to it at the moment,
but neighbors and friends have told me that, yeah, it's
(04:44):
as bad as I've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yeah, and you know, it's one thing having damages to fences,
but fences can be rebuilt. Strip top soils are much
harder ask it is.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
And this was areas that were in past you it
wasn't like bareground. But to see it just taken away
as if a scraper had been in there, It's just amazing.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
It's going to take a long time to recover from this.
What sort of support is available on the ground for
farmers and growers and just everyday people in your region.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
Everyone got clubbed.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
Yes, well, we've kind of coming together, as communities and
neighbors do in these sorts of times. Rural supporters getting
out and about and I know Richard Kempthorne has activated
that and he's bringing together his advisors and that will
(05:39):
progress and due course, fed Farmers, Hart end z Ed
have all been active in the area and the Mayor's
kicked off a mirror relief fund to help. But it's
really people is what we need. We need resources and
I'm sure the local council would dearly love a bit
(06:02):
of a hand with from central government to fix some
of these key roads that we have in the region
that have disappeared.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, and do you need it, mean, you obviously do
need a rain radar, but would that have helped. I mean,
this this flood was reasonably well signaled, was it not.
They were talking about evacuations on.
Speaker 7 (06:22):
Friday they were, And yes, yes, so definitely we would
certainly appreciate the rain radar that will tell you where
that the areas.
Speaker 6 (06:35):
The rain is going to target. And I think some
people that thought it was going to be just a
one in five year event were shot that it was
a one and one hundred year event. That's the bit Jamie,
that we dearly need that additional view of what's actually
(06:57):
happening out in the region so we can get resons
of the right places.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I guess if there's one positive, and I'm going to
sound like too much of a Pollyanna, now's not a
bad time of the year to get a flood. There's
no good time, I know that, But I mean, if
it was spring, for instance, you're lambing or carving. You've
got trees, vineyards, trees actively growing. They're in a state
of dormancy at the moment.
Speaker 6 (07:23):
Yes, you're dead, right, Jamie. If there was one good
thing that came out of it. As the timing, we've
got no crops out there other than the local veggie growers,
which haven't been as affected as the rest.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well it might be time to kick you here to
touch Hey, listen, I know you've flat out you've got
a lot on your plate, even with your own farming operations.
So thank you very much for your time. We do
appreciate it. Julian Rain.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Thanks Jamie.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
There we go. That fine is annoying, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
It is coming up to cought up past twelve quarter
past the hour here on the country up next, and
I think they had some rain up there as well.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I better check.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I was involved in a rugby reunion over the weekend,
so I sort of got out of the news cycle,
which I'm normally totally immersed in. But anyhow so we'll
chat to our Northland dairy Farmer MP panel Grant McCullum
and Mark Cameron. Grants, the MP for Northland National Markers
(08:25):
of course from the ACT Party, one of their ag
people doing a good job. Good bloke talks a lot
of common sense, Mark Cameron. I'm not saying that Grant doesn't.
We're going to head over the hill to Marlborough from
where Julian Rain was to catch up with Blea MacLean,
our guy in Blenham, Tracy Brown from Dairy en Z
and I guess importantly for those of you who have
(08:46):
been hammered by the floods over the weekend Friday and
Saturday in particular, we'll see if there's any respite for
you from the weather gods, because there is talk of
another lot coming later in the week. Phil Duncan on
before the end of the hour, when you're.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Out of the blue and into.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
The blood, welcome back to the country. How good is
Neil Young? I wonder if he was any good at Glastonbury.
(09:31):
Michelle can find that out for me. Some people just
get too old and they need to be moved on.
People make that criticism of me. I can't believe that.
Here's today's farmer panel, a couple of Northland dairy farmers
who are also MPs. As I said, Grant McCallum and
(09:53):
Mark Cameron. Mark, I just want to say thanks for
coming on the show today. You've got a few health
battles at the moment and you've just basically come off
dialysis to chat to us.
Speaker 8 (10:02):
Good afternoon, goods and my friend, I hear ever the woe,
but I'm still here. As my grandmother would say, you're back,
So I still pointed to the ground. So yeah, Look,
it's a challenge and it's one of the one of
these things that you have to go through as part
of the journey. And Mike and so certainly cut of mine.
But hey, look I'm still alive. I still desperately live
(10:24):
rural New Zealand and what I'm doing in Parliament, so
hopefully I can square this up and go back to work.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Now.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
You want to talk about flooding today. We've talked already
about flooding at the top of the South Island. How
did the top of the North Island go?
Speaker 8 (10:40):
Mark By all testament pretty well. I mean the flash
floods sort of came and went, Jamie, so look we saw,
you know, localized flooding, localized damage. But I you know,
I think the heartstrength have been pulled in the South Island.
They're getting whacked. They're getting whacked again, I believe down
the west coast of the South Island. And it's hey,
(11:01):
look it is doomed. We're having our shortest day of
the year just been and we're getting towards the equinox.
It's it's suficl but it's it's hard work, especially felt
by real people.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Grant McCallum joins us. Now you've you've been on your
soapbox grunt over carbon farming. Good on you for doing that.
But I notice that Dennis Neilson and his henchmen are
onto you.
Speaker 9 (11:25):
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, get and everybody. Hey, just great
to have you on board. Mark, and just quickly, I
just think I'd like to acknowledge the party of the
taking tome own cash Hemp. I mean, that's just a
real tragedy. It was a real shock to the system
on Thursday when it occurred, and it just shows how
important our health is. To us, and I just say
(11:47):
to your mate, Mark, mate, just look after yourself as
number one kind of things. But you know, I mean
genuinely mean that, because you're doing a great you do
about a good job and you have got a lot
of fun, You got family there, So keep that in mind.
Now with respect to Dennis and go, Yeah, well they
would have the whole country cabin and pine tree.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Dennis heard. Nothing would please them more than just have
everything planted and pine tree.
Speaker 9 (12:10):
I'm sorry, but that's not the way the world's going
to It needs to work. New Zealand's we've got a
great production forestry industry and I support them wholeheartedly. But
the carbon farming, he is throwing a real that the
real into the marketplaces. It's skewed the market, you might say.
And so we're looking to fix that because I think
long term everyone can see we don't need all this
(12:33):
really good, easy role in clean country put into pine
trees just for carbon farming. It's got to stack up
for production forestry by itself to do that. And I
think that's and that's a bit we don't we're looking
to fix just so quick. Plug Hehead gaming submissions are
now open until Monday next week for the Environment Select Committee,
which I set on. So please, af you'reance in this topic,
(12:55):
it would be great to get a submission in if
we want to get this law changed and get a
bit of bouts back to the partial sector.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
And Mark Catherin, I know you wanted to talk about
the ets. We've got the settings wrong.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
Oh, absolutely absolutely. I mean I think the thing is
we've got a capital missions here in New Zealand. And
just one note, you see our industry being heavily affected
by the activities of that ees. It was skewed and
its original inception and I know still today has a
false flaw in the market in terms of its settings
(13:30):
to do with its price. And really and truly I
think the government needs to get out of the way.
In a natural environment, a natural market would see natural
market forces consumer demand and you'd see that price come down.
I think in this instance now what we've seen is
the reverse of that, where the government has partner with
the private sector said look we'll help you out, you
(13:51):
help us out to drive down emissions, but there's subsidized
and then when you've got a false floor, the government
almost becomes an undibitter in the pro and unfortunately grants
one hundred percent correct. We see the pastical sector flooded
with blisted pine trees, and just one final remark, game
we know pine eventually ends back in the carbon cycle.
(14:13):
At some point, those bloody trees they fall over windfall,
they either get burnt in some far off contry. But
the reality is this is about global emissions and we
just cannot plant our way out of it.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Totally one hundred percent agree with you. You also wanted
to talk Mark Cameron, excuse me about commodity prices.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
Yeah, look, it's to celebrate how damnably good we are
in rural New Zealand. You know, I I saw the
numbers the other day, twenty seven billion dollars for the
dairy industry, a plug for the beef sector. They're doing dwelve.
You know, horticulture is nine. I believe as far as
I can recollect most of the other industries for strou
was too so good to see the primary sector being
(14:57):
the fiscal backbone of what it was. Other I was
pretty doomy and gloomy fiscal economics for the country where
we're slowly getting into the black and Jamie, it's a
bloody good story.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
That is a bloody good story.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Grant McCullum, you'll be happy that the Mike Hosking Highway
is now one hundred and ten kilometers an hour one.
Speaker 9 (15:16):
Hundred percent mate. That was a grade announce sort of
wake up to this morning. I know they've been working
through that, so I'm about to go and drive on it.
But the last day at one hundred and then I
come home tomorrow I'm going back. I'm going shooting down
to Wellington because we have the Youth Parliament on for
each Today's Jamie. I thought, so I'm down there to
go down there to support my young guy. Just show
the sort of senses you might have to put up
(15:37):
with a parliament, Jamie. Everyone gives me a hard time.
They reckon I was possibly so Keith holy Yoaks youth MP,
which you know, everyone seems to think that that's a
you know, a possibility, but no, look, it's a great opportunity.
I'm looking forward to go down and support them and
having that road at one hundred and ten. Finally, Mike
Costing might be even slightly happy with the government.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well exactly then what we need to do, and you
guys will be great proponents for this. You need the
four lane highway obviously from Auckland to fung Array, but
we just need more of them around the country. I'm
doing a fundraiser and to Pook even August and that's
a great road from Talannga out there.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Well, imagine if.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
We had those all dotted all over the country and
we could actually move things quickly and get to places quickly.
Bloody Julianne Jener and a bike lane.
Speaker 9 (16:26):
Don't you start me, Jamie. She honestly, she has got
a different view of the world. She thinks we should
all be running around on bicycles and drive and buses.
It's just crazy stuff, mate, And regionally, Zione doesn't work
that way, never has, never will. We need really good
roads and National is a big support of the road
up here, always has me and the next one, next
(16:46):
stage you'll be started before the the middle next year
and then well then we're going to carry on planning
the way all the way to fung Array. But you
won't get it, Juliana, and back in charge.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Well, back in charge.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
I think I'll get on a highway and drive to
the airport and keep going, not come back. Hey, Mark
Cameron Thanks for your time, mate, and hope you go well,
hope your health battles go well.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
Thanks bag you absolute legend to take care and we'll
talk to mate.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah, and to you Grant all all the best, all
the best. Just don't go too just don't go too
woke on me.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
All right, Well you are just insufferable, Jamie. You go
and you pay, go pay your subtagrams. Well where you go.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
There we go.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Grant McCallum, Mark Cameron, the Northland dairy farmer and MP panel.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Up next, we are going to chat to Liam McLean.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I think he said he would be ready for us
at twelve thirty. We will have a yarn to him.
He's based in Blenham. How did they fare over the
hill from the Nelson region? That's up next on the Country.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Because with you, I want to see you dancing again.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Because continuing the update on the flooding theme here on
the Country, we've heard it wasn't too flash in Nelson.
Let's head over the hill to Marlborough. Our guy there
is Blair Blizzard MacLean from fruit Fed supplies our viticulture correspondent,
the Caleb Clark of Marlboro. I'll come back to that one.
(18:40):
But on a serious note, Blair, you sent me a
picture of Cherry Bank Orchard. That's your cherry orchard in Blenham,
or just outside of Blenham, and all I can see
is water.
Speaker 10 (18:52):
Yeah, Jamie, Yeah, we've had a fairly here this pairly
major event here and the top of the South including Nelson. Yeah.
I think our place.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
We were at two thirty.
Speaker 10 (19:02):
Two mills last looked at. Most of that came on
Friday and Saturday. I think one of the days we
had one hundred and sixty mills or something. So she
just fair cloud down here in the in the in
the sunny Marlborough.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
And even more rain in the Marlborough sounds.
Speaker 9 (19:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (19:18):
Yeah, somehow we've got some work colleagues out that way.
When they were they were recording three twenty three thirty
odd mills of rain. So yeah, just yeah, cause a
bit of damage. Anything around rivers. Vineyards certainly got a
fair whack. There's some flood banks that broke a bit
further up the way. Hoopei Valley, Wire Valley got fairly
(19:41):
well hammered to. All that stuff that's sort of in
that direction from the from the west where it came
the awaity had the Arati River was at ae hundred
year flood record number. Our Wire River, it was banked
to bank and still pretty much as I think there
was a about three eight hundred two weeks. So yeah,
(20:04):
a lot of water in a short time.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
So historically, how does it relate to other big floods
in the region.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
Seems to be every four years. Twenty twenty one was
our last one. Big event which was similar to seventeen
was another one. So we've had some big one hundred
year or twenty five year old floods pretty close together.
In the bearing of mind, we've got the most sunshine
hours here in Marlborough last year. So yeah, it's all
(20:33):
over the place, but massive cleanup this week really and
hopefully that forecasts for the end of the week doesn't
come true.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Absolutely more about that hopefully with Phil Duncan on that one.
So if you're going to get a flood and have
water lying in vineyards and cherry orchards or orchards, I
suppose now's not a bad time of the year because
the plant's basically well in winter.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Dormancy.
Speaker 10 (20:59):
Yeah, you're right, everything's dormant. Now we've had looking at
the winter chill hours, which are temperatures below seven degrees
from the first to May, we're at about six or
seven hundred hours, and everything's dormant, everything shut down.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
So if this.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
Flood had happened as it did obviously in the Hawk's
Bay area a couple of years ago when they had
the cyclone this area, if this event had happened in
spring or in summer, yeah, it would not be good
at all, but least it would happen in the winter,
and a fair bit of it has drained away. The
wire hours back down now, but it's just all the
(21:36):
clean up, all of the sludge and all of the
low lying areas has still actually got a bit of water.
It's still quite a bit of pumping going on of water.
So yeah, it doesn't shouldn't affect vines or trees, no.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Not to mention fencing and stuff. Permanent structures like that
take a bit of a threshing as well.
Speaker 9 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
Yeah, And there's certainly some big flood banks up the
WAYHOPEI area that being breached, so there's and there was
a lot of money spent on fixing those in the
last few years. So yeah, a bit more work to
repair all those again. So yeah, we're just sort of
some recovery mode.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Yeah, okay, and I get that, but it compounds a
tough year for the wine industry.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
That's right.
Speaker 10 (22:17):
Yeah, so we are. You know, we've got fifty million
leaders surplus of seven and blanc that we are trying
to work through. And I think that equates to like
our harvest that we just had, which was four hundred
thousand tons, it equates to a million bottles a day
that everyone has to drink, and they includes you, Jamie.
I know I's had a big weekend, but you might
have to top yourself up. So we're can drink a
(22:38):
million bottles to day in the world to move our
twenty and twenty five minach.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
No, no, I'll be alcohol free this week, mind you.
I did go to a rugby reunion forty years on.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
The eighties were a great time, Blair, but we were
sixty five year olds carrying on like twenty five year olds.
But anyhow, I'm wondering. And I did reference you as
the Caleb Clark of Blenham because you did, And I
know you hate me dragging up the stat but I
love it. You played three years on the wing for
the rocksborgh senior team and never scored a try. The
bloke on the other side, Johnny McKinnell got about forty
(23:12):
or fifty.
Speaker 10 (23:14):
Yes, we'll be a pretty quick reunion for me. Won't
have to reminisce me. I'll have a lot, But Johnny
be happy. Yeah no, we went for a bit of
a poor passionate But it sounds like you're the great
week in Jamie and really happy for you.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, I can't wait till you have your reunion and
reminisce on those three great seasons. But I'm sure you
provided plenty of try assists.
Speaker 10 (23:33):
Yeah no, I don't think I do that either. But anyway,
we had a good time planned for Roxford.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Good on you, and I'm sure Caleb Clark will break
has duck as well, hopefully for the All Blacks Blare
Blizzard MacLean, thanks for your time, good luck with the cleanup.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
And the Marlborough. Thanks Jamie, Thanks Blaire.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
It is I shouldn't do that, should I? It's like
telling Big Stu Duncan who nearly qualified for the nineteen
ninety Commonwealth Games one hundred meters one hundred and ten meter,
isn't it her, so you've got to be quick to
do that. Yet he finished his finished out footy.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
Career in the front row. There you go.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
What was I going to ask you something? But I've
just completely forgotten about it. I will regather my thoughts.
Still getting over the licking the wounds from the weekend, Michelle.
After the break, we've got sixth or seventh contestants for
the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Region off, so
you're going to hear from Gareth mkirche. We'll have rural
(24:32):
news and sports news for you. Tracy Brown good to
catch up with her last week in christ Church out
of Dairy and Zaid and Phil Duncan. And we'll sort
out the weather for you for later in the week.
Hopefully the weather forecasters have got this one wrong.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
It's all on the country.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Because I'm filling love.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Today's FMG Young Farmer Region representative as Gareth mkirchheer for
al Rangye. Okay, Gareth, you've got sixty seconds to sell
your region to the rest of the country after you go.
Speaker 11 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, guys, it's Gareth mckirchey year. But he'd have
to be representing the Arangu region at this year's FMG
Young Farmer of the Year alongside some great Egrey kids
and our good term of juniors as well. This year
running alongside the condition of the FMG Region Off, we
go online to FMG dot co dot and vote for
(25:34):
the best region in the country, which we all of
course know as.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
Arangi, right in the heart of Kenbury.
Speaker 11 (25:41):
You can't beat it.
Speaker 12 (25:42):
Team with the most points has a cash donation to
go towards this charity of their choice. This year, I've
chosen to support I actually cartin Ryal scheme. We have
been supporting children with intellectual disabilities and families for the
last forty years. Get behind a good cause.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Times up. Thanks Scaret.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Where you've just heard Gareth mcurchi's pitch for Arangi and
now it's over to you to vote in the FMG
Region Off. Go to FMG dot co dot NZ forward
slash Region Off and vote before July the fifth.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Countries Worldviews with cold Cadet New Zealand's leading right on
lawn Bower brand. Visit steel Ford dot co dot inz
for your locals doggist and.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
I might break the habit of a lifetime and vote
for Gareth and the Region Off. Even though I'm supporting
Otago Southland obviously because Gareth's giving his charity of choices
Therese CARF and Rural Scream Scheme, Great Charity others.
Speaker 13 (26:40):
They're all doing some amazing charities. If you want to
catch up on any of those young farmer little bits
that we've been doing, you can go to our Facebook
page and find them on there. There's little excerpts from
all of them, find out which charities they're supporting, and
then click through to the links you can vote and
just an update on the results over the weekend. Now
they've gone a bit gangbusters on the numbers, Jamie with
the regions. At the moment, a Targo Southland region, which
(27:03):
is represented by Grand finalist Cameron Smith is top with
two thousand, two hundred and thirty two points. Then hot
on the heels as Jock Bawk's team from Taranaki Munua
two sitting at twy two hundred and twenty five points,
only seven points behind, and a third place is Tasman
led by George Leatham with sixteen hundred and seventy three points,
(27:23):
And further down the leaderboard we have Yakatobay of Plenty
represented by regional chair Georgia Young who holds twelve hundred
and ninety one points. East Coast with James Robbie is
on eleven hundred and thirty seven and our Rangi is
with Gareth mccutchey. We just heard one thousand and forty
one points and Northern brings up the rear with Justin
Ryegrock with eight hundred and twenty five but all moving
up very quickly. You have five till five pm on
(27:45):
Saturday to get those votes out.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Now, the prize is for the winning region in the
region off five thousand to your chosen charity, one thousand
dollars to the senior contestant, one thousand dollars split split
among junior contestants, a thousand dollars for the Agri Kids
contestants and voters. Any of you people out there who
vote will go into the draw for a five hundred
(28:08):
dollars bonfire gift card. And as Michelle said, voting closes
five pm July the fifth, and of course we'll find
out who the Young Farmer Grand Final winner is on
Saturday night.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Just quickly. You've got a sharing update, yeah.
Speaker 13 (28:24):
Just quickly. So of course we have Tyler Henderson and
Jack Fagan, who are over in the UK at the moment.
They did pretty well, but it wasn't quite good enough
over the weekend, so Scotland's experience Joe, Gavin Much and
Callum Shure edged out Henderson and team mate Jack Fagan
by just two point nine points and the New Zealand
team now prepares for the next testing is England at
(28:44):
the Great Yorkshire Show on July nine.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
I don't know how the Scots can claim Gavin much.
He's been here for years. We should have him in
our team anyhow, or there you go. I suppose he's
used to sharing the Scottish sheep. That's rural news for you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Sport with a f go g we to bone since
nineteen oh four.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
And on the Sports News this morning we were discussing
and I know that the Hosqua was on his show.
How much Cristiano Renardo gets paid a year. It's a
couple of hundred million bucks a year, which I'm feeling
a bit sorry for Lebron James because he has set
for a record twenty third season in the NBA, But
his agent Rich Paul has told SPN that the Los
(29:25):
Angeles Laker Ford is only getting ninety two million dollars
a year, Holly only for twenty five twenty six campaign.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
And you and I were discussing.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
The highest paid sports people.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Basketball's one, is it?
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Oh?
Speaker 13 (29:41):
Yeah, so the highest paid sports Basketball with the NBA
is and number one. Baseball, which is the MLB in
America is number two, and soccer the Premier League is
number three.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah, I would, And yeah, you wonder if there's a
really big fight, like in a year with the Tyson
Usika fight, that those guys might be up there as well.
Telephone numbers. Right up next, Tracy Brown out of Dairy
and z Before the end of the year, Phil Duncan
on the Weather.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Leaves Miss.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
It was good to catch.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Up with this lady at the Primary Industry Summit and awards.
The chair of Dairy and ZED, Tracy Brown. She milks
six hundred and eighty cows with the hobby Win and
Mada Matta near Hobbiton. But today at Tracy, you are
on the show to talk, amongst other things, about the
break even point for dairy farmers. This is the Dairy
and Z E contractor a tracker. Should I say we
(30:41):
need eight dollars sixty eight per kilogram of milk solars
just to break even.
Speaker 5 (30:44):
That's a rather high number.
Speaker 14 (30:47):
Yeah, it is pie And really what's happened, Jamie, is
the cost of input prices has increased at a greater
rate than the rate that the milk price has increased at,
so it has caused squeeze for farmers.
Speaker 6 (31:01):
So that's gone.
Speaker 14 (31:01):
The baking milk price has gone up twenty seven cents
on last season's number.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Yeah, I'd haven't bought fertilizer for a number of years,
probably since I was last playing footy for Riversdale. That's
how long ago since I bought fertilizer. But in the
last year phosphate phosphate prices are up thirty four percent,
urea up forty percent.
Speaker 14 (31:22):
Didn't realize that, Yep, that's that's been significant. Crude oil
prices have recently surged by seventeen percent with the instability
in the Middle East. Feed prices are up sort of
six to thirty seven percent, with exception of p K,
which has sort of down slightly, but other feed costs
are up. You know, energy is up, so yeah, there
(31:45):
are some price there are some pressures there for farmers.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Well, let's hope the payout stays around that ten dollars
mark or even mid to high nines. We would take,
wouldn't we, Tracy.
Speaker 14 (31:58):
I think that a number with the ten would be good, Jamie.
I think that would keep most people happy.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Yeah, good on you.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Now at Field Days, you guys launched resilient Pastures and
this is to try and get our pastures to persist longer.
And I put it to you in the commercial break
before we went to air that you guys in the
North have bigger problems than us guys in the South
because you just get more pets and diseases due to
(32:25):
the temperatures.
Speaker 14 (32:27):
Yeah, and this has become a bigger show with climate
change show in Northland. We've been farmers up there have
been losing one ton of dimetter hectare per decade and
out of the ykatto it's half a ton. But I
think the thing that's important Jdi is Watt's loomed to
Northland and the top of the North Island will provide
solutions across the whole country going forward is you know,
(32:47):
is every wear potentially heats up. So the huge investment,
big collaboration, seventeen million dollar project over seven years. We're
pretty excited. As a seventeen farm have expressed an interest
in being involved in the research just since we've announced
the launch of the projects, so that's really really positive.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Well, another exciting news from Dry and Zed Tracy Brown,
your economic survey has been going for sixty years? Is
that longer than the beef and lamb and Z one
or whatever they were back in the day the Meat
Board won.
Speaker 14 (33:20):
The Meat and All Boards economics. I've been going slightly longer,
but we've been going since the nineteen sixties. Really interestingly,
back then, Jamie, the average farm ninety two cows across
fifty nine hectares one point six cows per hectare. Later on,
now in the sort of the twenty tens, we're more
(33:42):
like sort of fourteen to four forty cows on one
hundred and forty four hectores two point nine cows per hectare.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
So you can sort of feed.
Speaker 14 (33:52):
The productivity gains that have been made over that.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Time, and we're only getting bigger in terms of herd sizes.
Has farm's amalgamate.
Speaker 14 (34:01):
Yeah, I think we're getting more efficient though, too, so
that's good news, but I think it's really important to
have this kind of long run data because it helps
us look at how the sectors change. It helps us
support national international reporting on dairy. So we're really proud
that we're able to celebrate sixty years of the Economic
Service Now survey.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
Yeah, you have great news.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Just to finish on as I said at the beginning,
you're farming there, Madam Mata their Hobbarton six hundred and
eighty cows. When do you start carving in the Wacado region.
Speaker 14 (34:31):
Middle of July, So yeah, it's just around the corner, really, Jamie.
For us, things are looking pretty good and I know
a lot of people cross up and down the country,
we including us. We had real drought conditions in the summer,
but our autumn's been not too bad, so we've recovered
pretty well. So you would have seen too that the
(34:52):
season small production was up significantly, up two point nine
percent on last year at one point eight eight billion
brands to one point nine four billion cag's and mock solids.
So yeah, that was good news for Deiry as well.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Tracy Brown, good to catch up with you last week
in Christchurch. All the best for carving just around the corner.
Speaker 14 (35:13):
Yep, thanks very much shamey, have a.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
Good day, seven away from one, Thanks Tracy. Hey, remember
today's also your last chance to enter the Rabobank Good
Deeds competition. We got five thousand dollars cash up for
grabs plus a day's labor from the many hands at
Rabobank and someone from the country will turn up and
do it a little bit. So go to the Rabobank
website to enter that one for your community rural project.
(35:39):
You can't do that, Text good to five double nine
and we'll send you back. The direct link to enter
Rabobank Good Deeds closes today, so you've got to be
in amongst it. Get some money and some labor for
your good rural community project. Up next, Phil Duncan on
the Weather wrapping the country with our guy from weather Watch,
(36:03):
Phil Duncan, Faill, You're lucky I don't shoot the messenger
on this show, or you may not survive the slot.
You're telling me there's some more rain coming later this week.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yeah, Oktay, nice to be back on here with you. Yeah,
it's a double trouble really. You know, we've had one
big low come through end of last week and over
the weekend it fell apart and now we've got the
second one coming back in almost identical, but no lows,
no storms are ever the same, and so this is
going to affect different parts of the country, but there
(36:37):
is a chance of some heavy rain, especially around the
end of the week, So I run about Thursday going
into Saturday, and then for the North Island going into
Saturday as well, Thursday's probably the day with the biggest rainfall.
And so once again it's the top of the both
main islands. So we're seeing the sort of Nelson Tasman
area looking like they could get anywhere between about eighty
(36:57):
and one hundred and twenty millimeters later this week, which
is down from last week, but you know, you have
to remember it's on top of last week now. And
then for the North Island they have plenty at this
stage looks to be perhaps the most exposed, with at
least one hundred millimeters coming in quite a widespread sort
of area from totong Over to East Cape. So this
low is going to drag down subtropical wind that's a
(37:20):
lot like what we saw last week, and so when
you put the subtropical warmth in and some low pressure,
that allows those clouds to bubble up and bring us
those surprise little squalls or isolated downpours and things. So
I think we've still got to work out what this
is going to do. But yeah, certainly a bit of
a risk of severe weatheress around Thursday Friday and then
(37:41):
eases Saturday. Not nationwide for that whole time, but just
different parts of the country.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Okay, Phil duncan there you go? Four Warned is fore armed?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Just a really good text?
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Then from guys is Jamie, there will never be an
into carbon emissions while there are twelve to fourteen thousand
planes in the air at any given time, putting the
between seventy two thousand and eighty four thousand tons of
CO two into the atmosphere every hour. Couldn't agree with
your more guy, Animals are not the problem, manners.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Catch all the latest from the land It's the Country
podcast with Jamie McKay thanks to Brent starkest of the
leading agriculture brands
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist in
John Deer construction equipment.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
My Rockin's heresday. It's better to fanning away.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
My.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Get a New Zealand and welcome to the Country. It's
brought to you by Brent. My name is Jamie McKay,
playing a little bit of Neil Young for you today.
One of the headline acts at Glastonbury. Pretty hot over there,
heat wave in Europe at the moment. You wouldn't describe
the weather in New Zealand at the moment as a
heat wave anything.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
But on of course, we've had.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Some bad flooding over the weekend, so we are going
to update what's happening in Marlborough and Nelson and the
far North with some farmers on the show today. So
Julian Rain, former President of Horticulture, and he's zelling to
kick off proceedings wearing both his horticulture and dairy hats.
(01:20):
A farmer well, they're a Northland dairy farmer slash MP
panel Grant McCallum and Mark Cameron for our Mark's coming
off dialysis to talk to us today. Few kidney issues.
He's a tough brute. Blair MacLean is our guy in Marlborough.
Tracy Brown's the chair of Dairy and Z. We've got
(01:40):
a new break even price for dairy farmers. You need
to get eight dollars sixty eight per kilogram of milk
solids or for a milk price, should I say, in
order to break even? And Phil Duncan on the weather,
we hope like hell there's not some more serious rain
coming later in the week. But Julian, rain it off
(02:00):
out of the Nelson region. Julian, you've been there a
long time. How bad was this one historically?
Speaker 6 (02:09):
Hi, Jamie, this is right up there. Historically the locals
are saying longest than living memory for those areas that
were really hard hit. So I'm expecting sort of a
one and one hundred euro eap.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Well, what sort of rainfall numbers did you get? Because
I think, for instance, and he'll update the number, no doubt.
Blair McLean over in Marlborough over the Hill, I think
they were into the two hundreds.
Speaker 6 (02:35):
What about you guys, Yes, definitely in the mid to
high two hundreds. Rangers probably generally two fifty to three
hundred and the Golden Bay they hit half a meter.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
So what about the damage, because we've seen and you'll
have to remind me of the place. They had it
on the news last night. Seventy k's inland that got
absolutely wiped out.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
The place helped me.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Here, khatu is that where? Yeah, where they've lost the
state highway Sex and still trying to put it all
back together.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Yeah, so you know, terrible numbers.
Speaker 6 (03:16):
Yeah, very high. It was quite uneven. So those people
who got smashed got really smashed. And it was it
was big rainfalls, you know, plus twenty five mills an
hour for you know, quite long periods like six hours,
and then it stopped and then it came back and
again for a good measure. So those higher areas had
(03:39):
quite intense rainfall. And the rain's got to go somewhere,
so it goes downhill.
Speaker 7 (03:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Absolutely. The some annoying noise in the background.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
Is that you or me?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Now?
Speaker 6 (03:49):
It's me Unfortunately it's a phone going off on a
desk of it never might stop.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Okay, well, well, thank you very much. It doesn't take
much to put me off. Carry on.
Speaker 6 (04:01):
So the Motorwacre Valley, the lower Military and the Dovedale
areas were particularly bad hit, badly hit. There's road closed
is everywhere, there's bridge approaches gone, there's houses that have
water through it, the sheds that have gone under water.
(04:22):
There's vehicles, tractors, various orchard equipment. There's been a lot
of land lost and top sort of stripped, particularly in
the Motorwaca Valley. You can't get to it at the moment,
but neighbors and friends have told me that, yeah, it's
(04:44):
as bad as I've ever seen.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yeah, and you know, it's one thing having damages to fences,
but fences can be rebuilt. Strip top soils are much
harder ask it is.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
And this was areas that were in past you it
wasn't like bareground. But to see it just taken away
as if a scraper had been in there, It's just amazing.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
It's going to take a long time to recover from this.
What sort of support is available on the ground for
farmers and growers and just everyday people in your region.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
Everyone got clubbed.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
Yes, well, we've kind of coming together, as communities and
neighbors do in these sorts of times. Rural supporters getting
out and about and I know Richard Kempthorne has activated
that and he's bringing together his advisors and that will
(05:39):
progress and due course, fed Farmers, Hart end z Ed
have all been active in the area and the Mayor's
kicked off a mirror relief fund to help. But it's
really people is what we need. We need resources and
I'm sure the local council would dearly love a bit
(06:02):
of a hand with from central government to fix some
of these key roads that we have in the region
that have disappeared.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, and do you need it, mean, you obviously do
need a rain radar, but would that have helped. I mean,
this this flood was reasonably well signaled, was it not.
They were talking about evacuations on.
Speaker 7 (06:22):
Friday they were, And yes, yes, so definitely we would
certainly appreciate the rain radar that will tell you where
that the areas.
Speaker 6 (06:35):
The rain is going to target. And I think some
people that thought it was going to be just a
one in five year event were shot that it was
a one and one hundred year event. That's the bit Jamie,
that we dearly need that additional view of what's actually
(06:57):
happening out in the region so we can get resons
of the right places.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I guess if there's one positive, and I'm going to
sound like too much of a Pollyanna, now's not a
bad time of the year to get a flood. There's
no good time, I know that, But I mean, if
it was spring, for instance, you're lambing or carving. You've
got trees, vineyards, trees actively growing. They're in a state
of dormancy at the moment.
Speaker 6 (07:23):
Yes, you're dead, right, Jamie. If there was one good
thing that came out of it. As the timing, we've
got no crops out there other than the local veggie growers,
which haven't been as affected as the rest.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
And.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Well it might be time to kick you here to
touch Hey, listen, I know you've flat out you've got
a lot on your plate, even with your own farming operations.
So thank you very much for your time. We do
appreciate it. Julian Rain.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Thanks Jamie.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
There we go. That fine is annoying, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
It is coming up to cought up past twelve quarter
past the hour here on the country up next, and
I think they had some rain up there as well.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I better check.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I was involved in a rugby reunion over the weekend,
so I sort of got out of the news cycle,
which I'm normally totally immersed in. But anyhow so we'll
chat to our Northland dairy Farmer MP panel Grant McCullum
and Mark Cameron. Grants, the MP for Northland National Markers
(08:25):
of course from the ACT Party, one of their ag
people doing a good job. Good bloke talks a lot
of common sense, Mark Cameron. I'm not saying that Grant doesn't.
We're going to head over the hill to Marlborough from
where Julian Rain was to catch up with Blea MacLean,
our guy in Blenham, Tracy Brown from Dairy en Z
and I guess importantly for those of you who have
(08:46):
been hammered by the floods over the weekend Friday and
Saturday in particular, we'll see if there's any respite for
you from the weather gods, because there is talk of
another lot coming later in the week. Phil Duncan on
before the end of the hour, when you're.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Out of the blue and into.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
The blood, welcome back to the country. How good is
Neil Young? I wonder if he was any good at Glastonbury.
(09:31):
Michelle can find that out for me. Some people just
get too old and they need to be moved on.
People make that criticism of me. I can't believe that.
Here's today's farmer panel, a couple of Northland dairy farmers
who are also MPs. As I said, Grant McCallum and
(09:53):
Mark Cameron. Mark, I just want to say thanks for
coming on the show today. You've got a few health
battles at the moment and you've just basically come off
dialysis to chat to us.
Speaker 8 (10:02):
Good afternoon, goods and my friend, I hear ever the woe,
but I'm still here. As my grandmother would say, you're back,
So I still pointed to the ground. So yeah, Look,
it's a challenge and it's one of the one of
these things that you have to go through as part
of the journey. And Mike and so certainly cut of mine.
But hey, look I'm still alive. I still desperately live
(10:24):
rural New Zealand and what I'm doing in Parliament, so
hopefully I can square this up and go back to work.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Now.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
You want to talk about flooding today. We've talked already
about flooding at the top of the South Island. How
did the top of the North Island go?
Speaker 8 (10:40):
Mark By all testament pretty well. I mean the flash
floods sort of came and went, Jamie, so look we saw,
you know, localized flooding, localized damage. But I you know,
I think the heartstrength have been pulled in the South Island.
They're getting whacked. They're getting whacked again, I believe down
the west coast of the South Island. And it's hey,
(11:01):
look it is doomed. We're having our shortest day of
the year just been and we're getting towards the equinox.
It's it's suficl but it's it's hard work, especially felt
by real people.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Grant McCallum joins us. Now you've you've been on your
soapbox grunt over carbon farming. Good on you for doing that.
But I notice that Dennis Neilson and his henchmen are
onto you.
Speaker 9 (11:25):
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, get and everybody. Hey, just great
to have you on board. Mark, and just quickly, I
just think I'd like to acknowledge the party of the
taking tome own cash Hemp. I mean, that's just a
real tragedy. It was a real shock to the system
on Thursday when it occurred, and it just shows how
important our health is. To us, and I just say
(11:47):
to your mate, Mark, mate, just look after yourself as
number one kind of things. But you know, I mean
genuinely mean that, because you're doing a great you do
about a good job and you have got a lot
of fun, You got family there, So keep that in mind.
Now with respect to Dennis and go, Yeah, well they
would have the whole country cabin and pine tree.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Dennis heard. Nothing would please them more than just have
everything planted and pine tree.
Speaker 9 (12:10):
I'm sorry, but that's not the way the world's going
to It needs to work. New Zealand's we've got a
great production forestry industry and I support them wholeheartedly. But
the carbon farming, he is throwing a real that the
real into the marketplaces. It's skewed the market, you might say.
And so we're looking to fix that because I think
long term everyone can see we don't need all this
(12:33):
really good, easy role in clean country put into pine
trees just for carbon farming. It's got to stack up
for production forestry by itself to do that. And I
think that's and that's a bit we don't we're looking
to fix just so quick. Plug Hehead gaming submissions are
now open until Monday next week for the Environment Select Committee,
which I set on. So please, af you'reance in this topic,
(12:55):
it would be great to get a submission in if
we want to get this law changed and get a
bit of bouts back to the partial sector.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
And Mark Catherin, I know you wanted to talk about
the ets. We've got the settings wrong.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
Oh, absolutely absolutely. I mean I think the thing is
we've got a capital missions here in New Zealand. And
just one note, you see our industry being heavily affected
by the activities of that ees. It was skewed and
its original inception and I know still today has a
false flaw in the market in terms of its settings
(13:30):
to do with its price. And really and truly I
think the government needs to get out of the way.
In a natural environment, a natural market would see natural
market forces consumer demand and you'd see that price come down.
I think in this instance now what we've seen is
the reverse of that, where the government has partner with
the private sector said look we'll help you out, you
(13:51):
help us out to drive down emissions, but there's subsidized
and then when you've got a false floor, the government
almost becomes an undibitter in the pro and unfortunately grants
one hundred percent correct. We see the pastical sector flooded
with blisted pine trees, and just one final remark, game
we know pine eventually ends back in the carbon cycle.
(14:13):
At some point, those bloody trees they fall over windfall,
they either get burnt in some far off contry. But
the reality is this is about global emissions and we
just cannot plant our way out of it.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Totally one hundred percent agree with you. You also wanted
to talk Mark Cameron, excuse me about commodity prices.
Speaker 8 (14:34):
Yeah, look, it's to celebrate how damnably good we are
in rural New Zealand. You know, I I saw the
numbers the other day, twenty seven billion dollars for the
dairy industry, a plug for the beef sector. They're doing dwelve.
You know, horticulture is nine. I believe as far as
I can recollect most of the other industries for strou
was too so good to see the primary sector being
(14:57):
the fiscal backbone of what it was. Other I was
pretty doomy and gloomy fiscal economics for the country where
we're slowly getting into the black and Jamie, it's a
bloody good story.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
That is a bloody good story.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Grant McCullum, you'll be happy that the Mike Hosking Highway
is now one hundred and ten kilometers an hour one.
Speaker 9 (15:16):
Hundred percent mate. That was a grade announce sort of
wake up to this morning. I know they've been working
through that, so I'm about to go and drive on it.
But the last day at one hundred and then I
come home tomorrow I'm going back. I'm going shooting down
to Wellington because we have the Youth Parliament on for
each Today's Jamie. I thought, so I'm down there to
go down there to support my young guy. Just show
the sort of senses you might have to put up
(15:37):
with a parliament, Jamie. Everyone gives me a hard time.
They reckon I was possibly so Keith holy Yoaks youth MP,
which you know, everyone seems to think that that's a
you know, a possibility, but no, look, it's a great opportunity.
I'm looking forward to go down and support them and
having that road at one hundred and ten. Finally, Mike
Costing might be even slightly happy with the government.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well exactly then what we need to do, and you
guys will be great proponents for this. You need the
four lane highway obviously from Auckland to fung Array, but
we just need more of them around the country. I'm
doing a fundraiser and to Pook even August and that's
a great road from Talannga out there.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Well, imagine if.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
We had those all dotted all over the country and
we could actually move things quickly and get to places quickly.
Bloody Julianne Jener and a bike lane.
Speaker 9 (16:26):
Don't you start me, Jamie. She honestly, she has got
a different view of the world. She thinks we should
all be running around on bicycles and drive and buses.
It's just crazy stuff, mate, And regionally, Zione doesn't work
that way, never has, never will. We need really good
roads and National is a big support of the road
up here, always has me and the next one, next
(16:46):
stage you'll be started before the the middle next year
and then well then we're going to carry on planning
the way all the way to fung Array. But you
won't get it, Juliana, and back in charge.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Well, back in charge.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
I think I'll get on a highway and drive to
the airport and keep going, not come back. Hey, Mark
Cameron Thanks for your time, mate, and hope you go well,
hope your health battles go well.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
Thanks bag you absolute legend to take care and we'll
talk to mate.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah, and to you Grant all all the best, all
the best. Just don't go too just don't go too
woke on me.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
All right, Well you are just insufferable, Jamie. You go
and you pay, go pay your subtagrams. Well where you go.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
There we go.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Grant McCallum, Mark Cameron, the Northland dairy farmer and MP panel.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Up next, we are going to chat to Liam McLean.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I think he said he would be ready for us
at twelve thirty. We will have a yarn to him.
He's based in Blenham. How did they fare over the
hill from the Nelson region? That's up next on the Country.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Because with you, I want to see you dancing again.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Because continuing the update on the flooding theme here on
the Country, we've heard it wasn't too flash in Nelson.
Let's head over the hill to Marlborough. Our guy there
is Blair Blizzard MacLean from fruit Fed supplies our viticulture correspondent,
the Caleb Clark of Marlboro. I'll come back to that one.
(18:40):
But on a serious note, Blair, you sent me a
picture of Cherry Bank Orchard. That's your cherry orchard in Blenham,
or just outside of Blenham, and all I can see
is water.
Speaker 10 (18:52):
Yeah, Jamie, Yeah, we've had a fairly here this pairly
major event here and the top of the South including Nelson. Yeah.
I think our place.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
We were at two thirty.
Speaker 10 (19:02):
Two mills last looked at. Most of that came on
Friday and Saturday. I think one of the days we
had one hundred and sixty mills or something. So she
just fair cloud down here in the in the in
the sunny Marlborough.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
And even more rain in the Marlborough sounds.
Speaker 9 (19:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (19:18):
Yeah, somehow we've got some work colleagues out that way.
When they were they were recording three twenty three thirty
odd mills of rain. So yeah, just yeah, cause a
bit of damage. Anything around rivers. Vineyards certainly got a
fair whack. There's some flood banks that broke a bit
further up the way. Hoopei Valley, Wire Valley got fairly
(19:41):
well hammered to. All that stuff that's sort of in
that direction from the from the west where it came
the awaity had the Arati River was at ae hundred
year flood record number. Our Wire River, it was banked
to bank and still pretty much as I think there
was a about three eight hundred two weeks. So yeah,
(20:04):
a lot of water in a short time.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
So historically, how does it relate to other big floods
in the region.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
Seems to be every four years. Twenty twenty one was
our last one. Big event which was similar to seventeen
was another one. So we've had some big one hundred
year or twenty five year old floods pretty close together.
In the bearing of mind, we've got the most sunshine
hours here in Marlborough last year. So yeah, it's all
(20:33):
over the place, but massive cleanup this week really and
hopefully that forecasts for the end of the week doesn't
come true.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Absolutely more about that hopefully with Phil Duncan on that one.
So if you're going to get a flood and have
water lying in vineyards and cherry orchards or orchards, I
suppose now's not a bad time of the year because
the plant's basically well in winter.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Dormancy.
Speaker 10 (20:59):
Yeah, you're right, everything's dormant. Now we've had looking at
the winter chill hours, which are temperatures below seven degrees
from the first to May, we're at about six or
seven hundred hours, and everything's dormant, everything shut down.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
So if this.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
Flood had happened as it did obviously in the Hawk's
Bay area a couple of years ago when they had
the cyclone this area, if this event had happened in
spring or in summer, yeah, it would not be good
at all, but least it would happen in the winter,
and a fair bit of it has drained away. The
wire hours back down now, but it's just all the
(21:36):
clean up, all of the sludge and all of the
low lying areas has still actually got a bit of water.
It's still quite a bit of pumping going on of water.
So yeah, it doesn't shouldn't affect vines or trees, no.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Not to mention fencing and stuff. Permanent structures like that
take a bit of a threshing as well.
Speaker 9 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
Yeah, And there's certainly some big flood banks up the
WAYHOPEI area that being breached, so there's and there was
a lot of money spent on fixing those in the
last few years. So yeah, a bit more work to
repair all those again. So yeah, we're just sort of
some recovery mode.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Yeah, okay, and I get that, but it compounds a
tough year for the wine industry.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
That's right.
Speaker 10 (22:17):
Yeah, so we are. You know, we've got fifty million
leaders surplus of seven and blanc that we are trying
to work through. And I think that equates to like
our harvest that we just had, which was four hundred
thousand tons, it equates to a million bottles a day
that everyone has to drink, and they includes you, Jamie.
I know I's had a big weekend, but you might
have to top yourself up. So we're can drink a
(22:38):
million bottles to day in the world to move our
twenty and twenty five minach.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
No, no, I'll be alcohol free this week, mind you.
I did go to a rugby reunion forty years on.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
The eighties were a great time, Blair, but we were
sixty five year olds carrying on like twenty five year olds.
But anyhow, I'm wondering. And I did reference you as
the Caleb Clark of Blenham because you did, And I
know you hate me dragging up the stat but I
love it. You played three years on the wing for
the rocksborgh senior team and never scored a try. The
bloke on the other side, Johnny McKinnell got about forty
(23:12):
or fifty.
Speaker 10 (23:14):
Yes, we'll be a pretty quick reunion for me. Won't
have to reminisce me. I'll have a lot, But Johnny
be happy. Yeah no, we went for a bit of
a poor passionate But it sounds like you're the great
week in Jamie and really happy for you.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Well, I can't wait till you have your reunion and
reminisce on those three great seasons. But I'm sure you
provided plenty of try assists.
Speaker 10 (23:33):
Yeah no, I don't think I do that either. But anyway,
we had a good time planned for Roxford.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Good on you, and I'm sure Caleb Clark will break
has duck as well, hopefully for the All Blacks Blare
Blizzard MacLean, thanks for your time, good luck with the cleanup.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
And the Marlborough. Thanks Jamie, Thanks Blaire.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
It is I shouldn't do that, should I? It's like
telling Big Stu Duncan who nearly qualified for the nineteen
ninety Commonwealth Games one hundred meters one hundred and ten meter,
isn't it her, so you've got to be quick to
do that. Yet he finished his finished out footy.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
Career in the front row. There you go.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
What was I going to ask you something? But I've
just completely forgotten about it. I will regather my thoughts.
Still getting over the licking the wounds from the weekend, Michelle.
After the break, we've got sixth or seventh contestants for
the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Region off, so
you're going to hear from Gareth mkirche. We'll have rural
(24:32):
news and sports news for you. Tracy Brown good to
catch up with her last week in christ Church out
of Dairy and Zaid and Phil Duncan. And we'll sort
out the weather for you for later in the week.
Hopefully the weather forecasters have got this one wrong.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
It's all on the country.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Because I'm filling love.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Today's FMG Young Farmer Region representative as Gareth mkirchheer for
al Rangye. Okay, Gareth, you've got sixty seconds to sell
your region to the rest of the country after you go.
Speaker 11 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, guys, it's Gareth mckirchey year. But he'd have
to be representing the Arangu region at this year's FMG
Young Farmer of the Year alongside some great Egrey kids
and our good term of juniors as well. This year
running alongside the condition of the FMG Region Off, we
go online to FMG dot co dot and vote for
(25:34):
the best region in the country, which we all of
course know as.
Speaker 12 (25:38):
Arangi, right in the heart of Kenbury.
Speaker 11 (25:41):
You can't beat it.
Speaker 12 (25:42):
Team with the most points has a cash donation to
go towards this charity of their choice. This year, I've
chosen to support I actually cartin Ryal scheme. We have
been supporting children with intellectual disabilities and families for the
last forty years. Get behind a good cause.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Times up. Thanks Scaret.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Where you've just heard Gareth mcurchi's pitch for Arangi and
now it's over to you to vote in the FMG
Region Off. Go to FMG dot co dot NZ forward
slash Region Off and vote before July the fifth.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Countries Worldviews with cold Cadet New Zealand's leading right on
lawn Bower brand. Visit steel Ford dot co dot inz
for your locals doggist and.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
I might break the habit of a lifetime and vote
for Gareth and the Region Off. Even though I'm supporting
Otago Southland obviously because Gareth's giving his charity of choices
Therese CARF and Rural Scream Scheme, Great Charity others.
Speaker 13 (26:40):
They're all doing some amazing charities. If you want to
catch up on any of those young farmer little bits
that we've been doing, you can go to our Facebook
page and find them on there. There's little excerpts from
all of them, find out which charities they're supporting, and
then click through to the links you can vote and
just an update on the results over the weekend. Now
they've gone a bit gangbusters on the numbers, Jamie with
the regions. At the moment, a Targo Southland region, which
(27:03):
is represented by Grand finalist Cameron Smith is top with
two thousand, two hundred and thirty two points. Then hot
on the heels as Jock Bawk's team from Taranaki Munua
two sitting at twy two hundred and twenty five points,
only seven points behind, and a third place is Tasman
led by George Leatham with sixteen hundred and seventy three points,
(27:23):
And further down the leaderboard we have Yakatobay of Plenty
represented by regional chair Georgia Young who holds twelve hundred
and ninety one points. East Coast with James Robbie is
on eleven hundred and thirty seven and our Rangi is
with Gareth mccutchey. We just heard one thousand and forty
one points and Northern brings up the rear with Justin
Ryegrock with eight hundred and twenty five but all moving
up very quickly. You have five till five pm on
(27:45):
Saturday to get those votes out.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Now, the prize is for the winning region in the
region off five thousand to your chosen charity, one thousand
dollars to the senior contestant, one thousand dollars split split
among junior contestants, a thousand dollars for the Agri Kids
contestants and voters. Any of you people out there who
vote will go into the draw for a five hundred
(28:08):
dollars bonfire gift card. And as Michelle said, voting closes
five pm July the fifth, and of course we'll find
out who the Young Farmer Grand Final winner is on
Saturday night.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Just quickly. You've got a sharing update, yeah.
Speaker 13 (28:24):
Just quickly. So of course we have Tyler Henderson and
Jack Fagan, who are over in the UK at the moment.
They did pretty well, but it wasn't quite good enough
over the weekend, so Scotland's experience Joe, Gavin Much and
Callum Shure edged out Henderson and team mate Jack Fagan
by just two point nine points and the New Zealand
team now prepares for the next testing is England at
(28:44):
the Great Yorkshire Show on July nine.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
I don't know how the Scots can claim Gavin much.
He's been here for years. We should have him in
our team anyhow, or there you go. I suppose he's
used to sharing the Scottish sheep. That's rural news for you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Sport with a f go g we to bone since
nineteen oh four.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
And on the Sports News this morning we were discussing
and I know that the Hosqua was on his show.
How much Cristiano Renardo gets paid a year. It's a
couple of hundred million bucks a year, which I'm feeling
a bit sorry for Lebron James because he has set
for a record twenty third season in the NBA, But
his agent Rich Paul has told SPN that the Los
(29:25):
Angeles Laker Ford is only getting ninety two million dollars
a year, Holly only for twenty five twenty six campaign.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
And you and I were discussing.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
The highest paid sports people.
Speaker 5 (29:40):
Basketball's one, is it?
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Oh?
Speaker 13 (29:41):
Yeah, so the highest paid sports Basketball with the NBA
is and number one. Baseball, which is the MLB in
America is number two, and soccer the Premier League is
number three.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Yeah, I would, And yeah, you wonder if there's a
really big fight, like in a year with the Tyson
Usika fight, that those guys might be up there as well.
Telephone numbers. Right up next, Tracy Brown out of Dairy
and z Before the end of the year, Phil Duncan
on the Weather.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Leaves Miss.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
It was good to catch.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Up with this lady at the Primary Industry Summit and awards.
The chair of Dairy and ZED, Tracy Brown. She milks
six hundred and eighty cows with the hobby Win and
Mada Matta near Hobbiton. But today at Tracy, you are
on the show to talk, amongst other things, about the
break even point for dairy farmers. This is the Dairy
and Z E contractor a tracker. Should I say we
(30:41):
need eight dollars sixty eight per kilogram of milk solars
just to break even.
Speaker 5 (30:44):
That's a rather high number.
Speaker 14 (30:47):
Yeah, it is pie And really what's happened, Jamie, is
the cost of input prices has increased at a greater
rate than the rate that the milk price has increased at,
so it has caused squeeze for farmers.
Speaker 6 (31:01):
So that's gone.
Speaker 14 (31:01):
The baking milk price has gone up twenty seven cents
on last season's number.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Yeah, I'd haven't bought fertilizer for a number of years,
probably since I was last playing footy for Riversdale. That's
how long ago since I bought fertilizer. But in the
last year phosphate phosphate prices are up thirty four percent,
urea up forty percent.
Speaker 14 (31:22):
Didn't realize that, Yep, that's that's been significant. Crude oil
prices have recently surged by seventeen percent with the instability
in the Middle East. Feed prices are up sort of
six to thirty seven percent, with exception of p K,
which has sort of down slightly, but other feed costs
are up. You know, energy is up, so yeah, there
(31:45):
are some price there are some pressures there for farmers.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Well, let's hope the payout stays around that ten dollars
mark or even mid to high nines. We would take,
wouldn't we, Tracy.
Speaker 14 (31:58):
I think that a number with the ten would be good, Jamie.
I think that would keep most people happy.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Yeah, good on you.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Now at Field Days, you guys launched resilient Pastures and
this is to try and get our pastures to persist longer.
And I put it to you in the commercial break
before we went to air that you guys in the
North have bigger problems than us guys in the South
because you just get more pets and diseases due to
(32:25):
the temperatures.
Speaker 14 (32:27):
Yeah, and this has become a bigger show with climate
change show in Northland. We've been farmers up there have
been losing one ton of dimetter hectare per decade and
out of the ykatto it's half a ton. But I
think the thing that's important Jdi is Watt's loomed to
Northland and the top of the North Island will provide
solutions across the whole country going forward is you know,
(32:47):
is every wear potentially heats up. So the huge investment,
big collaboration, seventeen million dollar project over seven years. We're
pretty excited. As a seventeen farm have expressed an interest
in being involved in the research just since we've announced
the launch of the projects, so that's really really positive.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Well, another exciting news from Dry and Zed Tracy Brown,
your economic survey has been going for sixty years? Is
that longer than the beef and lamb and Z one
or whatever they were back in the day the Meat
Board won.
Speaker 14 (33:20):
The Meat and All Boards economics. I've been going slightly longer,
but we've been going since the nineteen sixties. Really interestingly,
back then, Jamie, the average farm ninety two cows across
fifty nine hectares one point six cows per hectare. Later on,
now in the sort of the twenty tens, we're more
(33:42):
like sort of fourteen to four forty cows on one
hundred and forty four hectores two point nine cows per hectare.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
So you can sort of feed.
Speaker 14 (33:52):
The productivity gains that have been made over that.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Time, and we're only getting bigger in terms of herd sizes.
Has farm's amalgamate.
Speaker 14 (34:01):
Yeah, I think we're getting more efficient though, too, so
that's good news, but I think it's really important to
have this kind of long run data because it helps
us look at how the sectors change. It helps us
support national international reporting on dairy. So we're really proud
that we're able to celebrate sixty years of the Economic
Service Now survey.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
Yeah, you have great news.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Just to finish on as I said at the beginning,
you're farming there, Madam Mata their Hobbarton six hundred and
eighty cows. When do you start carving in the Wacado region.
Speaker 14 (34:31):
Middle of July, So yeah, it's just around the corner, really, Jamie.
For us, things are looking pretty good and I know
a lot of people cross up and down the country,
we including us. We had real drought conditions in the summer,
but our autumn's been not too bad, so we've recovered
pretty well. So you would have seen too that the
(34:52):
season small production was up significantly, up two point nine
percent on last year at one point eight eight billion
brands to one point nine four billion cag's and mock solids.
So yeah, that was good news for Deiry as well.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Tracy Brown, good to catch up with you last week
in Christchurch. All the best for carving just around the corner.
Speaker 14 (35:13):
Yep, thanks very much shamey, have a.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
Good day, seven away from one, Thanks Tracy. Hey, remember
today's also your last chance to enter the Rabobank Good
Deeds competition. We got five thousand dollars cash up for
grabs plus a day's labor from the many hands at
Rabobank and someone from the country will turn up and
do it a little bit. So go to the Rabobank
website to enter that one for your community rural project.
(35:39):
You can't do that, Text good to five double nine
and we'll send you back. The direct link to enter
Rabobank Good Deeds closes today, so you've got to be
in amongst it. Get some money and some labor for
your good rural community project. Up next, Phil Duncan on
the Weather wrapping the country with our guy from weather Watch,
(36:03):
Phil Duncan, Faill, You're lucky I don't shoot the messenger
on this show, or you may not survive the slot.
You're telling me there's some more rain coming later this week.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yeah, Oktay, nice to be back on here with you. Yeah,
it's a double trouble really. You know, we've had one
big low come through end of last week and over
the weekend it fell apart and now we've got the
second one coming back in almost identical, but no lows,
no storms are ever the same, and so this is
going to affect different parts of the country, but there
(36:37):
is a chance of some heavy rain, especially around the
end of the week, So I run about Thursday going
into Saturday, and then for the North Island going into
Saturday as well, Thursday's probably the day with the biggest rainfall.
And so once again it's the top of the both
main islands. So we're seeing the sort of Nelson Tasman
area looking like they could get anywhere between about eighty
(36:57):
and one hundred and twenty millimeters later this week, which
is down from last week, but you know, you have
to remember it's on top of last week now. And
then for the North Island they have plenty at this
stage looks to be perhaps the most exposed, with at
least one hundred millimeters coming in quite a widespread sort
of area from totong Over to East Cape. So this
low is going to drag down subtropical wind that's a
(37:20):
lot like what we saw last week, and so when
you put the subtropical warmth in and some low pressure,
that allows those clouds to bubble up and bring us
those surprise little squalls or isolated downpours and things. So
I think we've still got to work out what this
is going to do. But yeah, certainly a bit of
a risk of severe weatheress around Thursday Friday and then
(37:41):
eases Saturday. Not nationwide for that whole time, but just
different parts of the country.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Okay, Phil duncan there you go? Four Warned is fore armed?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Just a really good text?
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Then from guys is Jamie, there will never be an
into carbon emissions while there are twelve to fourteen thousand
planes in the air at any given time, putting the
between seventy two thousand and eighty four thousand tons of
CO two into the atmosphere every hour. Couldn't agree with
your more guy, Animals are not the problem, manners.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Catch all the latest from the land It's the Country
podcast with Jamie McKay thanks to Brent starkest of the
leading agriculture brands
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