The Country Full Show: Monday, January 20, 2025

Jamie Mackay talks to David Seymour, Mike Casey, Tom Young, Tracy Brown, and Phil Duncan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's The Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thanks to Brient.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're specialist in John Deer construction equipment.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
And I'm proud to be an American where at least
nine No, I am fry and I won't forget.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
The man who died. We gave that right to me.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
And I'm gladly stand next to.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
You and if then hurst you today, cause there ram.

Speaker 5 (00:34):
No doubt I love this wand.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
God Bless the US.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Get Amy's Ellen's and welcome to the Country. I'm Jamie McKay.
First day back on the Tools for twenty twenty five.
You'll hear this tomorrow morning at about six am if
you're silly enough to get up and watch it. I
will be the Trump inauguration. This is Lee Grim with
God Bless the USA. How bad is this song? One

(01:02):
man who I'm sure will be keeping a keen eye
on it is David Seymour, act Party leader. He's going
to kick off the show today and then we're going
to have a look at the other sectors in the
primary sector a bit of a like a bit of
a school report card, but like NCA results. So Mike
Casey representing the horticulture industry, the chief executive of Electric Cherries,

(01:26):
Tracy Brown, new chair of Derry en Z, Tom Young
looking at red meat from AFCO, and Phil Duncan on
the weather. Some parts of the country since I was
last on here have had some good rain and other
parts haven't had much in the getting a bit dry,
but I guess that's just farming. So he's a wee
bit of Lee Greenwood. Just while I get David Seymour

(01:47):
online America. So we've got David Seymour. Welcome to the
country for the first time in twenty twenty five. You're

(02:08):
going to be the deputy Prime Minister this year. That'll
be a bit like pulling teeth Winston handing that job
over to you, won't it.

Speaker 6 (02:15):
He's already signed up to hand it over, so I'm
sure he'll be a man of his word.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Yeah, but hang on, we know wins David, We know
that Winston's changed his mind in the past.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
Well, he doesn't actually have a choice on this. It's
a deal, just like everything else that we've signed up to.
And unfortunately for our political opponents, this coalition has been
far more well oiled and united than the worst night mess.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah, although when I look at and by the way,
before I forget, we will be updating the Jamie Skiffington
world sharing record attempt and Danovirk Sorry, David, I just
need to get that out there. I forgot about it.
The record's eight hundred and seventy two. He was five
behind after two out of five runs. We're going to
get the update from his third run as he breaks

(03:01):
for lunch at midday. But back to you, David see
Moore apologies for that diversion.

Speaker 6 (03:08):
Important information.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
Well, that is you imagine sharing eight hundred and seventy
two lambs. He'll have to do eight hundred and seventy
three if he wants the world record in a nine
hour day. That's like about thirty just over thirty seconds
a lamb. Amazing. You've got to pull them out, David,
share them, chuck them down the porthole and get back
in for another one.

Speaker 6 (03:29):
Well, as you knows, as an urban MP, I just
find it something I can effortlessly imagine.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
Well, this guy is a great athlete. He was a
former professional squash player. Okay, let's get back to the government.
That taxpayer's union curier poll out last week National down
to under thirty percent, act down a webit, but you're
still the third biggest party in the popularity stakes. Do
you take much notice of these polls? Do they actually

(03:58):
matter this far out from an election?

Speaker 6 (04:02):
Yes and no, because it's feedback from voters and you've
got to listen to voters constantly or your toast. On
the other hand, that doesn't mean that the polsters are
always the most reliable messengers of voter feedback. I do
think it's worth looking at all the poles and averaging

(04:22):
them out, because you know, while one or two can
go road, they don't normally all get it wrong. And
what you see as a trend of X rising slightly,
the Greens on a long slow slip, which you can
imagine given the dramas that they've had, and you see
another allegation of shoplifting against the former Green MP just

(04:42):
this week, and maybe a slight decline from the net.
But basically the government holding a majority and very tough
economic times and AX looking pretty good. I overtaking the
Greens in a lot of recent polls to to be
the third party again. You know, we've got to be

(05:03):
happy with that and grateful to the people giving us
their support.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Should we be happy that to party Mari is on
five point three percent. They're not a political party, They're
a bunch of activists.

Speaker 6 (05:13):
Well that may be true. It's interesting. You know, they
won six seats, six Mahori electorates, and that meant that
because they only got about two percent of the party vote,
they created an overhang which advantages the left. When their
party vote goes up, that actually removes the overhand and

(05:34):
makes it easier for the right to win. So if
you follow the arithmetic, and I don't blame you if
you've got more interesting things to think about, but actually
this is good for us in a way.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
Now, the Trump inauguration six am, New Zealand time tomorrow.
As I said, I mean, this is one of the
great political comebacks of all time. Whether you love or
loathe Trump, what do you think as presidency will be? Well,
we will. He look to be, I don't know, more
statesman like perhaps in his second and last term. Does

(06:07):
he want to leave himself a legacy as a great
American president? I'm sure he does.

Speaker 6 (06:13):
Well, we'll see. I was talking to someone who claims
to have measum in the past, and their basic view
was that he is going to do his best to
be exactly as you described. I don't really know, and
it's not my job and not respectful for a New
Zealand government member to comment too much on that. What
I do know is that we're going to look up

(06:35):
for New Zealand's interests. So you trade is critical to
New Zealand. We've got to keep going out and making
the case that free trade is actually good for the world,
and particularly free trade and agriculture. I know that there's
going to be some pressure on defense. He's certainly saying
that he'd like to see other countries pay their way.
I think that there's a good case, as Mark Cameron

(06:56):
was making last week, that New Zealand at least needs
to level up with the Australians and start with an
ANZAC alliance before we go any further. I also think
that the level of stability in the world in general
could throw sorts of curve balls at us, and really
there's not a huge amount we can do about it
other than be aware and weary of But the final

(07:19):
thing about the Trump election, and I think you see
it all around the world. I think you're going to
have a new Canadian Prime minister pretty soon based on
their polling and political situation. You've got Malay in Argentina,
You've now got Trump in the United States for a
second time. Is that people are tired of being dictated

(07:39):
to and told that they're not actually really a part
of the society. They just have to take what they get.
And that's I think that the uprising that you're seeing
around the world. It's anti bureaucracy, it's anti government waste,
and actually I'm pretty pleased to see it. So if
that's what we see, more free speech, democracy, more direct action,

(08:02):
that's a great thing. And this year that's going to
come right May Reform.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Yep, this wit guess approach on is woke politics? So
twenty twenty four, now, is it a thing of the past.
Is this like a changing of the guard, a paradigm shift.

Speaker 6 (08:16):
Well, it feels like the woke have been put to
sleep again and that's good for all of us.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
Okay, now, just let's just finish on you. You're going to
become deputy Prime minister a bit later in the year, May,
I think, did you say May?

Speaker 6 (08:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (08:28):
Yeah, okay, May, if you can pride off Winston, good
luck with that. But in the meantime, you've got this
kerfuffle and that's probably a very mild word around the
treaty principal spill. You're getting what you want out of it.
But is this negative for the country.

Speaker 6 (08:44):
No, The country has been gradually divided over the last
twenty or thirty years, to the point where many people
quite openly say that the ethnic background is the first
thing they identify themselves with instead of New Zealanders, or
better still, just human beings with some time on earth

(09:04):
to make the most of. That's the reality of so
many policies and attitudes, not just three warders and consultation
on the Arima and the Mari Health Authority, which our
government can fix, but underlying attitudes to how schools are run,
how government departments are run, how our society operates. And
I think having a debate that's been widely embraced where

(09:28):
people who believe that we have equal rights, that our university,
the universal humanity trumps our sectional ethnic differences or ancestral differences.
That is a hugely positive thing, and yet there's a
lot of people uncomfortable about it because they're the ones
who have benefited from this divisive policy approach. We've shine

(09:53):
some lights on it. And even if this bill doesn't
go all the way, I can betch you that at
some point in the few someone's going to say, remember
that guy Sima or whatever happened to him. I think
he had a point there, and this idea that our
truthy gave us all equal right will be part of
New Zealand's constitutional future.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
David Semo, thanks for opening the show up for me
in twenty twenty five. It's going to be a big
year for you. You enjoy the inauguration tomorrow morning.

Speaker 6 (10:20):
Oh thank you very much and good to see you
back on here for another year.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Good stuff. David Seymour, Act Party leader. There some feedback
coming in. I'm with David Seema on defense, but I
think we should do it differently, focus on the SAS
and special forces than bolster that with drone technology. Yeah,
drones are a lot easier, as we've seen in the
Russian Ukraine War. They're quite deadly, aren't they. Mindie, we

(10:46):
can't do much when it comes to going to war.
All of our ships are either out of order or
that's sunk. Anyhow, Yeah, we're going to have to I
think the whole world might have to spend a wee
bit more on defense, whether we or they like it
or not. Right, So we're going to update that world
record sharing attempt. Jamie Skiffington. This guy gets up, goes

(11:09):
to the gym and then does a full day sharing
and then does a work out at the end of that.
Amazing He's trying to share eight hundred and seventy two
strong wall lambs and nine in a nine hour day.
So he has a two hour run and then four
one and three quarter hour runs. After run two he
was five off the pace, and I think in the
morning run he was the big run. He was two

(11:30):
off the pace, but that was two lambs that were deq'ed.
So this is probably going to go down to the wire,
and you would have to think Jamie Skiffington, with his
background a superbly fit athlete, we'll be able to hang
in for the day. So we'll update that third run
total for you as soon as it comes to hand.
Michelle Watt is on the job there. But up next

(11:51):
it's Mike Casey talking horticulture and I've got some good
news for you in New Zealand. I've got some cherries
to give away along mine, right, So today on the show,

(12:23):
we're going to have a look at the main exports
sectors and how they're going and what are the prospects
for twenty twenty five. Let's start with horticulture. Mike Casey,
he's the poster boy for Electrifying New Zealand. He is
the CEO of Electric Cherries and you guys and Central Otago, Mike,
certainly from Christmas onwards have probably had the best weather

(12:46):
in the country.

Speaker 5 (12:47):
Good afternoon, goodff noon, and happy news to you, Jamie. Yeah,
we started off the season pretty slow with not a
lot of sunshine hours and quite a bit of rain
which kind of washed the flavor out of the cherries
and delayed the season a little bit of But thankfully
January or just after Christmas has been really good to
us and we've got these We've got a lot of
cherries on the trees, most of them now. I think

(13:07):
we're down to one last harvest and then we're we're
done for the season. I think all in all, our
Central Otago cherry boys are pretty happy with the outcome.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Are you getting good money for your cherries?

Speaker 6 (13:18):
See, we don't know exactly yet.

Speaker 5 (13:20):
All indications are looking pretty good, but there's also a
lot of talk about the Chinese company not being in
the best shape at the moment. So we will find
out probably in the next couple of weeks about how
we feared in market. But all in all, I think
we're pretty confident we're going to get similar prices to
last year, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
Like all exports, you're going to be benefiting from this
the low exchange.

Speaker 5 (13:40):
Rate, that's the plan. Well, all going to plan. I
really hope that that dollar day's low until we get
all our cash in the door at least and then
and then maybe it can change.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
So I was also reading commentary Mike Casey over the
break from another cherry grower in Central Otago saying the
labor situation was just right, not too not too cold,
not too little, not too many.

Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yeah, we had a really good run with I think
pickers this year. I mean most of the pickers in
Central Otago are backpackers that are here to enjoy this
beautiful country of ours and do a bit of a
working sprint to get a bit of money in the door.
We had pickers from all over all over the world, really,
from Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, all the Europeans, the Frenches
and the Frenches and the Germans, and we had a

(14:24):
lot of South Americans as well. And yeah, I don't
think we really struggled for numbers this year in the industry,
which was pretty good. And yeah, I think that's a
lot to do with the fact that we probably had
a pretty good season. There was plenty of cherries to
pack and therefore a lot of money to be made.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
Now, reading also some of your commentary over the break
on X the artist formerly known as Twitter, I see
that you've said with the New Zealand dollar going down
on oil prices going up, it's the ideal time to electrify.
And you're talking about vehicles here. This is rather ironic
because we're ditching evs.

Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, there's just a I'm just a big fan at
the moment of figuring out how to generate as much
energy on farm as we can because that's the cheapest
energy we're going to get compared to buying energy from
Saudi Arabia. And yeah, at the moment, you know, there
has been changes with the market around EV's and that
kind of thing. But also when it comes to farming,
probably the biggest energy use we have in many cases

(15:20):
of irrigation, and so figuring out ways to generate energy
ourselves rather than buying for someone else's is a great
way to step forward in twenty twenty five and something
I'm really passionate about how do we lower farming pop
costs in different ways. To me, it's all about how
do we lower our energy bills.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
I note that you also said if all fifty thousand
farms in New Zealand went solar, we could boost renewable
energy by sixty percent, and if we chuck in two
million households that's another forty percent. The households I guess
are realistic with the solar panels on the roof, maybe
the farming one, and Jerry's out on that.

Speaker 5 (15:54):
Yeah, we just got to wait and see. Like the
main thing is to do the numbers and obviously what's
right for your farmers for your farm, it's not about
it's not about what's right or wrong. It's about what's
financially the you know, in your best interest essentially, And
what I'm finding at the moment is, you know, farmers
can still solar systems pretty cheaply on farm, which is
pretty cool. And actually, you know we can if you amateurize.

(16:16):
The cost we're looking at about say seven cents to
kill all hour for farmers to generate electricity, and that's
actually pretty cool because the spot price and then the
amount that the retailers are buying power off us for
is actually higher than that. So it is a good
opportunity to make a bit of money and something I'm
really passionate about.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Final question, what does twenty twenty five hold for Mike Casey,
the CEO of Electric Cherries.

Speaker 5 (16:40):
Yeah, so this year is for me what I think.
This is our first full production year. We're going to
get about eighty tons off the trees, which is really good.
So it's the first time we're going to be making
an actual reasonable profit on our operation, which is cool.
So we're going to consolidate on that and figure out
how we can push that forward. My main goal at
the moment the cherry game is to figure out how

(17:01):
we can sell more and more export quality cherries to
New Zealanders rather than shipping them all overseas. I think
you know, we've had thousands of orders this year and
my main goal is to figure out how to grow
that further and make sure everyone in New Zealand who
wants the best cherries in the world. Because New Zealand
and Central Otago does grow the best cherries in the world,
are able to get them.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
Oh yes, and one more, Mike Casey before I let
you go the cherry on top. You can't be beaten
by Blair Blizzard MacLean with your commentary about Central Otago
cherries being the best. You need to walk the walk
as well as talk the talk. He gave away a
couple of boxes before Christmas. I challenge you to do
the same.

Speaker 5 (17:37):
Yeah. Well, I currently a fellow Centralago cherry grower, Reese,
who gave away those cherries get all the glories. So
I'd like to offer a couple of two kilo boxes
of export cherries up for your list them as well
some sort of competition. You get to make the competition up, Jamie.
But this is the best variety of cherry in New
Zealand in my opinion. It's a variety called Centennial. It

(17:58):
is probably the last variety to be which means it's
had just amazing sunlight hours for a good couple of months.
It's firm, it's crisp, and it's got the most intricate
set of flavors I think on the market. So yeah,
for your listeners, give them a quiz, a pop quiz
or something like that and let me know who's what.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
I'll tell you what, Mike want it out, I'll make
it nice and simple for them. Our text numbers five
double oh nine text me with electric cherries and then
your name and your full courier address. If you don't
get that right, you can't win. Okay, five double o
nine right, electric cherries, your name and your full courier address.
We will announce the winners on tomorrow's show. Go well, Mike.

(18:35):
Always good to catch up.

Speaker 5 (18:37):
Thanks jermy luck.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
Thank you, Mike. It is twenty nine after twelve. You
are with the country. Michelle, what has wandered in here
with a cup of tea for me? First day back
on the tools. Thank you for that, Michelle. And before
people think I'm a massogynous side for making you make
me a cup of tea, I didn't even ask and
I bought you a coffee this morning. Welcome back, that's true.
Welcome back, well, welcome back to me. Yeah. Yeah, you've

(19:03):
been on the job for a week with Rowena. Thank
you for holding the fort. Now we're updating that sharing
record and you're going to go into it in more
depth in Rural News. But basically, Jamie Skiffington trying to
set that new world record at danavk eight hundred and
seventy two lambs and a nine hour day. He is
now one. He's six behind at lunchtime. He will need

(19:25):
to do one hundred and seventy three lambs or average
one hundred and seventy three lambs in each of those
one and three quarter hour runs. That is going to
be a big ask, but he is super fit. We'll
update that one for you. And with the cherries, remember
electric cherry. Spell it properly, give us your name and

(19:45):
your full courier address. You're going nuts on it already,
but we're going to be very strict on this. You've
got to spell it correctly. We're giving one to the
north and one to the south. And having spent the
weekend and Mike's neck of the woods Cromwell, I can
tell you the cherry at the moment out of that
part of the country to die for. That's not to
say that the cherries out of Blenheim Lizard aren't good

(20:07):
as well. So this is Billy Ray Cyrus and is
it little nas A little nas yah. Yeah, they've gone
little nas this And you'll hear Billy Ray at the
Trump inauguration tomorrow morning six o'clock. I'll be up for
a look at that one. But up next that's Tom
Young and red Meat. So you've already heard from Mike

(20:42):
Casey about horticulture. Let's look at red meat. Our man
to make commentaries, Tom Young, National livestock Manager for AFCO. Tom.
Over the break, the New Zealand dollar almost fell out
of bed against the American dollar. We're trading it under
fifty six US since that certainly helped the cause of
red meat farmers in this country. Good afternoon and happy

(21:04):
New Year.

Speaker 7 (21:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
Likewise, Jamie, nice to talk after. I'm sure you had
a good Christmas break and enjoyed some time away.

Speaker 4 (21:12):
Yeah I did, although I had too long off to
be perfectly on a smike. I got bored and my
golf went from bad to worse. But that's my problem.
The good news is it's rained, actually in a lot
of places that needed rain. But I'm looking at my
drought index map from Niwa here and I'm seeing that
the west side of the North Island is sort of
the dry part of the country. Now you're of course

(21:32):
based in Hawk's Bay.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yeah, so the Hawk's Bay head rain or I had
good rain. East Coast hit good rain probably two or
three weeks ago, anywhere from one hundred miles to I
think gisbe wire or might even have got two three
hundred in places. So yeah, the East coast is looking
pretty good, which is highly unusual for late January, so
we were pretty much shutting the gates, and early December
it was all over. I mean it's turned around a lot,

(21:56):
a lot of rain in the daytime. Temperatures have dropped
so much along with the wind that sort of those
westerly ones went away and we're off again. So very unusual.
But I think as we speak there's rain working its
way down the country now, so we've got I think
the far north he had one hundred odd mills last night,
and it's working its way down. Auckland's supposed to get
some today and then and find its way fur the south,

(22:17):
so hopefully everyone gets a bit of a drink out.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
Let's look at that New Zealand dollar fifty six US
since it really has helped the cause of the red
meat industry.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
It certainly has. I mean where prices are sitting now
for both both beef and lamb. I don't think a
few if you spoke to farmers six or twelve months
ago and said you'd be getting high sevens for lamb
in late January, they have thought we had rocks in
their head because it was obviously pretty dire. So we've
seen a big turnaround for lamb, for the ovine products,

(22:48):
and we've also seen record pricing on beef. So this
red meat sector, if you're farming and you've got stock
to sell, is in a pretty good spot at the moment.

Speaker 4 (22:55):
The problem for you guys in the processing industry is
there's not enough stock coming forward. It's just not there.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
No, no, it's not. And I mean just looking at
the South Island as an example. The South Island now
was six hundred thousand lambs behind the same time last year.
So you know, a big sheet plant can do over
a million lambs, easily over a million lambs a year.
So we're closing up on leeding another I suppose another
plant shut. So the North Islands are saying we're back

(23:22):
a but on kettle numbers, lamb numbers are probably a
little bit of head in the North Island. Probably the
weather threw some lambs out pre Christmas anyway, before this
rain on the East coast, so it's those numbers are
slightly ahead. But beef and lamb are forecasting I think
a million there slams for the season between both islands.
So those numbers aren't great really from a processing perspective,

(23:45):
and there needs to be more rationalization to make this
thing more efficient.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
So let's have a look at lamb versus beef. You've
mentioned lamb sitting at just under eight dollars. It's a
good price, but it's not a great price. Ten dollars
would be much better. How's beef?

Speaker 3 (23:57):
Thearing Well beef a record high, So beef's beef tracking
high six and even seven dollars for billand prime in
both islands, So that's well, that's the best I've ever seen,
and I've been doing job for eleven years now, so
there's certainly nothing wrong with it. I guess the hardest
part of killing any animals, now beef animals, is finding

(24:19):
replacements at the right price, and obviously, you know, obviously
it's pretty hard to find anything for less than probably
four dollars a kilo or what have you for animals
to go back onto the farm. So there's always a
risk when you're killing at the high high price that
you're buying in and paying a little bit too much
and another six or twelve months goes by and if
the market changes a lot, well, it could take all
your margine away in a hurry.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
Are we seeing sheep farmers in particular changing their stocking
mix on their farm less sheep, more cattle.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
I think that what we're seeing is, you know, we're
seeing the obvious signs of changing land use with whole
properties going into pine trees for carbon or forestry. And
then we're also seeing you know, farms that are you know,
they might plant five or ten to see the farm
or whatever in trees and then they reduce the sheet numbers,
and just farmers in general probably moving slightly away from

(25:10):
us and she will cattle. So the numbers are definitely
that we see coming through meat plants are definitely reflecting
a decline in new numbers, which is a shame really.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
Assuming the exchange right final question stays roughly where it
is below sixty US, since prospects for red meat, and
I know there's a big question mark over China, but
pretty good for the coming season.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
I mean we obviously we sit down and try and
have a workout on the future, and it's not always
easy to protect the future in the red meat sector.
But where we sit today and where the currency is
sitting in the market demand would indicate things should be
fairly stable on the short to medium terminua.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
And I think we'll take that to kick off twenty
twenty five, Tom Yang, I was almost going to call you,
Mike Casey, Tommy Yang. It's always good to catch up
on the country lovely. Thank you Jamie, Thank you Tom.
It is twenty two away from one of the Country's
brought to you by Brent. This is Carrie Underwood, former
winner of American Idol. I think you're going to hear
her at the inauguration tomorrow morning six am up. Next,

(26:13):
we'll update the sharing record attempt and Danny work with
Michelle Watt will have sports news for you. Before the
end of the hour, We're going to have a look
at the dairy industry with Tracy Brown, our chair of
Dairy en Zed Phil Duncan on the weather to wrapper
there is no need to feel down. This is so

(26:41):
nineteen seventy nine, the village people. But you'll hear them
in twenty twenty five. Tomorrow morning at six o'clock for
the Trump inauguration. Here's Michelle What fresh from teamaking duties
with the latest, don't I'm just joking here with the
latest and rural in the news, the.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Country's world news with Coup Cadet, New Zealand's leading right
on lawn Bower brand visit steel Ford dot co dots
for your local stoggist.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
Misogyny is so twenty twenty four. We're beyond that now
on Michelle, Away you go away, you go, little lady.
I don't know if that's better. I'm just joking, Sorry.

Speaker 7 (27:20):
Just joking.

Speaker 8 (27:21):
Okay, all aside done. You'll be saving these up over
the holidays for.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
Me, haven't you.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
Well.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
I've missed you, I've missed work, and I've missed you
and Jane because I just get you know, I am
a pensioner now and I was thinking of following the
pum bored witless board witless. So you got to keep working,
you got to keep battling away. Anyhow away are you
going right?

Speaker 8 (27:39):
Heo so in our veryal news today, it's very dry
up North Northland. Northlanders and holidaymakers visiting the region are
being urged to conserve water. As the dry summer continues,
Northland's water supplies will be understrained when tens of thousands
of people descend on the region for anniversary weekend and
why tongue Ey day. The central and southern areas of
the Northland are the worst effects, and I think we

(28:00):
can probably ask Phil Duncan a bit more.

Speaker 4 (28:02):
Of about Yeah we can, and we did hear Tom
Young say, I don't know whether you heard that they've
had like one hundred mills of rain right at the
top of the country and it was very very dry there.
So hopefully the dry places of the country get away
bit of rain. And just updating that sharing record, Okay.
Jamie Skiffington is six behind at lunchtime. He's got two

(28:22):
one and three quarter hour runs to go. He will
need to do one hundred and seventy three and one
on one hundred and seventy four and another. You just
work it out whatever way he can do it. So
he's going to have to up the ante from the
previous record holder. English share of Stuke Connor, who now
interestingly lives and shares in Hawks Bay. I've seen David
Fagan do it at Riversdale in nineteen ninety two when

(28:45):
he set the world record. He was a mile off
the pace at lunchtime, and then the sun came out,
the sheep warmed up and he was away. We'll keep
you updated on that one.

Speaker 8 (28:56):
And you can find a live stream on our Facebook
page if you want to go check it out. He
start sharing in at one.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
Pm sport with Avco Kiwi to the bone since nineteen
oh four.

Speaker 4 (29:07):
In the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles have beaten the Los
Angeles Rams eight twenty two to qualify for next week's
NFC Championship clash against the Washington Commanders. Got such great
names in the NFL, haven't they? And what'll I do?
I'll go with the football story. Manchester United manager Reuben

(29:28):
Amram has labeled his side the worst in history after
they slumped to a fourth Premier League defeat from their
last five appearances at Old Trafford. They were beaten three
to one at home by Brighton to remain thirteenth on
the ladder. That is your sports news. Up next, Tracy
Brown from derrien Z. First showback for me for twenty

(30:01):
twenty five, and we're looking at how the various sectors
are fairing. You've heard from horticulture and red meat. Of course,
the biggest act in town is the dairy industry. The
chair of Dairy and Zia's Wakato dairy farmer, Tracy Brown.
She's got a very good CV. We might talk about
that a week bit later, but Tracy, weather and track conditions,
and I know you've just come back from holiday in

(30:24):
the Waikato region.

Speaker 7 (30:25):
Yeah, well it's looking pretty dry here, Janie. Actually when
I wake up this morning, us traveling back from Northland
last night. So yeah, we've I think this rain the
rain on the radar, so would be grateful if we can.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Get some of that.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
Well, we know up north it's been very dry, but
Tom Young tells us they've had some meaningful rain, so
I hope some of that makes its way down to
the Waikato region, the dairy powerhouse province of course of
our country. I was listening to Rowena when I was
driving on Friday, talking to Smiley Barrett and the Taranaki
region they're very very dry.

Speaker 7 (30:59):
Yeah, yeah, dout Taranaki Northlands has been really dry this year,
but I understand Canterbury's had a bit of rain, so
they're going okay, so that's good.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Well, I think I think Canterbury's a bit like where
I lived Duneed and Tracy. It's kind of missed out
on a summer. So yeah, that problem might be solved.
In the East Coast has had some meaningful rain as well.
Look weather aside, and we can't do anything about the weather. Unfortunately,
the prospects for twenty twenty five for your industry, dairy,
are looking very positive.

Speaker 7 (31:30):
Yeah, I think that the future does feel pretty bright
stout at the moment heading into twenty twenty five. You
know that the payout's been strong, and you know, I
think farmers should should feel pretty positive. You know, it
doesn't mean that people are not still under pressure, because

(31:50):
they are. You know, the new break even average milk
prices eight there too, and you know that's all very well,
but there's still the third maintenance and deeper payment and
all those books things that sort of have to be
taken into account. So but but all in all, I think,
you know, we're in a.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Much better position than we're this time last year.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Well, I think the cornella of rising milk prices providing
we can get ten bucks or thereabouts and falling interest rates.
It just makes the gap, the profit gap a wee
bit wider.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (32:18):
It always people options, that's the main thing.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
Now, Darien said, you've been in the job since October
twenty twenty four, took over from Jim vander Poula's chair.
Of course, Jim's been a wonderful contributor to the New
Zealand airy industry. Big shoes to Field Tracy. Yeah, well
gun boots should I say?

Speaker 7 (32:40):
Yeah, just really acknowledge all the amazing work that Jim
has done for the sector, and we do miss them.
But I am enjoying new le Jamie, And you know,
I've got a lot going on, but you know, I
am really enjoying getting into things.

Speaker 4 (32:51):
I talked about your CV at the beginning and I
said I'd come back to it. I'm coming back to
it now. You've been involved in the Agri Women's Development
You're a Nuughfield Scholar, finalist on the twenty seventeen Westpac
Woman of Influence Awards, and you won the Sustainable Business
Networks Sustainability Superstar Award in twenty eighteen, so you're pretty

(33:13):
well qualified to do this job.

Speaker 7 (33:16):
I think that's the good thing is I've sort of
been in and around the sector for a number of
years and had a range of roles, whether that sort
of environment related or policy related or you know, animal welfare,
and so I've worked with a large range of stakeholders
and so I have already have a lot of good
relationships right across the sector, including with beefon lamb and

(33:37):
fed farmers. So that's made the transition, you know, relatively easy.

Speaker 4 (33:43):
Hey, the women are running the EG sector. You're the
head of darien Z now, Kate Ackland beef and lamb.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Well, and of course.

Speaker 4 (33:50):
We've got me Kate Scott senior moment there, Kate Scott
running horticulture in New Zealand. You've got the trifector.

Speaker 7 (33:57):
Oh no, that goes further, but Karen Williams with irrigation
New Zealans. So and I mean it's just evening things up, really,
isn't it. Jomie. We're for a number of years we've
been underrepresented. So that's you know, that's really what's happening now.

Speaker 4 (34:12):
No, you're smarter than us, You're much much better at multitasking. Ok,
darien zed final question for you, just quickly to wrap it.
What's in store for twenty twenty five. What are you
going to be focusing on.

Speaker 7 (34:22):
Well, we spent last year resetting our strategy. We you know,
we have got a new chief executive that's been in
the role for fifteen months. We've spent last year resetting
our strategy. So this year's really about standing that up,
really implementing that. We've had a change to how we
deliver groups and the way we engage with farmers, so
we're really working on making sure we've got that right.

(34:44):
We do have to go out for levy consultation. The
levy hasn't been adjusted for sixteen seventeen years and we
just have to be realistic, so we've got that coming
in February. But apart from that, it's really about delivering
value to farmers and making sure that we're got they've
got choice through the research and the science and the

(35:04):
work that we do.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
Tracy Brown, Chair of Dairy and Z hope you get
some rain in the WHITEADDO, see you later.

Speaker 6 (35:10):
Cheer.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
Thanks yea. And talking about rain in the Whitecato region,
we'll find out if they're going to get any or
the dry parts are going to get any with Phil Duncan.
Up next, this is Kid Rock All Summer Along. He'll
be singing tomorrow morning as well. Remember if you want
the cherries from Electric Cherries Mike Casey and the team
Electric Cherries, textus on five nine your name and your

(35:33):
full career address. Michelle will tell you who won on
tomorrow's show. There's a live like Man and where we then.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
Man am Proud to be an American? Where It?

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Wrapping it with Phil Duncan. From a weather watch a
text in about the hundred miles of rain at the
far North. Someone's texted in and said, we farm in
the North and I only had a grand total of
one mill of rain over the weekend. Looking sky what
I can see shades of sunshine, but it doesn't look
much like rain coming now. They need some rain. A
lot of the North Island needs some rain, and the

(36:12):
odd place on the South Island. Phil Duncan, what do
you got for me? You've got two minutes?

Speaker 8 (36:16):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
So we've got a big low in the Tasman and
it's a bit, you know, like how we feel as
humans in summer lazy, can't be bothered doing much. That's
this low. It's very weak, despite the Herald's headline at
the moment, and to the south of the country we've
got a big high over the South Island. There is
a squash stone in between the two. That's a windy
east to northeasterly that's coming down the top of the

(36:39):
North Island. So for campers in particular more than farmers,
this is a problem. But for farmers just a windy day,
couple of power cuts here and there, and the rain
is probably the main feature as it comes down. Met
Services issued an Orange rain warning for Northland and Corimandel.
That's pretty standard in this sort of setup. But yeah,
if you're camping, it's not the greatest. If you're a farmer,
it's the best. New Wh's some rain on the way,

(37:01):
but it's going to be limited to that sort of
northern northeastern part of the North Island. By the end
of this week we're back to the Southern Ocean again.
This easterly blip is just that. The Southern Ocean. As
we said last year, it is dominating our weather this summer,
and in fact we're now saying it's going through the
rest of the month of Febury as well, with a
cold front coming in this weekend.

Speaker 4 (37:22):
Now I see Inland North Otago on my map, South
Canterbury getting a bit dry all so what about the
South Island? Very quick?

Speaker 2 (37:30):
The South Island's got this. The South Island's very much
in a spring autumn weather pattern. We're not in a
summer pattern in the South Island this year. It is
very changeable. That's carrying on as we go into this weekend.
Watch out for that cold frame. It's going to be
cold as we go into the weekend with Gale's West
coast rain and you know, unsettled. I'm sorry to say.

Speaker 4 (37:49):
Okay, Phil Duncan there from weather Watch Wrapping the Country,
Day one back for twenty twenty five. I was only joking,
ext I was only joking. Good luck. Jamie Skiffington will
update that world record sharing attempt on tomorrow's show. From
See the Siding.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
See catch all the latest from the Land. It's the
Country Podcast with Jamie mckue. Thanks to Brent, your specialist
in John Deere Machinery