August 25, 2025 • 38 mins
Jamie Mackay talks to Richard McIntyre, Mark Hooper, Mike Petersen, Sandra Matthews, Hunter McGregor, Stu Duncan and Stu Loe.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's The Country
Podcast with Jamie McGue thanks to Brent. You're specialist in
John Deere machinery.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Jeromiah was a gold frog. What a good friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Understood is that help can't drinking the world and if
always had the.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Same John to the world.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Gaday, New Zealand or good afternoon. I'm Jamie McKay. This
is The Country brought to you by Brent Today, believe
it or not as International Dog Day, so we're going
to roll with a bit of three dog night for you.
Good news yesterday. Federated Farmers, I've done a good job
on this one. I've been on the case. We're going
to talk to their bankings folks men past and present,
(01:03):
Richard McIntyre and Mark Hooper about their Reserve Bank's decision
to review the bank capital rules. Yeah, why do they
have to hold so much capital in the bank basically
for a one and two hundred year event. It's just
making your mortgages out there, not only for farmers but
for small businesses as well, just too expensive. Mike Patterson,
(01:24):
a former chair of Beef and Lamb, former Special Agricultural
Trade end boy these days amongst the many hats he wears.
He's the chair's chair of Scales Corporation, big horticulture company,
also big in the pet food game. They have announced
a really good profit. Sandra Matthews joins us from a
rural women in Zed taking a break from the lambing
(01:46):
beat in Gisbon, Hunter McGregor's Agie in Shanghai and the
Farmer Panel. One of them will be lambing, and that
is Stuelow in North Canterbury, Early Lamber, Old Stew Stew
Duncan and the Manottota. He's a month or so off
lambing yet. So we've got all that to do. We'll
have Michelle and here with rural News. We'll do sports
news for you and we'll give you a chance to
(02:08):
win with beef and lamb New Zealand and Stacy Waka.
It's all happening on the country between now and one o'clock.
I'm going to kick it off with the Feds. This
(02:37):
was a good news story from yesterday and Federated Farmers
immediately jumped on it. They've done a great job on
this one, they say. The Reserve Bank's decision to review
bank capital rules is the first step towards lower interst
rates and fairer access to finance for farmers. So what
I've done today is I've kind of paired up a
bit of a panel, the Fed Farmers Banking spokes person's
(03:01):
past and present. I'll start with the past, yesterday's man.
Not really because Richard McIntyre man or two Kalkocky, you
did a great job kicking this off for FEDS. You
must have been pleased with that announcement.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Oh look, Jamie in good afternoon, but there are a
few pumps in our house when the announcmer was made
yesterday around the Reserve banks capital requirements. This is going
to be actually huge for farmers, you know, and FEDS
have fought incredibly hard for the last couple of years
get all of this over the line, and yeah, you know,
we think this will save farmers tens of thousands of
dollars a year. So that's pretty cheap for an eight
hundred dollars FEDS membership.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I have to say, whose bright idea was it to
set the capitol holding rules so that you could withstand
a one in two hundred year shock or event.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Look that was our old mate Adrian. All you know,
obviously just really loved being incredibly conservative and having an
incredibly resived financial system in New Zealand. And look, that's
all well and good, but it's been a huge drag
on the economy and a huge drag on farmers businesses.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well, he wasn't that conservative when it came to employing
people and paying them huge amounts of money and giving
them a whole lot of time off at the Reserve Bank.
But Adrian is truly Yesterday's man, okay, the new bloke
at Federated Farmers. He's also a Colcocky Richard mcintize in
Manor or two up the road a bit. We've got
Mark Hooper and Taranaki. Marky going to claim the credit
(04:23):
for Richard's.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Good work here, Well, I think that would be be
a bit presumptuous of me. I think a lot of
cute oster Richard for the hard work that went on
this So really got to acknowledge knowledge the work that's
gone on ahead of me.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You Reckon and I heard Luxon talking to Hoskin yesterday morning.
I was surprised he front footed it as much as
he did in terms of getting into the air of
the Reserve Bank Governor in this case acting governor because
they're meant to be a standalone entity. But you know,
there's a bit of heat coming on the Reserve Bank deservedly.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
So.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, yeah, look I think so. And obviously, you know,
this was one of the key requirement, key recommendations that
came out of the recent banking inquiry from the Financial
and Expenditure select Committee, where in that they were calling
for immediate holt to the increase capital reserves that the
(05:22):
banks had to put in place. And then the announcement
yesterday was that the Reserve Bank going to consultation on
this to determine whether the levels are appropriate or not.
And I think it kind of speaks for itself to
some extent, was affirmed by the inquiry some of the
numbers that had been prepared before that this is potentially
(05:45):
costing anywhere between half a billion to three quarters of
a billion dollars to the economy in terms of additional
costs on farm. Small medium enterprise businesses.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Absolutely agree with you should MacIntyre. You can buy a
house okay in Auckland with ten or twenty percent equity,
You certainly can't buy a farm with that sort of
equity percentage. We're seeing housing prices and auckland drop. For instance,
farm prices are going up. I know this is simplifying things,
(06:18):
but why shouldn't farmers get the same rate as residential borrowers.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
That's been one of the questions that we really wanted
to get to the bottom of an inquiry jam. It
just hasn't made sense a lot of it. You know,
we're told that arms are riskier, but then you know,
they've really justify so much of the treatment around that.
You know, the fact that you can be a new
graduate with you know, ten or fifteen percent deposits. You know,
I just started at the workforce and you consider to
(06:45):
be less risky than a farmer with ninety percent ety
an incredibly good cash flow, just you know, is bizarre. So,
you know, one of the things that we've wanted to
get to the bottom of it. But hopefully the Reserve
back with their able or requirement review, will actually you know,
come up with some bitter way of warning out risk
and capital equipments around that.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Well, Rochard, you've done a great job leading the fight
in the past life for Federated Farmers. Mark Cooper has
now picked up the ball and run with it. Okay,
hopefully you might have this one sorted. Mark, What are
you going to do about overdraft rates?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Yeah, well, that's been interesting because we've sort of looked
for that information in our six monthly banking surveys and
you know, I think I think where she talked about
this previously, didn't we that we put out those report
cards from our last survey, and those report cards on
the banks were scored on six criteria, one of them
(07:40):
being of course, overdraft interest rates. So we've been proactive
and engaging with the banks around that and talking about,
you know, the impact across the board in terms of
their mortgage rates, their interest rates, and overall satisfaction primarily
from customers, in hopefully providing a little bit of constructive
(08:03):
feedback that can be drawn on.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Richard McIntyre, Mark Cooper Banking spokespersons past and present for
Federated Farmers. You bang on eight hundred dollars well spent
on a Federated Farmer's sub Got to go, Thanks for
your time, Good luck with the rest of carving.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Cheers, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Thanks Jemy.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Quarter past twelve on the Country three Dog Night musical
theme Today it's International Dog Today of course, there's been
lots of conjecture over the years about how the band
got their name. It was suggested that one of the
girl friends of one of the band members had read
a magazine article about Australian or Aboriginal Australians, in which
(08:45):
it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily
sleep while embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog.
As we know, on colder nights they would sleep with
two dogs, and if the night was freezing, it was
a three dog night. Other people have disputed that. Anyhow,
you be the judge, We're going to give you a
(09:07):
chance about the bottom of the hour, when Michelle wanders
in here, we're going to give you a chance to
win one of our rugby ready meat packs from New
Zealand Beef and Lamb, courtesy of Stacey Wyker. Of course,
she's over there playing a rugby tournament, in a rugby
tournament that we're not allowed to mention by name. Anyhow,
(09:33):
Up next Mike Peterson, former chair of Beef and Lamb,
talking about that wonderful organization and of course former New
Zealand or Special New Zealand Agricultural Trade end boy. These
days these days, should I say, the Chair of Scales Corporation.
They're doing very well on horticulture and pet food, great
profit announced yesterday. Mike Petterson up next on the Country.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Why shall we my troubles?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Why should wear money?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Where the rain hum?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Welcome back to the country twenty after twelve, Mike Peterson.
Here's my run sheet with all my information. I'm surrounded
by paper. I'm choking in paper here, Chair of Scales
Corporation these days, as I said, former chair of Beef
and Lamb New Zealand Special Agricultural Trade Envoy where's has
worn many hats, still wears many hats in New Zealand agriculture.
(10:35):
Hey Mike, a big announcement from Scales yesterday. You're doing
very well. My scale shares a nearly worth five bucks
thanks to you and Andrew Borland.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, you know we're very pleased that your small investment
is progressing well.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Very small investment. I wouldn't mind some Fonterra shares at
the moment they're at six bucks.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Well, and he's equally being a Fonterra dairy farmer is
going to deliver a pretty good return in some stage
by the end of the year. So you're right, Jamie.
Look there's a lot of buoyancy around at the moment.
And look, we're pretty pleased with the way Scales Corporation
is taking you along. A really good result in horticulture,
our pet food ingredients business is nice and steady, and
(11:17):
our logistics business links it all and so it's been
a very very solid first six months. We're pretty happy.
But look, it's not just me and Andy Bolland there's
a team of people and a whole lot of really
good people working in the business that's delivering these results.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Now you're vicariously sort of taking credit for what Fonterra
is doing. Now you reckon they're following the blueprint set
by Scales.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Well, we actually have, particularly in our pet food ingredients business.
We are ingredients supplies to pet food manufacturers, and I
guess there are some parallels with Fonterra because we've made
the decision not to compete against our customers and we
think that's a far better place to be for us.
Apply the big pet food manufacturers in the world like
(12:03):
Mars and Nesle and even z Wee likes the z
Wee here in New Zealand. But we don't sell retail
brand pet food, and we think that's a really good
place to be and it certainly gives you a really
strong partnership between yourself as an ingredient supplier and the
manufacturer that's selling to consumers.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
And that's exactly where Fonterra is heading by getting rid
of its consumer brands and just being in the ingredients business.
How much of the scales portfolio is out and out horticulture?
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Oh, our horticulture business is a significant part of the business,
but we sort of have a couple of aspects to this.
Horticulture is quite set heavy and then the pet food
ingredients business is light, so there's more capital tied up
in horticulture. The return on capital invested in horticulture is
lower than pet food and logistics. We see ourselves as
(13:01):
a diversified fund in the air grabusiness space, and we're
always looking for opportunities to grow and expand within their grabusiness.
But it's a different model. We think it helps the
investors by having three leaks to that stall.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
How positives or our apples at the moment.
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Well, it's pretty exciting. Having said that, it has been
pretty challenging over the last few years, and we only
need to look back to twenty twenty three with Cycling
Gabrielle with Hawk's Bay, where most of the apples in
New Zealand are grown. It was a pretty tough time
and it has been challenging with the cost of labor
going up, and it's been particularly hard i think for
(13:44):
some of the smaller grows just to keep their orchards viable.
But last season was a very good crop, excellent grown conditions,
with good fruit size, and it's actually paid off well
in the market. There's still a portion of the crop
to sell, but we've got really good demand through particularly Asia,
through the Middle East and hopefully to India shortly for
(14:09):
our apples. They are highly sought after and we're pretty
excited by what's ahead of us.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
You're still paying a tariff to get into India.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
Yes, fifty percent tariff there Jamian. Hence we've been pretty
active at working with the government to progress that free
trade agreement and look, we're really hopeful we can get
some relief there because the Indian market would be a
huge opportunity for us with apples. Likewise, if we managed
to open up South Korea, which we effectively can't get
(14:38):
access to and made it easier to get to Japan.
Those three markets alone would transform the apple sector overnight.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You're born and bred in Central hawks Bay. I know
you missed out on your big Ruetanifa water scheme. You're
looking at another one. Would that open up all that
area for horticulture. Would that be a good apple growing region?
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Absolutely, Jamie. And I'm part of the group that's actually
driving the Tookie Tookie Water Security project, and that is
about providing the opportunity for high value food production and processing,
particularly in the rotanner for planes and right down the
length of the Tooki Tookie River. And there's no doubt Jamie.
The reality is if you wanted to put an orchard
(15:20):
in place in the rear channel for planes right now,
you could not do it if you haven't got access
to a water consent and existing consent. There are no
new consents being issued. The catchment is overallocated and hence
our desire to try and store some water before it
flows to the sea so we can actually provide water
when it's required.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Are your days, because you are a former chair of
Beef and Lamb New Zealand, are your days on the
lambing beat now done. Mike Peterson, that is past tense
in your life.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
That is past tense, Jamie, I have to admit with it,
that's past tense. And it's a beautiful day in Hook's
Bay today, and I know that there are going to
be a lot of people out there enjoy this weather.
But Hawks Bay, you know, we're probably reasonably dry at
the moment, and I think there's a bit of a
country that's just getting a wee bit nervous about what
the spring's going to hold. So it's been great lemming
(16:13):
weather that there's been a really good drop of lambs
on the ground. And look, I think that's really great
for farmers, but I think people are still looking for
a bit more rain before spring comes.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I was doing a thing with Shane Jones on Friday night,
and I was in his are the whole night. He's
got to build some more dams. He's up for that,
and he's got to build some more four lane highways
that'll make New Zealand great again.
Speaker 6 (16:35):
Mike, absolutely, Jamie, and we have been talking to Minster Jones,
and look, he's a strong advocate and supporter of what
we're trying to do here. So and look he just
wants to get on with it and it's refreshing to see.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Mike Peterson, Thanks for your time. Mike Peterson out of
Central Hawk's Bay there, chair of Scales New Zealand Company,
doing very very well. Up next, we're going to head
up the road a bit to gaze Toison and Sandra Matthews,
Chair of Rural What is she national President? I think
of Rural Women and ZED. Pay equity is on the
(17:12):
menu with her today. She's a sheep and beef farmer
with a hobby and I wonder if she still does
a lambing beat. We'll ask her next on the Country.
Before the end of the hour, Hunter McGregor and Shanghai
and the Farmer Panel, they're still lamming. Stew Duncan and
Stu Low haven't caught up with this woman for a while,
(17:41):
but always enjoy her company and input into the show.
Her name is Sandra Matthews. She is the National President
of Rural Women and ZED. Also a Gisbane sheep and
beef farmer. Smack in the middle of lambing. How's laming going, Sandra?
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Yeah, afternoon, Jamie, She laming's going really well. The sun
shining today for a change. We've had a bit of
scudy horrible weather the last few weeks, but we're about
halfway through lambing and it's looking good so far. Yeah,
you're really happy with how it's going.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Do you get out and do a lambing beat?
Speaker 7 (18:11):
No, we haven't done a lambing beat so many many years.
We leave them to it. We'll say that occasionally, we'll
do a bit of a ride around and just check
we've got no cast us and things like that, but
we leave them to it because we find that that
should do better by not getting involved with them in
the paddocks.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But if you did do a lambing beat, you and
your habbie, and you'd have pay equity, wouldn't you.
Speaker 7 (18:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think we would have paid equity, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I'm pleased to hear that equal pay for an equal job.
Do you think the government has got this wrong, especially
when it comes to and I know you're giving the
examples of rural health care, education and community services, because,
to be honest with your Sandra, I thought this was
a bit of a political scrap between the government and
the unions.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Yeah, no it's not, Jamie. It's actually broader and wider
than that. Royal Women in New Zealand has been really
consistent for decades and fighting for pay equity, and the
feeling out there within our members and you know, rural
heeny is that this legislation has been rushed through. That's
where our concerns lie very much, is that the process
(19:17):
was rushed, the use of urgency, the lack of public consultation,
the absence of regulatory impact statements, and then suddenly extinguishing
thirty three active claims, some of which have been in
the years in the process. The feenis around the democratic
democratic process is one of the areas we've focused on
in our submission yesterday to the People Select Committee. You know,
(19:40):
as you said, the reality is that women are the
backbone of rural healthcare, education and community services and these
are the sectors already grappling with recruitment and retention issues
in our communities, in our real communities.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
What about the threshold for these pay agreements, because they've
changed that. I think the new requirement is that workforces
need to be at least seventy percent female. Over ten
consecutive years now, you had a bit of a fluctuation
in the workforce that might be a bit difficult to achieve.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
Yeah, this is a really important point. For large urban employees,
they've got a dedicated HR team and access to expensive
legal advice, those sort of thresholds could be achievable. But
for small rural early child education centers, health clinics, where
staff numbers are small and fluctuate from year to year,
that threshold is really simply unrealistic.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So, Sandra Matthew's National President of Rural Women in z
do you think this is a real threat to rural communities.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
You know, as I said earlier, we've been fighting real
women's been fighting for this for many, many years, and
we're still strongly advocating for pay equity for our rural communities.
This isn't just about women's take on pay. It's about
whether our central services in rural New Zealand survive. You know,
as an example, the Rural New Zealand College of General
(21:02):
Pactiousness their primary care nurses and royal practices and fifteen
to thirty five percent less than hospital nurses in our cities.
So that gap makes it incredibly hard for rural areas
to recruit and retrain the wife the workforce. Same with teachers,
in isolated schools. It's already hard to attract them. So
without pay equity, the prospect of pay equity adjustments real
(21:24):
placements become even less appealing. And the same as it's
the same for rest homes and age care facilities and
in home help for age care to stay in their homes.
So it actually rolls on to a lot of these
roles that women do in our rural communities, and it's
actually going to put it under pressure.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well, I reckon, if you have to wipe someone's bumb
on a rest time, you deserve to be well paid
for it. Sandra Matthew's National President of Rural Women and
Z keep up the good fight and enjoy if such
a thing as possible, it probably is if you're not
doing a lambing beat the rest of lambing see great.
Thanks keeps Jamie, Thanks Hendra. It is twenty seven away
(22:06):
from one. Some of your texts coming through. We appreciate them.
On five double nine. Some of you, though, need to.
I don't want to be a grammar Nazi, but I
am a bit of a grammar nut. You need to,
once you've written out your text or typed it out
with your fat fingers, just have a read of it
to make sure it makes sense. And this is the
grammar Nazi and me. Try the occasional comma or full stop.
(22:28):
It gives us a bit of an idea of context
for your text, but we do appreciate them. Rural News
and sports news. Up next, We're also going to tell
you how you can win a Rugby ready meatpack from
New Zealand Beef and Lamb. That's up next on the Country.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
Hi, Stacy Wiker here, take scrums of five CEOs.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
You're in nine to be in to win a Rugby
ready meat pack thanks to my mates at Beef and Lamb.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Get the team round and have some delicious and nutritious
cote from Beef and Lamb, New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Jamie will draw the winner and tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Wow, turn my mic on. It's a good liner there,
good promo liner from Stacy Wiker. Overdoing the business at
a rugby tournament. We're not allowed to mention. That really
annoys me. I've just got to get over it. Just relax, okay, Michelle,
good afternoon, how are you. I'm good?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Now it says Jamie will announce the winner of the
or Stacy said that she was. We're personal friends, so
she named me personally obviously, But I'm going to let
you name the winner. Our first winner from yesterday's show.
Who was it but the Rugby Ready meat pack.
Speaker 9 (23:52):
Oh thanks Jamie. I feel very privileged to be given
this job. So yesterday's winner of the New Zealand Beef
and Lamb Rugby Ready Meatpack is Dick Baker from Tasman.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Well done, Dick. Now if you want to win today's prize,
we'll announce the winner tomorrow tex Scrum and your name
and where you're based to five double o nine to
go and to be into win that Rugby Ready meatpack
from New Zealand Beef and Lamb and head to recipes
dot co dot in z for tips on preparing all
(24:22):
the beef and lamb that's coming your way. Obviously, if
you're the winner, so Dick Baker from Tasman, Dick, you
need to go to recipes dot co dot nz and
to do something with the fine fair worth sending your way.
Here's the latest and rural news.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
To the Johnfrees World News with Could Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawnbower brand. Visit steel Ford dot co
dot z for your local stockist.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
And just before I go into or on news, I
had a quick look at that recipes website, Jane. There's
some really good recipes on there. I'd fully recommend.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Just wanted to say that you're looking at someone who
can boil a SAVOLOI and that's so waste it on me.
I hope Dick's more handy in the kitchen than I am. Anyhow,
what's happening in rural news Again?
Speaker 9 (25:07):
In Rural news, a new development in the sale of
Fontira's consumer arm. The dairy co op has agreed to
sell brands like Anchor and Mainland to French dairy giant
lac Talis, pending farmer, shareholder and relatory approval. The deal
was initially for just over three point eight billion dollars,
but Fontira has now reached an agreement with Australia's Biger Cheese.
It will allow Baga to licenses held by Fonterira's Australian
(25:29):
businesses to be included in the sale. That will bring
the total value of the sale to more than four
point two billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Well, just imagine all that money sloshing around in the economy.
Mike Peterson referred to it. A lot of it's going
to be spent paying down debts and that's a smart
thing to do. The best form of investment is to
repay debt. But I think there's going to be a
bit of pent up capital expenditure, not only on machinery
but even things like on furt. So I reckon happy
(25:57):
times for the New Zealand primary sect there in the
rural communities. Good stuff, thank you, Michelle. That is the
rural news. Let's have a look at sport sport with AFCO.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Visit them online at AFCO dot co dot nz.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Now Pup Shepherd down in Southland one hundred and six
games for the Stags. They weren't the Stags in his
day and I think he punched someone in each of
those one hundred and six games. But I do owe
him a Riversdale Golf Club trip up to don Eden
here all hosted mainly all hosted pub But I see
(26:31):
the draws out or that they're sneaking the draw out
for the Super Rugby next year and the defending champion
Cruise Crusaders will begin their Super Rugby season away to
the Highlanders in twenty twenty six Ie at Forsyth Bar Stadium.
Sides are drip feeding key parts of the draw ahead
of the full release in the coming day. So that's
going to be a great opener for Super Rugby in February,
(26:53):
I would imagine of next year. But black Caps will
be without at least three players for October's home White
Bullseri against Australia. Will I Rawk and Finnel on our
sideline for at least three months with stress fractures in
the bat, back and foot, respectively, and Mitch Santa's time.
Satana's timeline apologies for that is uncertain after abdominal surgery.
(27:17):
And that is your sports news. Up next, we're off
to Shanghai. Our guy over there is Hunter McGregor and
he tells me it's been stinking hot. Our guy in
Shanghai is Hunter McGregor, a kiw selling venison add red
meat to the Chinese. Are you sick and tired of
(27:39):
the Chinese summer? Forty degree heat?
Speaker 8 (27:41):
Hunter, Good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yes, this is a typical summer at the tail end now,
and you know we're up to sort of forty forty
three yesterday. You know we get down overnight as thirty,
So yeah, looking forward to the summer to dissipate and
Tenber is usually a fantastic month, so you know, by
the time a couple of weeks time will be will
(28:05):
have lovely weather and it's the best time of the
year in China.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
How does this affect your business, because I'm sure that
people don't want to sit out on sidewalk cafes having
a bit of New Zealand venison in this stinking hot heat.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
No, it's it's a low period, you know. July and
August a seasonally low period for a lot of things,
especially especially red meat, you know, because people I don't
want to go out and travel. And one thing that's
interesting that I've noticed this year is that in the past,
July and August was was always a slow time, but
(28:42):
you know, the city would sort of be it to
be normal and things would sort of tick over normally.
But this year what's happened is a lot of Chinese
have actually gone on holiday and did a bit more traveling,
So the city has been really quiet. Driving around at
rush hour, it's not as busy as it normally is.
And I've only sort of picked up this week, well
last week I noticed it around the roads around Russia,
(29:05):
so you know there's been a big sort of this
a seasonal and then the next four months of our
business will sell more than the previous eight months. And
that's the same for a lot of restaurants as well.
It's a busy time you're heading into Christmas and stuff.
But you know what, I've noticed that the local Chinese
are starting to do a bit more traveling, spending more
(29:26):
time with family.
Speaker 8 (29:27):
So that sort of work life.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Balance is starting to come in to play a bit more,
and even in the bigger cities like Shanghai.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
I was am seeing a fundraiser on Friday night and
Tapoki Shane Jones was the guest speaker. I go to
sit down at the top table as you do the Hunter,
and then there's a week present wrapped up to Jamie
from Hunter. I'm thinking, who the Hell's Hunter? It ended
up it was you. One of your mates was the
organizer's Sun and you've given me some flash chopsticks. You
(29:55):
realize I can't use them, I've got to use a fork.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Well, you've got to eat, Jamie. So I thought would
give you a nice gift, but no, mate, Cam's just
moved back to New Zealand from Shanghai. Has been here
a few years and look, he had a major impact
around the businesses in Shanghai. Have talked to four bar
owners and they're all going to miss him because he
put a lot of a lot of US hard earned
(30:21):
money across the bar. But really what's happening here in
Shanghai is a lot of the foreigners, especially like Cameron
who's who's left China, they're not being replaced. A lot
of these sports bars now and restaurants as well, don't
have the big spending sort of foreigners that they have
in the past. That they're struggling. And Chinese people are
(30:43):
frequent in these places a lot more as well, which
is good, but they don't pick up the slack. They
don't spend it as much as a big spending Kiwi
who's on a big teacher salary up here. So you know,
a lot of bar owners are struggling because there hasn't
been the there's been a COVID exodus of expats and
there hasn't been an influx coming back. So it's just
(31:06):
changing the nightlife in the feel of the city. You know,
it's just what happens up here and you know things
will some places will go under and then there'll be
something new will arrive in its place, So you know
the things are changing here like always.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Well done to Cam and it was good to meet
him at the Shane Jones fundraiser for the Tapuke Rugby Club. Hey,
just to finish, Sean, you want to talk about smaller
Chinese cities in particular one who Joe?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Last weekend I went with took my family to Hujo,
which is a small Chinese city about two hours an
hour and a half two hour drive inland from Shanghai. Now,
it's a small Chinese city, has about two million people,
and it's sort of a third tier city. It's really interesting.
It's where all the growth is happening in China now.
(31:54):
It's not so much in the biggest cities like Beijing, Shanghaan, Guangzo.
It's more into this smaller city, second third tier. And
in Hujo, you know, we're down there. We went there
on downtown on Saturday afternoon and you know, the place
is dead. It's very different to Shanghai, but the city
itself is growing one percent more than that than the
(32:15):
Chinese average, and that's where you know there's going to
be a lot of growth in the future, but it's
it's a really different It's going to be a tough
market for especially for smaller companies. I think the big
companies like you know, the likes of the Fonterras and Vespreys,
they've got to do it okay because a better reach
into those cities. Smaller companies are going to really struggle.
(32:37):
But it was fascinating. We took the you'd like this, Jamie.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
We took the.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
High speed toll road there and we sat on one
hundred and twenty k's all the way and or three lanes.
And you know, in China when you do the speed limit,
you feel like you're going way too slow because everyone
else is passing you. But you know, you cost me
about fifteen dollars and one hundred you could on the
Speedland was one hundred and twenty.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
K's all the way there.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
So pretty easy to get around China with some great infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Well, but like driving from Tarrongo out to Tapuki on
the New Eastern Toll Road are very good. We need
lots more of those in New Zealand. Not to mention dams,
don't start me Hunter McGregor. Thanks for your time, mate,
always appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Cheers.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Thanks Jamie ten away from one.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You're with the country if you were last chance today
if you want to win the Rugby Ready meatpack from
New Zealand Beef and Lamb techs scrum and your name
and where you're based to five double O nine. We
wrap it with the Farmer panel up next. They're both
sheep farmers. They'll be lambing. We're about to be lambing
stew Duncan and stew Low wrapping the country with the
(33:56):
Farmer Panel stew Duncan and the Manyatoto Stulo and North
Canterbury Stu. I'll start with you as traditionally an early lammer.
You'll just about to be finished now do you still
do a lambing beat with your dodgy knees?
Speaker 8 (34:08):
No, just pretty much drive bys and just check for
cast ones and stock ones. But you know we've had
a pretty good run so they haven't had to had
to test them out yet.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
What about you, Stu dunk And of course in a
past life you were nearly good enough to go to
the Commonwealth Games as a hurdler, so you'll still be
handy when it comes to running down the sheep.
Speaker 10 (34:28):
Well not really, Jamie. No body's packed up a bit
since those days, so we're a bit the same. But
we haven't finished pre lamb sharing yet. And I'll see
we've got about eight lambs. But no, we don't start
to locked over. So I've got plenty of time to
get fit to see if I can get around them.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Do you you won't be doing much hands on shepherding?
Do you leave them to it?
Speaker 6 (34:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (34:45):
We just sat stalking out and all the whole blocks
and put the twins on a lot of the warmer,
better country and just leave them to it. Yeah in
November December will when November we'll run around and mark them.
So no we stay out but yeah, no, it just
the same. Just leave them out there, leave.
Speaker 6 (34:59):
Them to it, you both.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
It looks like going to get handsomely paid for your
lambs or your lamb crop? Are the season stew low?
Can we say the same about your wall crop? I
get the email from PGG Rights and every Friday morning
or Thursday afternoon after the wall sail, and I'm always
hoping for a bit of a lift, but it's not
really going anywhere.
Speaker 8 (35:20):
I think I saw someone where they've got four dollars
for some wall the other day. That moneling your host
you so, but you know it's little. I suppose the supply,
the amount of supply will make sure that the price
will go up. I guess the only shedding brands have
been put out and just the least wall going through
the option system. I guess, so that that will play
(35:41):
a part in the fact that there's not as much
out there.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Stu Duncan, you've got a finer edge to your wall
on the Maniu Toto. You'll still be getting reasonably well paid.
Speaker 9 (35:49):
Are you.
Speaker 10 (35:50):
Yeah, we're just in that twenty five early twenty five,
so we're just sitting under that seven dollars grease. I'll
see evaluation about six sixty or six seventy greasy, so
that's had a bit of a lifted dollar a dollar
fifty on last year. But I think we've got two
dollars eighty greasy for our Crossbury seeking shoe and we
sold it the other day. But it has come up,
but those shearing costs got up. But yeah, time we
will be sharing a few hoggots and a month or
(36:11):
so and then get them away to the work. So
they've got to be shorn, so hopefully he's a weep
of a lift has a bit of an effect, but
he's got a long way.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
To go yet, it's too long. We had Mike Peterson
and Hawks Bay or Central Hawkspace saying they're just getting
a wee bit drysh and I know that you guys
and Canterbury North Canterbury where you are, are only a
week away from a drought if the northwester gets blowing.
How are you looking?
Speaker 8 (36:35):
Not too bad? We've we had some good rains here
in the winter. We haven't had any drying. We had
a sort of a cold suddenly that this time last week.
It wasn't really a land telling of it. It wasn't prolonged.
So we've sort of been topped up. And I heard
you say on the on the Muster show that the
Fellows who'd had the bulky around his family, you know,
(36:57):
he wouldn't get too packed up my hill here at
the without getting stuck or siding off the hill. To yeh,
we're wed under foot. But now we're getting good days
now and starting to get a bit of growth then
drying out. So but yeah, the water tables are right
up there, so we're sitting looking pretty good. We just
need a bit of warm weather, yep.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
And Stu Duncan, you're prone to summer dry as well.
How are you looking?
Speaker 10 (37:17):
Yeah, we're really were and you know we're trying to
get a bulky around looser and panics and we're a
bit cheerful making marks everywhere. So but I know not
all the bottom end and through Rocksburgh and sor the
Pedtyrari and there still some of the creeks down at
Horey is having him started running in the winter yet,
so there are dry patches around. But now we're we're
incredibly wet, millions soft, so hopefully a good spring has
got a heat.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Stu Low Rugby, what changes would you make to the
All Blacks for the spring Bok Test. We need to
get rid of some of your crusaders.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
I'm not sure about that, just maybe the attitude should
change it. But don't want about playing golf as much,
and concentrate on what they put on their textra toes
and bring a rugby player and play rugby young gies.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Oh they are harsh words from a former crusader. What
about you, Stu Duncan.
Speaker 10 (38:00):
I just think they didn't show too much, so they
got to harden up, be in that physical bat little
bit more and the Beck's got to start thinking about
having some moves. They had to sit phase here and
a scrum and they look like they didn't know what
they're doing, so I'm sure they'll get locked in them
this week. D Low, I was going to get a
fright from South Africa.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I would like to see Leroy Carter get a run
on the wing. That's my take on it. Thanks lads,
thanks for your time, Enjoy the rest of your lambing
and Stu yours is to come see there we go.
That is today's panel Stu Duncan and the Manototo Stulo
and North Canterbury. We will catch you back tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, You're specialist in
John Deere construction equipment.
Catch all the latest from the land. It's The Country
Podcast with Jamie McGue thanks to Brent. You're specialist in
John Deere machinery.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Jeromiah was a gold frog. What a good friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Understood is that help can't drinking the world and if
always had the.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Same John to the world.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Gaday, New Zealand or good afternoon. I'm Jamie McKay. This
is The Country brought to you by Brent Today, believe
it or not as International Dog Day, so we're going
to roll with a bit of three dog night for you.
Good news yesterday. Federated Farmers, I've done a good job
on this one. I've been on the case. We're going
to talk to their bankings folks men past and present,
(01:03):
Richard McIntyre and Mark Hooper about their Reserve Bank's decision
to review the bank capital rules. Yeah, why do they
have to hold so much capital in the bank basically
for a one and two hundred year event. It's just
making your mortgages out there, not only for farmers but
for small businesses as well, just too expensive. Mike Patterson,
(01:24):
a former chair of Beef and Lamb, former Special Agricultural
Trade end boy these days amongst the many hats he wears.
He's the chair's chair of Scales Corporation, big horticulture company,
also big in the pet food game. They have announced
a really good profit. Sandra Matthews joins us from a
rural women in Zed taking a break from the lambing
(01:46):
beat in Gisbon, Hunter McGregor's Agie in Shanghai and the
Farmer Panel. One of them will be lambing, and that
is Stuelow in North Canterbury, Early Lamber, Old Stew Stew
Duncan and the Manottota. He's a month or so off
lambing yet. So we've got all that to do. We'll
have Michelle and here with rural News. We'll do sports
news for you and we'll give you a chance to
(02:08):
win with beef and lamb New Zealand and Stacy Waka.
It's all happening on the country between now and one o'clock.
I'm going to kick it off with the Feds. This
(02:37):
was a good news story from yesterday and Federated Farmers
immediately jumped on it. They've done a great job on
this one, they say. The Reserve Bank's decision to review
bank capital rules is the first step towards lower interst
rates and fairer access to finance for farmers. So what
I've done today is I've kind of paired up a
bit of a panel, the Fed Farmers Banking spokes person's
(03:01):
past and present. I'll start with the past, yesterday's man.
Not really because Richard McIntyre man or two Kalkocky, you
did a great job kicking this off for FEDS. You
must have been pleased with that announcement.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Oh look, Jamie in good afternoon, but there are a
few pumps in our house when the announcmer was made
yesterday around the Reserve banks capital requirements. This is going
to be actually huge for farmers, you know, and FEDS
have fought incredibly hard for the last couple of years
get all of this over the line, and yeah, you know,
we think this will save farmers tens of thousands of
dollars a year. So that's pretty cheap for an eight
hundred dollars FEDS membership.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I have to say, whose bright idea was it to
set the capitol holding rules so that you could withstand
a one in two hundred year shock or event.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Look that was our old mate Adrian. All you know,
obviously just really loved being incredibly conservative and having an
incredibly resived financial system in New Zealand. And look, that's
all well and good, but it's been a huge drag
on the economy and a huge drag on farmers businesses.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well, he wasn't that conservative when it came to employing
people and paying them huge amounts of money and giving
them a whole lot of time off at the Reserve Bank.
But Adrian is truly Yesterday's man, okay, the new bloke
at Federated Farmers. He's also a Colcocky Richard mcintize in
Manor or two up the road a bit. We've got
Mark Hooper and Taranaki. Marky going to claim the credit
(04:23):
for Richard's.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Good work here, Well, I think that would be be
a bit presumptuous of me. I think a lot of
cute oster Richard for the hard work that went on
this So really got to acknowledge knowledge the work that's
gone on ahead of me.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You Reckon and I heard Luxon talking to Hoskin yesterday morning.
I was surprised he front footed it as much as
he did in terms of getting into the air of
the Reserve Bank Governor in this case acting governor because
they're meant to be a standalone entity. But you know,
there's a bit of heat coming on the Reserve Bank deservedly.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
So.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, yeah, look I think so. And obviously, you know,
this was one of the key requirement, key recommendations that
came out of the recent banking inquiry from the Financial
and Expenditure select Committee, where in that they were calling
for immediate holt to the increase capital reserves that the
(05:22):
banks had to put in place. And then the announcement
yesterday was that the Reserve Bank going to consultation on
this to determine whether the levels are appropriate or not.
And I think it kind of speaks for itself to
some extent, was affirmed by the inquiry some of the
numbers that had been prepared before that this is potentially
(05:45):
costing anywhere between half a billion to three quarters of
a billion dollars to the economy in terms of additional
costs on farm. Small medium enterprise businesses.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Absolutely agree with you should MacIntyre. You can buy a
house okay in Auckland with ten or twenty percent equity,
You certainly can't buy a farm with that sort of
equity percentage. We're seeing housing prices and auckland drop. For instance,
farm prices are going up. I know this is simplifying things,
(06:18):
but why shouldn't farmers get the same rate as residential borrowers.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
That's been one of the questions that we really wanted
to get to the bottom of an inquiry jam. It
just hasn't made sense a lot of it. You know,
we're told that arms are riskier, but then you know,
they've really justify so much of the treatment around that.
You know, the fact that you can be a new
graduate with you know, ten or fifteen percent deposits. You know,
I just started at the workforce and you consider to
(06:45):
be less risky than a farmer with ninety percent ety
an incredibly good cash flow, just you know, is bizarre. So,
you know, one of the things that we've wanted to
get to the bottom of it. But hopefully the Reserve
back with their able or requirement review, will actually you know,
come up with some bitter way of warning out risk
and capital equipments around that.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Well, Rochard, you've done a great job leading the fight
in the past life for Federated Farmers. Mark Cooper has
now picked up the ball and run with it. Okay,
hopefully you might have this one sorted. Mark, What are
you going to do about overdraft rates?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Yeah, well, that's been interesting because we've sort of looked
for that information in our six monthly banking surveys and
you know, I think I think where she talked about
this previously, didn't we that we put out those report
cards from our last survey, and those report cards on
the banks were scored on six criteria, one of them
(07:40):
being of course, overdraft interest rates. So we've been proactive
and engaging with the banks around that and talking about,
you know, the impact across the board in terms of
their mortgage rates, their interest rates, and overall satisfaction primarily
from customers, in hopefully providing a little bit of constructive
(08:03):
feedback that can be drawn on.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Richard McIntyre, Mark Cooper Banking spokespersons past and present for
Federated Farmers. You bang on eight hundred dollars well spent
on a Federated Farmer's sub Got to go, Thanks for
your time, Good luck with the rest of carving.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Cheers, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Thanks Jemy.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Quarter past twelve on the Country three Dog Night musical
theme Today it's International Dog Today of course, there's been
lots of conjecture over the years about how the band
got their name. It was suggested that one of the
girl friends of one of the band members had read
a magazine article about Australian or Aboriginal Australians, in which
(08:45):
it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily
sleep while embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog.
As we know, on colder nights they would sleep with
two dogs, and if the night was freezing, it was
a three dog night. Other people have disputed that. Anyhow,
you be the judge, We're going to give you a
(09:07):
chance about the bottom of the hour, when Michelle wanders
in here, we're going to give you a chance to
win one of our rugby ready meat packs from New
Zealand Beef and Lamb, courtesy of Stacey Wyker. Of course,
she's over there playing a rugby tournament, in a rugby
tournament that we're not allowed to mention by name. Anyhow,
(09:33):
Up next Mike Peterson, former chair of Beef and Lamb,
talking about that wonderful organization and of course former New
Zealand or Special New Zealand Agricultural Trade end boy. These
days these days, should I say, the Chair of Scales Corporation.
They're doing very well on horticulture and pet food, great
profit announced yesterday. Mike Petterson up next on the Country.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Why shall we my troubles?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Why should wear money?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Where the rain hum?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Welcome back to the country twenty after twelve, Mike Peterson.
Here's my run sheet with all my information. I'm surrounded
by paper. I'm choking in paper here, Chair of Scales
Corporation these days, as I said, former chair of Beef
and Lamb New Zealand Special Agricultural Trade Envoy where's has
worn many hats, still wears many hats in New Zealand agriculture.
(10:35):
Hey Mike, a big announcement from Scales yesterday. You're doing
very well. My scale shares a nearly worth five bucks
thanks to you and Andrew Borland.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, you know we're very pleased that your small investment
is progressing well.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Very small investment. I wouldn't mind some Fonterra shares at
the moment they're at six bucks.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Well, and he's equally being a Fonterra dairy farmer is
going to deliver a pretty good return in some stage
by the end of the year. So you're right, Jamie.
Look there's a lot of buoyancy around at the moment.
And look, we're pretty pleased with the way Scales Corporation
is taking you along. A really good result in horticulture,
our pet food ingredients business is nice and steady, and
(11:17):
our logistics business links it all and so it's been
a very very solid first six months. We're pretty happy.
But look, it's not just me and Andy Bolland there's
a team of people and a whole lot of really
good people working in the business that's delivering these results.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Now you're vicariously sort of taking credit for what Fonterra
is doing. Now you reckon they're following the blueprint set
by Scales.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Well, we actually have, particularly in our pet food ingredients business.
We are ingredients supplies to pet food manufacturers, and I
guess there are some parallels with Fonterra because we've made
the decision not to compete against our customers and we
think that's a far better place to be for us.
Apply the big pet food manufacturers in the world like
(12:03):
Mars and Nesle and even z Wee likes the z
Wee here in New Zealand. But we don't sell retail
brand pet food, and we think that's a really good
place to be and it certainly gives you a really
strong partnership between yourself as an ingredient supplier and the
manufacturer that's selling to consumers.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
And that's exactly where Fonterra is heading by getting rid
of its consumer brands and just being in the ingredients business.
How much of the scales portfolio is out and out horticulture?
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Oh, our horticulture business is a significant part of the business,
but we sort of have a couple of aspects to this.
Horticulture is quite set heavy and then the pet food
ingredients business is light, so there's more capital tied up
in horticulture. The return on capital invested in horticulture is
lower than pet food and logistics. We see ourselves as
(13:01):
a diversified fund in the air grabusiness space, and we're
always looking for opportunities to grow and expand within their grabusiness.
But it's a different model. We think it helps the
investors by having three leaks to that stall.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
How positives or our apples at the moment.
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Well, it's pretty exciting. Having said that, it has been
pretty challenging over the last few years, and we only
need to look back to twenty twenty three with Cycling
Gabrielle with Hawk's Bay, where most of the apples in
New Zealand are grown. It was a pretty tough time
and it has been challenging with the cost of labor
going up, and it's been particularly hard i think for
(13:44):
some of the smaller grows just to keep their orchards viable.
But last season was a very good crop, excellent grown conditions,
with good fruit size, and it's actually paid off well
in the market. There's still a portion of the crop
to sell, but we've got really good demand through particularly Asia,
through the Middle East and hopefully to India shortly for
(14:09):
our apples. They are highly sought after and we're pretty
excited by what's ahead of us.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
You're still paying a tariff to get into India.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
Yes, fifty percent tariff there Jamian. Hence we've been pretty
active at working with the government to progress that free
trade agreement and look, we're really hopeful we can get
some relief there because the Indian market would be a
huge opportunity for us with apples. Likewise, if we managed
to open up South Korea, which we effectively can't get
(14:38):
access to and made it easier to get to Japan.
Those three markets alone would transform the apple sector overnight.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You're born and bred in Central hawks Bay. I know
you missed out on your big Ruetanifa water scheme. You're
looking at another one. Would that open up all that
area for horticulture. Would that be a good apple growing region?
Speaker 6 (15:00):
Absolutely, Jamie. And I'm part of the group that's actually
driving the Tookie Tookie Water Security project, and that is
about providing the opportunity for high value food production and processing,
particularly in the rotanner for planes and right down the
length of the Tooki Tookie River. And there's no doubt Jamie.
The reality is if you wanted to put an orchard
(15:20):
in place in the rear channel for planes right now,
you could not do it if you haven't got access
to a water consent and existing consent. There are no
new consents being issued. The catchment is overallocated and hence
our desire to try and store some water before it
flows to the sea so we can actually provide water
when it's required.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Are your days, because you are a former chair of
Beef and Lamb New Zealand, are your days on the
lambing beat now done. Mike Peterson, that is past tense
in your life.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
That is past tense, Jamie, I have to admit with it,
that's past tense. And it's a beautiful day in Hook's
Bay today, and I know that there are going to
be a lot of people out there enjoy this weather.
But Hawks Bay, you know, we're probably reasonably dry at
the moment, and I think there's a bit of a
country that's just getting a wee bit nervous about what
the spring's going to hold. So it's been great lemming
(16:13):
weather that there's been a really good drop of lambs
on the ground. And look, I think that's really great
for farmers, but I think people are still looking for
a bit more rain before spring comes.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I was doing a thing with Shane Jones on Friday night,
and I was in his are the whole night. He's
got to build some more dams. He's up for that,
and he's got to build some more four lane highways
that'll make New Zealand great again.
Speaker 6 (16:35):
Mike, absolutely, Jamie, and we have been talking to Minster Jones,
and look, he's a strong advocate and supporter of what
we're trying to do here. So and look he just
wants to get on with it and it's refreshing to see.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Mike Peterson, Thanks for your time. Mike Peterson out of
Central Hawk's Bay there, chair of Scales New Zealand Company,
doing very very well. Up next, we're going to head
up the road a bit to gaze Toison and Sandra Matthews,
Chair of Rural What is she national President? I think
of Rural Women and ZED. Pay equity is on the
(17:12):
menu with her today. She's a sheep and beef farmer
with a hobby and I wonder if she still does
a lambing beat. We'll ask her next on the Country.
Before the end of the hour, Hunter McGregor and Shanghai
and the Farmer Panel, they're still lamming. Stew Duncan and
Stu Low haven't caught up with this woman for a while,
(17:41):
but always enjoy her company and input into the show.
Her name is Sandra Matthews. She is the National President
of Rural Women and ZED. Also a Gisbane sheep and
beef farmer. Smack in the middle of lambing. How's laming going, Sandra?
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Yeah, afternoon, Jamie, She laming's going really well. The sun
shining today for a change. We've had a bit of
scudy horrible weather the last few weeks, but we're about
halfway through lambing and it's looking good so far. Yeah,
you're really happy with how it's going.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Do you get out and do a lambing beat?
Speaker 7 (18:11):
No, we haven't done a lambing beat so many many years.
We leave them to it. We'll say that occasionally, we'll
do a bit of a ride around and just check
we've got no cast us and things like that, but
we leave them to it because we find that that
should do better by not getting involved with them in
the paddocks.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But if you did do a lambing beat, you and
your habbie, and you'd have pay equity, wouldn't you.
Speaker 7 (18:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think we would have paid equity, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I'm pleased to hear that equal pay for an equal job.
Do you think the government has got this wrong, especially
when it comes to and I know you're giving the
examples of rural health care, education and community services, because,
to be honest with your Sandra, I thought this was
a bit of a political scrap between the government and
the unions.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
Yeah, no it's not, Jamie. It's actually broader and wider
than that. Royal Women in New Zealand has been really
consistent for decades and fighting for pay equity, and the
feeling out there within our members and you know, rural
heeny is that this legislation has been rushed through. That's
where our concerns lie very much, is that the process
(19:17):
was rushed, the use of urgency, the lack of public consultation,
the absence of regulatory impact statements, and then suddenly extinguishing
thirty three active claims, some of which have been in
the years in the process. The feenis around the democratic
democratic process is one of the areas we've focused on
in our submission yesterday to the People Select Committee. You know,
(19:40):
as you said, the reality is that women are the
backbone of rural healthcare, education and community services and these
are the sectors already grappling with recruitment and retention issues
in our communities, in our real communities.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
What about the threshold for these pay agreements, because they've
changed that. I think the new requirement is that workforces
need to be at least seventy percent female. Over ten
consecutive years now, you had a bit of a fluctuation
in the workforce that might be a bit difficult to achieve.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
Yeah, this is a really important point. For large urban employees,
they've got a dedicated HR team and access to expensive
legal advice, those sort of thresholds could be achievable. But
for small rural early child education centers, health clinics, where
staff numbers are small and fluctuate from year to year,
that threshold is really simply unrealistic.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
So, Sandra Matthew's National President of Rural Women in z
do you think this is a real threat to rural communities.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
You know, as I said earlier, we've been fighting real
women's been fighting for this for many, many years, and
we're still strongly advocating for pay equity for our rural communities.
This isn't just about women's take on pay. It's about
whether our central services in rural New Zealand survive. You know,
as an example, the Rural New Zealand College of General
(21:02):
Pactiousness their primary care nurses and royal practices and fifteen
to thirty five percent less than hospital nurses in our cities.
So that gap makes it incredibly hard for rural areas
to recruit and retrain the wife the workforce. Same with teachers,
in isolated schools. It's already hard to attract them. So
without pay equity, the prospect of pay equity adjustments real
(21:24):
placements become even less appealing. And the same as it's
the same for rest homes and age care facilities and
in home help for age care to stay in their homes.
So it actually rolls on to a lot of these
roles that women do in our rural communities, and it's
actually going to put it under pressure.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well, I reckon, if you have to wipe someone's bumb
on a rest time, you deserve to be well paid
for it. Sandra Matthew's National President of Rural Women and
Z keep up the good fight and enjoy if such
a thing as possible, it probably is if you're not
doing a lambing beat the rest of lambing see great.
Thanks keeps Jamie, Thanks Hendra. It is twenty seven away
(22:06):
from one. Some of your texts coming through. We appreciate them.
On five double nine. Some of you, though, need to.
I don't want to be a grammar Nazi, but I
am a bit of a grammar nut. You need to,
once you've written out your text or typed it out
with your fat fingers, just have a read of it
to make sure it makes sense. And this is the
grammar Nazi and me. Try the occasional comma or full stop.
(22:28):
It gives us a bit of an idea of context
for your text, but we do appreciate them. Rural News
and sports news. Up next, We're also going to tell
you how you can win a Rugby ready meatpack from
New Zealand Beef and Lamb. That's up next on the Country.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
Hi, Stacy Wiker here, take scrums of five CEOs.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
You're in nine to be in to win a Rugby
ready meat pack thanks to my mates at Beef and Lamb.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Get the team round and have some delicious and nutritious
cote from Beef and Lamb, New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Jamie will draw the winner and tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Wow, turn my mic on. It's a good liner there,
good promo liner from Stacy Wiker. Overdoing the business at
a rugby tournament. We're not allowed to mention. That really
annoys me. I've just got to get over it. Just relax, okay, Michelle,
good afternoon, how are you. I'm good?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Now it says Jamie will announce the winner of the
or Stacy said that she was. We're personal friends, so
she named me personally obviously, But I'm going to let
you name the winner. Our first winner from yesterday's show.
Who was it but the Rugby Ready meat pack.
Speaker 9 (23:52):
Oh thanks Jamie. I feel very privileged to be given
this job. So yesterday's winner of the New Zealand Beef
and Lamb Rugby Ready Meatpack is Dick Baker from Tasman.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Well done, Dick. Now if you want to win today's prize,
we'll announce the winner tomorrow tex Scrum and your name
and where you're based to five double o nine to
go and to be into win that Rugby Ready meatpack
from New Zealand Beef and Lamb and head to recipes
dot co dot in z for tips on preparing all
(24:22):
the beef and lamb that's coming your way. Obviously, if
you're the winner, so Dick Baker from Tasman, Dick, you
need to go to recipes dot co dot nz and
to do something with the fine fair worth sending your way.
Here's the latest and rural news.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
To the Johnfrees World News with Could Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawnbower brand. Visit steel Ford dot co
dot z for your local stockist.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
And just before I go into or on news, I
had a quick look at that recipes website, Jane. There's
some really good recipes on there. I'd fully recommend.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Just wanted to say that you're looking at someone who
can boil a SAVOLOI and that's so waste it on me.
I hope Dick's more handy in the kitchen than I am. Anyhow,
what's happening in rural news Again?
Speaker 9 (25:07):
In Rural news, a new development in the sale of
Fontira's consumer arm. The dairy co op has agreed to
sell brands like Anchor and Mainland to French dairy giant
lac Talis, pending farmer, shareholder and relatory approval. The deal
was initially for just over three point eight billion dollars,
but Fontira has now reached an agreement with Australia's Biger Cheese.
It will allow Baga to licenses held by Fonterira's Australian
(25:29):
businesses to be included in the sale. That will bring
the total value of the sale to more than four
point two billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Well, just imagine all that money sloshing around in the economy.
Mike Peterson referred to it. A lot of it's going
to be spent paying down debts and that's a smart
thing to do. The best form of investment is to
repay debt. But I think there's going to be a
bit of pent up capital expenditure, not only on machinery
but even things like on furt. So I reckon happy
(25:57):
times for the New Zealand primary sect there in the
rural communities. Good stuff, thank you, Michelle. That is the
rural news. Let's have a look at sport sport with AFCO.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Visit them online at AFCO dot co dot nz.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Now Pup Shepherd down in Southland one hundred and six
games for the Stags. They weren't the Stags in his
day and I think he punched someone in each of
those one hundred and six games. But I do owe
him a Riversdale Golf Club trip up to don Eden
here all hosted mainly all hosted pub But I see
(26:31):
the draws out or that they're sneaking the draw out
for the Super Rugby next year and the defending champion
Cruise Crusaders will begin their Super Rugby season away to
the Highlanders in twenty twenty six Ie at Forsyth Bar Stadium.
Sides are drip feeding key parts of the draw ahead
of the full release in the coming day. So that's
going to be a great opener for Super Rugby in February,
(26:53):
I would imagine of next year. But black Caps will
be without at least three players for October's home White
Bullseri against Australia. Will I Rawk and Finnel on our
sideline for at least three months with stress fractures in
the bat, back and foot, respectively, and Mitch Santa's time.
Satana's timeline apologies for that is uncertain after abdominal surgery.
(27:17):
And that is your sports news. Up next, we're off
to Shanghai. Our guy over there is Hunter McGregor and
he tells me it's been stinking hot. Our guy in
Shanghai is Hunter McGregor, a kiw selling venison add red
meat to the Chinese. Are you sick and tired of
(27:39):
the Chinese summer? Forty degree heat?
Speaker 8 (27:41):
Hunter, Good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yes, this is a typical summer at the tail end now,
and you know we're up to sort of forty forty
three yesterday. You know we get down overnight as thirty,
So yeah, looking forward to the summer to dissipate and
Tenber is usually a fantastic month, so you know, by
the time a couple of weeks time will be will
(28:05):
have lovely weather and it's the best time of the
year in China.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
How does this affect your business, because I'm sure that
people don't want to sit out on sidewalk cafes having
a bit of New Zealand venison in this stinking hot heat.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
No, it's it's a low period, you know. July and
August a seasonally low period for a lot of things,
especially especially red meat, you know, because people I don't
want to go out and travel. And one thing that's
interesting that I've noticed this year is that in the past,
July and August was was always a slow time, but
(28:42):
you know, the city would sort of be it to
be normal and things would sort of tick over normally.
But this year what's happened is a lot of Chinese
have actually gone on holiday and did a bit more traveling,
So the city has been really quiet. Driving around at
rush hour, it's not as busy as it normally is.
And I've only sort of picked up this week, well
last week I noticed it around the roads around Russia,
(29:05):
so you know there's been a big sort of this
a seasonal and then the next four months of our
business will sell more than the previous eight months. And
that's the same for a lot of restaurants as well.
It's a busy time you're heading into Christmas and stuff.
But you know what, I've noticed that the local Chinese
are starting to do a bit more traveling, spending more
(29:26):
time with family.
Speaker 8 (29:27):
So that sort of work life.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Balance is starting to come in to play a bit more,
and even in the bigger cities like Shanghai.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
I was am seeing a fundraiser on Friday night and
Tapoki Shane Jones was the guest speaker. I go to
sit down at the top table as you do the Hunter,
and then there's a week present wrapped up to Jamie
from Hunter. I'm thinking, who the Hell's Hunter? It ended
up it was you. One of your mates was the
organizer's Sun and you've given me some flash chopsticks. You
(29:55):
realize I can't use them, I've got to use a fork.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Well, you've got to eat, Jamie. So I thought would
give you a nice gift, but no, mate, Cam's just
moved back to New Zealand from Shanghai. Has been here
a few years and look, he had a major impact
around the businesses in Shanghai. Have talked to four bar
owners and they're all going to miss him because he
put a lot of a lot of US hard earned
(30:21):
money across the bar. But really what's happening here in
Shanghai is a lot of the foreigners, especially like Cameron
who's who's left China, they're not being replaced. A lot
of these sports bars now and restaurants as well, don't
have the big spending sort of foreigners that they have
in the past. That they're struggling. And Chinese people are
(30:43):
frequent in these places a lot more as well, which
is good, but they don't pick up the slack. They
don't spend it as much as a big spending Kiwi
who's on a big teacher salary up here. So you know,
a lot of bar owners are struggling because there hasn't
been the there's been a COVID exodus of expats and
there hasn't been an influx coming back. So it's just
(31:06):
changing the nightlife in the feel of the city. You know,
it's just what happens up here and you know things
will some places will go under and then there'll be
something new will arrive in its place, So you know
the things are changing here like always.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Well done to Cam and it was good to meet
him at the Shane Jones fundraiser for the Tapuke Rugby Club. Hey,
just to finish, Sean, you want to talk about smaller
Chinese cities in particular one who Joe?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Last weekend I went with took my family to Hujo,
which is a small Chinese city about two hours an
hour and a half two hour drive inland from Shanghai. Now,
it's a small Chinese city, has about two million people,
and it's sort of a third tier city. It's really interesting.
It's where all the growth is happening in China now.
(31:54):
It's not so much in the biggest cities like Beijing, Shanghaan, Guangzo.
It's more into this smaller city, second third tier. And
in Hujo, you know, we're down there. We went there
on downtown on Saturday afternoon and you know, the place
is dead. It's very different to Shanghai, but the city
itself is growing one percent more than that than the
(32:15):
Chinese average, and that's where you know there's going to
be a lot of growth in the future, but it's
it's a really different It's going to be a tough
market for especially for smaller companies. I think the big
companies like you know, the likes of the Fonterras and Vespreys,
they've got to do it okay because a better reach
into those cities. Smaller companies are going to really struggle.
(32:37):
But it was fascinating. We took the you'd like this, Jamie.
Speaker 6 (32:41):
We took the.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
High speed toll road there and we sat on one
hundred and twenty k's all the way and or three lanes.
And you know, in China when you do the speed limit,
you feel like you're going way too slow because everyone
else is passing you. But you know, you cost me
about fifteen dollars and one hundred you could on the
Speedland was one hundred and twenty.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
K's all the way there.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
So pretty easy to get around China with some great infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Well, but like driving from Tarrongo out to Tapuki on
the New Eastern Toll Road are very good. We need
lots more of those in New Zealand. Not to mention dams,
don't start me Hunter McGregor. Thanks for your time, mate,
always appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Cheers.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Thanks Jamie ten away from one.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You're with the country if you were last chance today
if you want to win the Rugby Ready meatpack from
New Zealand Beef and Lamb techs scrum and your name
and where you're based to five double O nine. We
wrap it with the Farmer panel up next. They're both
sheep farmers. They'll be lambing. We're about to be lambing
stew Duncan and stew Low wrapping the country with the
(33:56):
Farmer Panel stew Duncan and the Manyatoto Stulo and North
Canterbury Stu. I'll start with you as traditionally an early lammer.
You'll just about to be finished now do you still
do a lambing beat with your dodgy knees?
Speaker 8 (34:08):
No, just pretty much drive bys and just check for
cast ones and stock ones. But you know we've had
a pretty good run so they haven't had to had
to test them out yet.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
What about you, Stu dunk And of course in a
past life you were nearly good enough to go to
the Commonwealth Games as a hurdler, so you'll still be
handy when it comes to running down the sheep.
Speaker 10 (34:28):
Well not really, Jamie. No body's packed up a bit
since those days, so we're a bit the same. But
we haven't finished pre lamb sharing yet. And I'll see
we've got about eight lambs. But no, we don't start
to locked over. So I've got plenty of time to
get fit to see if I can get around them.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Do you you won't be doing much hands on shepherding?
Do you leave them to it?
Speaker 6 (34:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (34:45):
We just sat stalking out and all the whole blocks
and put the twins on a lot of the warmer,
better country and just leave them to it. Yeah in
November December will when November we'll run around and mark them.
So no we stay out but yeah, no, it just
the same. Just leave them out there, leave.
Speaker 6 (34:59):
Them to it, you both.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
It looks like going to get handsomely paid for your
lambs or your lamb crop? Are the season stew low?
Can we say the same about your wall crop? I
get the email from PGG Rights and every Friday morning
or Thursday afternoon after the wall sail, and I'm always
hoping for a bit of a lift, but it's not
really going anywhere.
Speaker 8 (35:20):
I think I saw someone where they've got four dollars
for some wall the other day. That moneling your host
you so, but you know it's little. I suppose the supply,
the amount of supply will make sure that the price
will go up. I guess the only shedding brands have
been put out and just the least wall going through
the option system. I guess, so that that will play
(35:41):
a part in the fact that there's not as much
out there.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Stu Duncan, you've got a finer edge to your wall
on the Maniu Toto. You'll still be getting reasonably well paid.
Speaker 9 (35:49):
Are you.
Speaker 10 (35:50):
Yeah, we're just in that twenty five early twenty five,
so we're just sitting under that seven dollars grease. I'll
see evaluation about six sixty or six seventy greasy, so
that's had a bit of a lifted dollar a dollar
fifty on last year. But I think we've got two
dollars eighty greasy for our Crossbury seeking shoe and we
sold it the other day. But it has come up,
but those shearing costs got up. But yeah, time we
will be sharing a few hoggots and a month or
(36:11):
so and then get them away to the work. So
they've got to be shorn, so hopefully he's a weep
of a lift has a bit of an effect, but
he's got a long way.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
To go yet, it's too long. We had Mike Peterson
and Hawks Bay or Central Hawkspace saying they're just getting
a wee bit drysh and I know that you guys
and Canterbury North Canterbury where you are, are only a
week away from a drought if the northwester gets blowing.
How are you looking?
Speaker 8 (36:35):
Not too bad? We've we had some good rains here
in the winter. We haven't had any drying. We had
a sort of a cold suddenly that this time last week.
It wasn't really a land telling of it. It wasn't prolonged.
So we've sort of been topped up. And I heard
you say on the on the Muster show that the
Fellows who'd had the bulky around his family, you know,
(36:57):
he wouldn't get too packed up my hill here at
the without getting stuck or siding off the hill. To yeh,
we're wed under foot. But now we're getting good days
now and starting to get a bit of growth then
drying out. So but yeah, the water tables are right
up there, so we're sitting looking pretty good. We just
need a bit of warm weather, yep.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
And Stu Duncan, you're prone to summer dry as well.
How are you looking?
Speaker 10 (37:17):
Yeah, we're really were and you know we're trying to
get a bulky around looser and panics and we're a
bit cheerful making marks everywhere. So but I know not
all the bottom end and through Rocksburgh and sor the
Pedtyrari and there still some of the creeks down at
Horey is having him started running in the winter yet,
so there are dry patches around. But now we're we're
incredibly wet, millions soft, so hopefully a good spring has
got a heat.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Stu Low Rugby, what changes would you make to the
All Blacks for the spring Bok Test. We need to
get rid of some of your crusaders.
Speaker 8 (37:44):
I'm not sure about that, just maybe the attitude should
change it. But don't want about playing golf as much,
and concentrate on what they put on their textra toes
and bring a rugby player and play rugby young gies.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Oh they are harsh words from a former crusader. What
about you, Stu Duncan.
Speaker 10 (38:00):
I just think they didn't show too much, so they
got to harden up, be in that physical bat little
bit more and the Beck's got to start thinking about
having some moves. They had to sit phase here and
a scrum and they look like they didn't know what
they're doing, so I'm sure they'll get locked in them
this week. D Low, I was going to get a
fright from South Africa.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I would like to see Leroy Carter get a run
on the wing. That's my take on it. Thanks lads,
thanks for your time, Enjoy the rest of your lambing
and Stu yours is to come see there we go.
That is today's panel Stu Duncan and the Manototo Stulo
and North Canterbury. We will catch you back tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, You're specialist in
John Deere construction equipment.
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