November 3, 2025 • 38 mins
Jamie Mackay talks to Nicola Willis, Kate Acland, Tom Young, Thomas Macdonald, and Julian Raine.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch you're 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 (00:26):
Good A, New Zealand. Welcome to the Country. On Melbourne
Cup Day. Running theme today this is the choir Boys
Run to Paradise. We've got an off for sweetsteak. I
went big. I bought an eighth to the field. Yes,
three out of twenty four horses. I think there's twenty
four horses in the field. I drew a favorite and
two donkeys. We'll see how I go. More about that later.
(00:49):
But an exciting and new innovation. I'm not quite sure
how it works, but Nichola Willis, Finance Minister's pretty excited
about it. She's so excited she's gone to Canterbury. She's
standing in a North Canterbury cow paddock. We're going to
go there very shortly. A wearable device for a cow
to stop at peeing in one place. How do you
(01:13):
spread the pea evenly around the paddock? The mind boggles.
Nicola Willis on matt and other stuff. Kate Acklin, the
chair of Beef and Lamb New Zealand. I caught up
with her a couple of hours ago in a pub
in Bath in England. Will find out what she's doing
over there. She was wearing her wine hat. Tom Young
maf COO's National livestock manager on red meat prospects. Keith
(01:35):
Woodford's written a really interesting piece on interest stock co
dot m Z. I think it's also on Farmer's Weekly
about potential price crash for Lamb. You can't be right.
Lamb's really good at the moment. Sheep are good at
the moment, asked Thomas McDonald. He's in Shanghai. He's spring
sheep Milk's kind of new chief executive. He's taking over
(01:56):
from Nick Hammond, who's stepping aside to go dos Espury,
and we're heading to the Tasman Nelson region. Julian Rain
dairy entrepreneur, former president of Horticolche in New Zealand. We
have been concentrating on the weather woes in the Deep
South and in Canterbury in recent times, but don't forget
his region has taken a hammering as well. All that
(02:18):
on the country. Between now and one o'clock, she is
a very excited Minister of Finance or Finance Minister, standing
(02:41):
in the middle of a cal padick in North Canterbury.
How does that work? Let's ask Nicola. Willis Nicola, shouldn't
you be in the beehive?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Look a great day when I'm on farm talking real
solutions to real challenges. And today I'm celebrating a new
science which is going to help reduce our farmer's emissions water,
increase their productivity and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions along
the way. So exciting, practical, positive stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Now there's a bit of a veil of secrecy around
this because a kiwiag tech company, a startup company called Moor,
has secured one point two million from agri is their
own New Zealand to accelerate the development of its cow
wearable technology. And this is to try and reduce the
intensity of urine patches and use this natural fertilizer God,
(03:35):
God's own fertilizer and spread it evenly around the paddock.
How does the cow work that one?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah? Look, this is a This totally makes sense. So
Egrey zero is a partnership. It's government money, an money
from a bunch of corporates including Frontira and commercial banks
looking for solutions to reduce emissions on farm and our
MOA had made the simple observation that a big source
of as those nitrate patches that come when the cow
(04:03):
does their business, but that in that is actually this
incredible resource which if we could spread it around the paddock,
would be an awesome source of fertilizer. So they've come
up with a device the cow where's the device? The
device senses when the cow's about to take away, and
then it spreads that we all over the paddic instead
of just going in one concentrated patch, which of course
(04:26):
means less emission to waterways, less nitrous oxide, and a
much cheaper source of fertilizer.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Now, Nichola, there's a bit of veil of secrecy around
this because they're still going through the IP process. But
can I ask you this question, because I think you've
seen it in action and you're limited as to what
you can say. Does the cow where the device at
the front or the back end?
Speaker 4 (04:49):
It's a rare end operation. And look, yeah, they are
doing a back cagy because they want to make sure
all their intellectual property is protected before they go public
with the with the picture of the design. Because actually
this is a solution that could be worth a lot
of money. This is science and tech that I think
people will be prepared to pay for if they can
(05:10):
get it working well, because it's not just about the environment,
this is about productivity. Instead of paying for fertilized I
why not work with what nature's going.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Absolutely, And if that sounded like a dumb question for me,
I was wondering whether it was maybe a wearable collar.
And as the cow was about to pee, it gave
it a weed tickle up or something like that, and
it sort of walked or ran a weebit while it
was peeing, thus spreading the high concentrate nitrogen. So is
this like a wee mini fertilizer spreader at the back
(05:40):
end of the cow?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Well, I think that's a fair way of characterizing it. Now.
Of course, it's in its early stages. So what we've
seen with these on farm technologies is the scientist comes
up with a cool idea and then they adapt it
and adapt it to make it really practical for the farmer.
So with this investment that every zero's making, they'll be
able to do those trials and tune it up so
(06:02):
that it's in a way that works for the farmer,
works for the cow, gets the best results. I imagine
it'll evolve a little along.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The way too.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well. Gravity would suggest there could be other problems with
the we fertilize the spreader at the back end of
the cow.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah, I think the farmer's listening. We'll be thinking through
the practical implications of this, and there's a few questions
that I think it's worth asking. And I can sure
everyone the scientist is asking himself.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, while I've got you, I see you're going to
fast track what another supermarket chain into the country. Is
that right?
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Well, we're it's passing law, and I've introduced the legislation
yesterday which will make it far faster for a usage
market competitor to get the resource content and permission to
build right now. Even if they wanted to build a
competitor to your local New World or were worth they
could end up in hearings and court processes literally for years.
(06:54):
That's not good enough. Keep shoppers need these deals to
come to market sooner. So we're putting in play this
fast track mechanism so they can bypass all of that,
get their permission quickly and get building that competitive suis
market to give you a better deal.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, the King of fast tracking is none other than
the Prince of the Province. As the Minister for Regional Development,
I think that's his title. Martur Shane Jones. Now, it's
all very well for Shane to spout off about fast
tracking things. I was reading this morning, Nikola that less
than ten percent of Shane's Provincial Growth Fund loans have
been repaid. This was just a giant lollly scramble.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Well, unfortunately, Shane had to work with labor under the
last government and they weren't quite as good at managing
people's money and putting checks and balances on things. The
good news is Shane's now working with the National Party
and that's what we specialize in. So the Regional Infrastructure
Fund which he now has, has a lot of checks
and balances on it to make sure that we don't
(07:54):
have that sort of thing happening in future.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So you can train a cow to spread fertilizeries, can
you train Shane to spread his more evenly across the country.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
It's a two way thing. I learned from Shane and
I think he learned from me too.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And one final comment on Shane's boss, Winston, did you
and him have a scrap over the Fonterra thing notion.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
No, we haven't even discussed it actually, and that's not
something we've discussed. It hasn't of course involved any government division,
so it's not something that's come to.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, well why is Winston commenting on it?
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Well, you have to ask him. I was able to
explain what goes on in ons. In Peter's mind, I'd
probably be a wealthy, wealthy woman.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, you didn't have to haul Miles and again for
another scolding, did you.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
No.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Look, I've always been very respectful of the role of
the shareholders and the co op. It's up for them
to assess what do they think is the best strategy
for their business they own it, what is the best
future for their milk that creates the most value for
then their farm, their family, their community. And I know
that they will have taken Miles and his team through
(09:04):
the ringer checking out whether their commercial strategy makes sense.
Obviously they did that and they decided to vote in
very big numbers for the proposal that the Fonterra exec
put forward.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Nikola Willis Finance Minister, standing very happily in a North
Canterbury dairy paddock. Thanks for some of your time today.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Great to be on the show.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Sixteen after twelve, Thank you, Nichola. Right, the feedback's coming
in on the well. It's not a cow collar. It's
at the back end of the cow. Now you know
the biology of a cow. There's something that sits up
above where the pe comes out. I mean, what happens
if that HiT's the spreader, that's the shit hitting the
(09:46):
fan completely. I shouldn't have said that. I couldn't help myself.
I'm not sure, but anyhow, Look, this is in the
development stage, so Jamie, that's a solution looking for a
problem that doesn't exist. Another text to cow collars. Now
this poor cows won't be able to move with any
more wearables. I think the cows can wander around with
(10:08):
the collars, Okay, can't they? I don't know about the
back end. I think that would be a wee bit uncomfortable.
And Jeff says, good luck with that device. We don't
need it in Southland. The wind does it for us.
Certainly has in recent times. Yep, Southland on the recovery
path from a brutal bashing Monte. The weather has been
(10:30):
unkind right around the country a bit later in the
hour we're off to the Tasman Nelson region with Julian Rain.
But up next it's Kate Ackland. I caught up with
her a couple of hours, two or three hours ago.
She was in a pub in Bath. What's the chair
of Beef and Lamb doing there? I tell you after
the break God. Kate Ackland does a Canterbury farmer. She's
(11:10):
also the chair of Beef and Lamb New Zealand. Today,
as we record this interview, we find it in a
pub in Bath. What a beautiful city that is in
Western England. Kate, you're over there wearing your wine hat,
not your wino's hat, your wine hat because you're involved
in a Marlboro vine yard, a winery called sugar Loaf Wine.
(11:31):
Tough going at the moment, Hi, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Look, it is really tough going in the wine industry
at the minute. So yes, I'm just over here visiting
some visiting some buyers and drawing up a bit of business.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Are you helping the consumption of the Sugar Loaf wines
and the Bath pub? Do they stock your wine in
their pub?
Speaker 5 (11:48):
They do? Actually, we're at a great pub. I've got
eight wine buyers with me and we are working our
way through the sugarloaf range as we speak, so we're
about midway through the range at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, talk to me about an and I want to
move on to greenhouse scas submissions. Putting on your beef
and lamb New Zealand hat. But how tough is it
on a like on a scale of one to ten
for viticulture for the wine industry at the moment, because
are people who are growing grapes effectively running them running
at a loss?
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Look, it's really tough for growers at the minute, and
I think a lot of them are running at a loss.
We've seen a couple of just massive harvests back to
back and there's just an oversupply of product at the minute.
But you know, there's good signs that the industry is
self moderating in terms of reducing the crop loads. There's
quite a lot of replanting going on, and there's been
a really good push by New Zealand wine growers and
(12:40):
a lot of wineries to get out into market and
start selling some product.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Are people changing their drinking habits and is this going
to be an ongoing thing or is this just going
to be a fashionable cycle.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Look, I think we've been saying that for years, that
people are changing their drinking habits. I think Marlbaret's serving
you blongers like any other wine. And I think it
has a really strong positive future. I mean, I'm a
strong believer in the future of it. I think this
is just a bit of a bump in the road
that we need to get through.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Well, good luck selling some of that sugar loaf wine
in the UK, Kate Acklin, let's put on your beef
and Lamb New Zealand hat. I'm reading a headline here
Beef and Lamb en z leads global agricultural organizations in
a united call for split gas greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
Are you getting goodbye in? Are you like Jasinda? You
(13:32):
know Jacinda had the christ Church call. You've got the
split gas a call. Kate.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Well, look, Jamie, this is actually massive and it all
came about from beck In May. Last time I was
in the UK, I had a coffee with a guy
called Tom Bradshaw, who was the head of the INFEW
in England, and we were just talking about greenhouse gas
reporting and metrics and the fact that we really need
to be treating methane differently, and so we came up
(13:57):
with a bit of a plan to try and get
a con sense of view on this. And initially it
was just going to be between the NFU England and
be from the New Zealand, and so our staff got
together and sort of formed this joint position. But then
they really sort of took the ball by the horns
of those and they went right out and they started
talking to other organizations, to the Australians and the Canadians
(14:18):
and the Americans and the Irish, and then suddenly this
thing is just sort of snowballed. So we've got thirty
organizations from fourteen different countries who have all so far,
I mean there's more by the day, but signed up
to this call. And it's a call to governments to
start reporting on greenhouse gases as a split guess approach,
particularly in their international contribution. So when we're talking about
(14:40):
your Paris accord, we need to be treating me sane differently.
And you know it's very hard. We often hear from
the New Zealand government that they don't want to be
the outlier, and so getting this global view of it,
suddenly they're not the outlier any anymore. You know, you've
got all the other agricultural nations they're talking about greenhouse
gases and the way. So to get this level of
(15:02):
agreement in this level buy in, it's sort of four
years conversations to get to this point, but it is
really massive.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Well god on you, who are you making the call too?
Speaker 5 (15:11):
So the idea is to put a bit of pressure
on all of the respective governments as we head into
the next round of people doing their Paris commitments, to
actually start treating methane differently. So you know, we'll be
talking to New Zealand politicians and we'll be saying, look, hey,
this is not just uck, this is not just agriculture
(15:32):
trying to look after ourselves. Actually, you know, we've got
developing nations, We've got you know, Cambodia and ken here,
and we've got established agricultural nations and they're all saying
that actually methane should be treated differently, that food production
is important, and you know, let's get the metrics right.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Hey, Kate Ackland, I know it's late in the evening
UK time, Monday night. Are you going to get up
at four am in the morning and watch the Melbourne Cup.
You're at Canterbury. You're landed gentry, aren't you from Canterbury?
You will have grown up on this sort of stuff.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I think you know. I'm a good taraniki girl, so no,
hopefully I'll still be asleep at four.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
O'clock in the morning.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
But I only arrived in the UK at six am
this morning, so actually I probably will be awake.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Well you probably will be if you're up. Have a
look at it and looking forward to the Melbourne Cuppa,
a race that stops two nations. Thanks for some of
your time from the other side of the world.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Great baster talk.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Thank you. Kate Yeat caught up with her a wee
bit earlier this morning. It's about it's only eleven thirty
eleven thirty pm in the UK because they've had daylight
saving and we've had daylight saving. We've flipped it around
and I was just I went to their winery website,
Sugar Loaf Wines, and Kate founded Sugar Loaf Wines in
(16:52):
two thousand and four as a twenty three year old
entrepreneurial young woman indeed nowadays of beef and lamb New Zealand.
Up next, Tom Young an interesting article by Keith Woodford
and Farmers Weekly and Interest dot co dot in zed
got me to thinking, are we headed for a bit
of a correction and red meat prices? Can they defy
(17:14):
gravity forever? We'll get Tom Young's take on that next
on the Country Michelle will be in here with Rural News.
We're going to have a look at the Melbourne Cup.
I've got the favorite and two donkeys. I don't know
what Michelle's got. We'll find out when we do Rural
News and sports news. He's the national livestock manager for Africa.
(17:50):
His name is Tom Young, based out of a very
dry and worryingly dry Hawks Bay. I'm going to come
back to that time, but I want to talk about
red meat prices up thirty percent. This is beef and
lamb since twenty twenty four. Professor Keith Woodford, who I
really respect and admire, writing in the Farmer's Weekly, said
it is a sweet spot that won't be maintained and
(18:12):
he's picking a big fall in the lambs schedule come Christmas.
Is Keith glass half empty on this one?
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Well, Jamie, yep, I'm not convinced there's going to be
a big, big fall there'll be the normal I think
there'll be the normal backing off in schedules. You know,
we're sitting around eleven dollar mark on LAMB now on
both islands. And I would say, and I'm guessing a
wee bit here, because no one knows the future, but
I would say LAMB might beck its way down to
(18:41):
nine fifty, perhaps even if you're lucky, ten dollars at
the bottom of the schedule. But I don't. I can't
confirm that. But that's a bit of a best guess
from me.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, farmers would grab that with two hands, wouldn't they.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
Well, he would have thought, so, yes, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, okay, Well, maybe Keith is glass half empty. I
must get him on the show. I always enjoy what
he has to say. So he's a painting of bright
a picture for beef than for LAMB.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Yeah, yeah, I mean beef. I mean beef money is
a record levels too. I mean it's in the nine
dollars range for born Prime now on both islands. And
that'll go through a normal decline, I guess in schedule value.
So we sort of probably see a dollar to a
dollar fifty coming out of the beef. So you might
(19:24):
end up, you know, somewhere high sevens eight dollars or
something for a prime steer and a ball. So it's
I'm going to collapse and fall out of bed and
I think a few you know, middle of summer January
something like that. If we were back at eight dollars
or a bit better than eight for born prime, most
farmers will be pretty pretty happy with that.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Well, some of those cattle are literally black gold.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, they sure are.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
I mean, if they're putting on a I suppose a
kilo carcasswait a day or perhaps a bit more, seven
days a week and you're you're getting nine dollars a
sort of a kilo. You're making sixty odd dollars a week.
So things are going pretty well if you've got some
good cattle.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So what are we expecting livestock numbers wise? You guys
are going to have to crunch the numbers because now
you've got a strengthened Alliance group to go up against
presumably YEP.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So look, the competition irrespective of what Alliance does, the
competition was never going to go out of the livestock
procurement game. They are enough processes involved in trying to
secure stock that is always highly competitive, and I don't
think that's ever going to be any different. And certainly
(20:34):
you know, there was a big drop in numbers last
year land numbers and beef numbers, to be honest, in
both islands, So that'll keep the competitive tension there. I
very much doubt that'll ever go away. And it's again,
we've got plenty of capacity around us, probably arguably too much,
so I would expect that will sort of drive behaviors
(20:56):
from there on out.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Were you quietly wishing alliance tipped over?
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Well, we do our thing. We're pretty comfortable with how
we're going. We've got two plants in the South Island
that go pretty well and Traders obviously Traders South Pacific
Meats wholly owned by FC. We've got seven in the
North Island and they go pretty well too. We've got
a good team of livestock buyers. We try and pay
a good competitive price and be fair with everyone we
(21:21):
deal with. So yeah, we're pretty happy with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Talk to me about the dry and Hawk Spain.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Yeah, so, I mean it's getting a little bit desperate now.
We've had some everyone said the wind. I think across
both Islands, but we've had extreme heat with it, so
we've had a number of thirty degree days back to
back with pretty fierce sort of westerly nor westerly wins.
So the place is pretty baked now. So it's a
bit of shame really, but I guess I guess anyone
(21:49):
that's selling store lambs, they're getting pretty well paid. So
there's a good market for stock if you have to
go store. So it sort of all is not lost
just yet.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
And a final one for you. You used to work
with the bloke by the name of Mark Delatour at AFCO. Yes,
now he's gone to Greater Heights or has he as
he's the chief executive of Open Country Derry. Now he
always turns left when he gets onto a plane. Do
you do that at AFCO?
Speaker 6 (22:17):
We go Whichie will wait his money to be made, Jamie,
that's sore, We work it.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Thank you very much for your time. I was going
to call you Mark Delatour. I might stick with her
with Tom Young that's an unsoldier compliment. Hey, thanks to
that time, and I hope you do get some rain.
And Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
No probadent all, Thanks lot, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Thanks Tom. It is twenty six away from one year
with the country brought to you by Brand Summer. Your
feedback in reference to Nikola Willis, hope she's visiting some
of the poor buggers with the pivots down, says Carl. Jamie.
How can Willis say that labor squandered money when labor
borrowed tens of billions less than Willis's record high one
(22:59):
hundred thirty eight point three billions she borrowed last year,
and she is on track to beat her own record
this year. She's put us in a deep recession while
Labor kept us out of the recession for all of
their last term. Willis is a drunken sailor, chairs Jasindra
and Grant. They're not texting me. It's a Wayne not
(23:23):
and done half. I agree with that one. But anyhow,
we appreciate all your opinions here and Jamie, anyone who
thinks we'll still be getting eleven dollars this is for
LAMB mid season needs to lay off the glass barbie
from Robbie. What's the glass barbie? Michelle? You find out
during the break. See, I've led a sheltered life and
(23:46):
we'll come back and we're going to do rural news
and sports news and tell you about our picks in
the Melbourne Cup, or at what we've drawn on the
Melbourne Cup in the office sweep steak key, we band
(24:12):
evermore and running today for the running of the Melbourne Cup.
Thanks for everyone who told me what the glass barbie was.
You see, I led a sheltered life Michelle and Riversdale.
The only glass thing we had in Riversdale was a
jug at the pub. We were simple boys, just simple
farm boys. And Andy Mure from Balfa, who hosts the
must slightly dodgy town up the road a bit from Riversdale,
(24:36):
he was able to tell me it was a meth pipe.
Wouldn't surprise me in his youth anyhow. Thank you for that,
and thank you Robbie for that text about the being
on the glass barbie. If you think you're going to
get eleven dollars, there's no way. Keith Wood, but I
must get him on the show, Professor Keith Wood. But
I don't think he thinks we're going to get eleven bucks.
(24:58):
But you know, Tom was quite sort of there. Here's
Michelle Worth's Rural News.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
What the Country's World News with Coup Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawn Bower brand visit steel Ford. Dot
cot In said for your.
Speaker 7 (25:11):
Locals, Doggist and AMP show season is in full swing.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You would have had the old glass barbie at the
Rosy and Belclouth. I guarantee it.
Speaker 7 (25:20):
We had plastic jugs. That's how poor we were.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
But I wasn't talking about beer. I was talking about
other substances.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
I don't know what you're talking about. I need a
very innocent life.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Were you the only one at the Rosie who did
anyhow carry on?
Speaker 7 (25:34):
Probably not wrong, Okay.
Speaker 8 (25:35):
So we're in full swing with AMP shows around the country.
Jamie is going to be broadcasting live from christ Church
AMP Show next week, which is very exciting to.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Make sure you, and launching the Mackayson.
Speaker 7 (25:46):
And launching the new Machais are very excited.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I don't know if we've got it in glass or
a keg. I think it might be in a kid
I think it's in a key. You can drink it
out of a glass. Come and join us Thursday next
Thursday in christ Church.
Speaker 8 (25:57):
And there's more happening around the country. So the country's
oldest agricultural show is on again this weekend in the
far North up in the Bay of Islands, beautiful part
of the country and it will bring around seven thousand
people to the Ymatte North show Grounds. The show was
first held in eighteen forty two, which makes it the
oldest amp show of its kind in the country and
(26:17):
in the early days the show rotated to different towns
around the region, but it's been based in Wymatti North
for several decades now. But beautiful part of the country.
Would love to go up to that amp show.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yep, Bay of Islands, Sir Jewel and our Crown. Absolutely
stunning and.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Sports on the country with AFCO business.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well done, and Michelle said before I cut her off
with the line what have I got for sport? Well,
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson's had a chance to reflect
on his early rugby career. Upon returning to Scotland as
a teenager, he played a few games at Air or
at the Air Club before rising to international level. Back home,
Robertson finally remembers a fifty pound reward for a try
(26:58):
would have been at King's Ransom back in the day
for Raza and New Zealand wicket keeper Tim Tim Saiffert
has been ruled out of the T twenty cricket series
against the West Indies. He suffered a broken finger batting
for Northern Districts and their Ford Trophy loss to Wellington.
Mitch Hay has been called up into that squad and
we've decided that that game's the TEA twenty series against
(27:21):
Tomorrow Night.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Tomorrow Night starts and there's one here in Dunedin. I
think is it next week all the week after. I'm
very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
One, right. And the Melbourne Cup. I bought a not
a third of the field and eighth of the field.
I've got I've never won on off the sweep in
my life, but I have got half yours, which is
one of the favorites. And then I've got three and
five and I think their donkeys, what have you got?
Speaker 8 (27:43):
I've got? Well, I can't pronounce the name of mine properly,
to be honest. My own was Presage, not Turn, which
is one of the favorites. It's a gray horse. You
don't see gray horses winning the Melbourne Cup very often.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I don't think, well, didn't we have gray Way winning
the Melbourne Cup once?
Speaker 7 (27:57):
A long time ago.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Oh yeah, yeah, they always sem to be bays or
chess nuts.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah okay, so yeah, well we'll await with interest to
see how we get on in the office sweep. I
suspect I won't win, but if I do win, I'm
going to shout the office coffee because I think I've
got enough if I win to shout everyone in coffee.
That's the sort of bloke I am.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Well, you've made the promise on you and now.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I might not know what a glass barbie is, but
if I win, I'm going to be very generous. Up next,
Thomas McDonald. We're all over the world today. We've been
in Bath in England. What a great city that is.
And up next we're heading to Shanghai if we can
track him down. So you've heard from Nikola Willis about
(28:50):
spreading cow pee evenly around the paddock. The mind boggles,
doesn't it. Here's a young guy going places. He's spreading
himself right around the world. He is now effectively the
boss of the Spring Sheep Milk Company. His name is
Thomas McDonald. First come across him in twenty eighteen when
he won the Zander McDonald Award. Thomas, you've been with
(29:11):
us the Spring Sheep Milk Company for ten years since
it's inception. Get it right, and you're celebrating ten years
today in Shanghai. Good morning or good afternoon, New Zealand time.
Speaker 9 (29:24):
Good afternoon, Jamie. Yes, thank you very much for having
me on. We're up here in Shanghai. Yeah, celebrating ten
years off Spring Sheet, which is a fantastic milestone. We'll
have all of our customers, stakeholders and business partners in
this market coming together, So a really big moment for
us as a business one to reflect on what's been
a really neat journey.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Is there any money in milking sheep?
Speaker 9 (29:45):
Yes, there is. Yeah, we've seen a really exciting I
guess value chain created for New Zealand and that's probably
one of the main things that's kept me so interested
in this business over the last ten years is we've
got a genuine opportunity here to take a New zealain
Land use through an innovative factory and a team doing
wonderful things there and take it here into market in
(30:05):
places like Shanghai, Vietnam, Malaysia and around the world. As
you know well, we have focused on in fan formula
as a business at spring sheep, and that's a value
chain that is adding value to each of those parts
that I've mentioned to the value chain and actually driving
a real neat future for the primary sector in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Well, as I said, we were mentioning about cows and
spreading the pea more evenly around the pastures to reduce
the environmental footprint. One of the real advantages you guys
have with sheep as the environmental footprint is much less
than with bovines.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
That's exactly right, and I think you and I have
spoken many times over the years about the reasons why
farmers in New Zealand may be interested in milking sheep.
That's certainly one of the reasons. I think as we've
developed the model over the past ten years, it's become
very clear that sheep milking has ait diversification of an
existing business. Also, succession has been a really big thing
driving out business forwards. Are seeing another generation back home
(31:00):
onto the land and set up a new industry. So here,
for a various number of reasons, we've got a great
and very innovative group of farmers now with us milking
about thirteen thousand cheap every day.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Have you got farmers who are effectively operating a hybrid
model dairy cows and sheep.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
Yeah, we do, i'd say. You know, when we started this,
we thought there'd be quite a few sole source from
sheep milking farms, and probably as it's turned out, for
the range of factors around environmental divestification and succession, we've
seen a really common model emerge of perhaps a one
generation having cows on the platform and a second generation
developing their own sheep milking business. And that model seems
(31:40):
to have a real complementary land use to it, which
is fantastic to see it emerge, and it probably is
today one of our front running farming models.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Your chief executive, Nick Hammond has stepped aside. You're now
the boss at Spring Sheep. He's been appointed zespri's new
chief strategy officer, so that's a feather in his cap
and a good promotion for him. You've been with the
company for ten years. This is a natural progression for you.
You're quite young, if you don't mind me saying so,
to be a chief executive, well done.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
No, thank you very much, Jamie. And it's been a
real privilege to be involved in this business across When
I think about our genetics business, working with our very
innovateive farmers, and time leading our factory and manufacturing operations
and then get to be up here and market it
is a wonderful business. It's an absolute privilege to lead
it across all of those various teams, and I'm absolutely
(32:31):
looking forward to the challenge ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So where's the future for milking sheep?
Speaker 9 (32:36):
We are very much looking to the future in all
of our Southeast Asian markets right now. So we're up
here in Shanghai. We're attending CIIE, which is one of
the large trade shows for consumer and branded goods up here.
The best way I can describe it to you is
that we spent the last ten years building the platform
to establish sheet milking as an industry in New Yealand.
The focus for the next ten years is really scaling
(32:58):
that and taking these branded products without to more and
more consumers right around the world. So that's going to
be a big focus of mine and of the team,
both based up here in China and our other markets
and back home in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
And you're going to be moving beyond infant formula.
Speaker 9 (33:13):
Yeah, we have to a certain extent already Jamie. So
we've got a food service and ingredients business as well,
and at the moment we've currently got a cheese program
which is in I guess the product development stage that
we're working on as well. So sheet milking, as many
of your listeners would know, as a wonderful raw material,
we've got the option to do things with it. The
first focus of the business has been getting to that
(33:33):
initial scale and the powders. And as we look to
the next ten years, I guess the world's the oyster.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
As I say you enjoy the big trade show in Shanghai.
Thank you very much for your time at Thomas McDonald,
the newly minted chief executive of Spring Sheep Milk, Well
done and good luck to your previous spots, Nick Hammond
and his new venture with Sesbury.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Great to chat Jammy.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Thanks thank you Thomas all the way from showing hats
him up next it will have some of your feedback.
The KLP device reminds me of Country Calendars Turkeys and
gum Boots program. Yeah, they used to do some great takeoffs.
Take the mickeys on Country Calendar. Remember the bloke playing
the fence that was brilliant as well, we will come
(34:18):
back with Julian Rain, dairy entrepreneur, former president of Horticulture,
New zeal One. The weather's been a bitch, no other
word for it recently in this country. His region took
a hammering as well. We'll see how the recovery's going
next on the country running songs the Beg's I forgot
(34:53):
what a good song that was run to me from
the Beg's early begs pre disco. This man predates disco
as well, although he might have been in his prime
in the late seventies, I don't know. Julian Rain, former
President of Horticulture in New Zealand, Nelson based dairy entrepreneur
and horticulturalist. Hey, we've been talking about Julian about the
(35:17):
damage that's been caused in Southland, Southwest Otago, Canterbury of
late because of the winds. But it's easy to forget
that you guys had your share from mother nature midwinter.
You had a couple of events in a row.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
We did in June and then mid July in quick succession,
really smash us around, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So had you had a lot of trees down, didn't
you smashed?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Yes? The wind event is more recent so the flooding
and water and inundation that was all winter. It's been
more a spring event when we've had these wind events
that have come in and dealt to the foresters.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
So how's the recovery going for them? Can they you know,
I know, if the trees get blown over, they're still
salvageable or are.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
They There's sort of various aspects. Firstly, they've got to
be old enough, and if they are old enough they
get in and take them out. They get sap stained
if you don't harvest them quickly enough. But they, I
can tell you they're like beavering ants up there at
(36:29):
the moment, taking out as much of the downwood as
they can go on.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
It's this time of the year that you're really as
a horticulturalist start to worry about hal.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Yes, so we have had some hail around Nelson. Ironically,
you don't really know you've got hale or in a
hale zone until you actually start growing crops and apples
are really good indicator for hale, and we've had some
hail already unfortunately, but it's just the nature of the
(37:02):
industry we're in.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
How is the recovery going from those flooding events. Those
two events one after another late June mid July.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
They well, no one wants the event in the first place,
but it's really encouraging to see the communities pull together,
contractors out, their council doing it's but central government doing
a wee bit and getting in behind the people who
have been badly affected and just get it and clean
(37:34):
it up.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I've got an eighth to the field in the Melbourne Cup.
I bought three horses because no one else would buy them,
so I said, if I won't, I'm going to shout
coffee for the staff tomorrow. What about you, You've got
three horses as well, and you are the boss.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Well you've got you've got to have a flutter once
a year at least, Jamieen. To make it all work,
you've got to have someone it on all of the field,
otherwise it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Well, I've got three, five and fourteen. What are your three, one,
eight and twelve?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So between us we've got a fear change.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yes we have. Well, I hope you get a bonus
point and I'm pinning my hopes on number fourteen. It's
one of the favorite half yours. We'll see how we
go tomorrow. It could be a lean day for the
staff here. Julian Rain, thanks for your time.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Kiers, Jamie, thank you.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
That's us done and dust and see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McGue. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist in
John Deer construction equipment.
Catch you're 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 (00:26):
Good A, New Zealand. Welcome to the Country. On Melbourne
Cup Day. Running theme today this is the choir Boys
Run to Paradise. We've got an off for sweetsteak. I
went big. I bought an eighth to the field. Yes,
three out of twenty four horses. I think there's twenty
four horses in the field. I drew a favorite and
two donkeys. We'll see how I go. More about that later.
(00:49):
But an exciting and new innovation. I'm not quite sure
how it works, but Nichola Willis, Finance Minister's pretty excited
about it. She's so excited she's gone to Canterbury. She's
standing in a North Canterbury cow paddock. We're going to
go there very shortly. A wearable device for a cow
to stop at peeing in one place. How do you
(01:13):
spread the pea evenly around the paddock? The mind boggles.
Nicola Willis on matt and other stuff. Kate Acklin, the
chair of Beef and Lamb New Zealand. I caught up
with her a couple of hours ago in a pub
in Bath in England. Will find out what she's doing
over there. She was wearing her wine hat. Tom Young
maf COO's National livestock manager on red meat prospects. Keith
(01:35):
Woodford's written a really interesting piece on interest stock co
dot m Z. I think it's also on Farmer's Weekly
about potential price crash for Lamb. You can't be right.
Lamb's really good at the moment. Sheep are good at
the moment, asked Thomas McDonald. He's in Shanghai. He's spring
sheep Milk's kind of new chief executive. He's taking over
(01:56):
from Nick Hammond, who's stepping aside to go dos Espury,
and we're heading to the Tasman Nelson region. Julian Rain
dairy entrepreneur, former president of Horticolche in New Zealand. We
have been concentrating on the weather woes in the Deep
South and in Canterbury in recent times, but don't forget
his region has taken a hammering as well. All that
(02:18):
on the country. Between now and one o'clock, she is
a very excited Minister of Finance or Finance Minister, standing
(02:41):
in the middle of a cal padick in North Canterbury.
How does that work? Let's ask Nicola. Willis Nicola, shouldn't
you be in the beehive?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Look a great day when I'm on farm talking real
solutions to real challenges. And today I'm celebrating a new
science which is going to help reduce our farmer's emissions water,
increase their productivity and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions along
the way. So exciting, practical, positive stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Now there's a bit of a veil of secrecy around
this because a kiwiag tech company, a startup company called Moor,
has secured one point two million from agri is their
own New Zealand to accelerate the development of its cow
wearable technology. And this is to try and reduce the
intensity of urine patches and use this natural fertilizer God,
(03:35):
God's own fertilizer and spread it evenly around the paddock.
How does the cow work that one?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah? Look, this is a This totally makes sense. So
Egrey zero is a partnership. It's government money, an money
from a bunch of corporates including Frontira and commercial banks
looking for solutions to reduce emissions on farm and our
MOA had made the simple observation that a big source
of as those nitrate patches that come when the cow
(04:03):
does their business, but that in that is actually this
incredible resource which if we could spread it around the paddock,
would be an awesome source of fertilizer. So they've come
up with a device the cow where's the device? The
device senses when the cow's about to take away, and
then it spreads that we all over the paddic instead
of just going in one concentrated patch, which of course
(04:26):
means less emission to waterways, less nitrous oxide, and a
much cheaper source of fertilizer.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Now, Nichola, there's a bit of veil of secrecy around
this because they're still going through the IP process. But
can I ask you this question, because I think you've
seen it in action and you're limited as to what
you can say. Does the cow where the device at
the front or the back end?
Speaker 4 (04:49):
It's a rare end operation. And look, yeah, they are
doing a back cagy because they want to make sure
all their intellectual property is protected before they go public
with the with the picture of the design. Because actually
this is a solution that could be worth a lot
of money. This is science and tech that I think
people will be prepared to pay for if they can
(05:10):
get it working well, because it's not just about the environment,
this is about productivity. Instead of paying for fertilized I
why not work with what nature's going.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Absolutely, And if that sounded like a dumb question for me,
I was wondering whether it was maybe a wearable collar.
And as the cow was about to pee, it gave
it a weed tickle up or something like that, and
it sort of walked or ran a weebit while it
was peeing, thus spreading the high concentrate nitrogen. So is
this like a wee mini fertilizer spreader at the back
(05:40):
end of the cow?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Well, I think that's a fair way of characterizing it. Now.
Of course, it's in its early stages. So what we've
seen with these on farm technologies is the scientist comes
up with a cool idea and then they adapt it
and adapt it to make it really practical for the farmer.
So with this investment that every zero's making, they'll be
able to do those trials and tune it up so
(06:02):
that it's in a way that works for the farmer,
works for the cow, gets the best results. I imagine
it'll evolve a little along.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The way too.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well. Gravity would suggest there could be other problems with
the we fertilize the spreader at the back end of
the cow.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah, I think the farmer's listening. We'll be thinking through
the practical implications of this, and there's a few questions
that I think it's worth asking. And I can sure
everyone the scientist is asking himself.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, while I've got you, I see you're going to
fast track what another supermarket chain into the country. Is
that right?
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Well, we're it's passing law, and I've introduced the legislation
yesterday which will make it far faster for a usage
market competitor to get the resource content and permission to
build right now. Even if they wanted to build a
competitor to your local New World or were worth they
could end up in hearings and court processes literally for years.
(06:54):
That's not good enough. Keep shoppers need these deals to
come to market sooner. So we're putting in play this
fast track mechanism so they can bypass all of that,
get their permission quickly and get building that competitive suis
market to give you a better deal.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, the King of fast tracking is none other than
the Prince of the Province. As the Minister for Regional Development,
I think that's his title. Martur Shane Jones. Now, it's
all very well for Shane to spout off about fast
tracking things. I was reading this morning, Nikola that less
than ten percent of Shane's Provincial Growth Fund loans have
been repaid. This was just a giant lollly scramble.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Well, unfortunately, Shane had to work with labor under the
last government and they weren't quite as good at managing
people's money and putting checks and balances on things. The
good news is Shane's now working with the National Party
and that's what we specialize in. So the Regional Infrastructure
Fund which he now has, has a lot of checks
and balances on it to make sure that we don't
(07:54):
have that sort of thing happening in future.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So you can train a cow to spread fertilizeries, can
you train Shane to spread his more evenly across the country.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
It's a two way thing. I learned from Shane and
I think he learned from me too.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And one final comment on Shane's boss, Winston, did you
and him have a scrap over the Fonterra thing notion.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
No, we haven't even discussed it actually, and that's not
something we've discussed. It hasn't of course involved any government division,
so it's not something that's come to.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, well why is Winston commenting on it?
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Well, you have to ask him. I was able to
explain what goes on in ons. In Peter's mind, I'd
probably be a wealthy, wealthy woman.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, you didn't have to haul Miles and again for
another scolding, did you.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
No.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Look, I've always been very respectful of the role of
the shareholders and the co op. It's up for them
to assess what do they think is the best strategy
for their business they own it, what is the best
future for their milk that creates the most value for
then their farm, their family, their community. And I know
that they will have taken Miles and his team through
(09:04):
the ringer checking out whether their commercial strategy makes sense.
Obviously they did that and they decided to vote in
very big numbers for the proposal that the Fonterra exec
put forward.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Nikola Willis Finance Minister, standing very happily in a North
Canterbury dairy paddock. Thanks for some of your time today.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Great to be on the show.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Sixteen after twelve, Thank you, Nichola. Right, the feedback's coming
in on the well. It's not a cow collar. It's
at the back end of the cow. Now you know
the biology of a cow. There's something that sits up
above where the pe comes out. I mean, what happens
if that HiT's the spreader, that's the shit hitting the
(09:46):
fan completely. I shouldn't have said that. I couldn't help myself.
I'm not sure, but anyhow, Look, this is in the
development stage, so Jamie, that's a solution looking for a
problem that doesn't exist. Another text to cow collars. Now
this poor cows won't be able to move with any
more wearables. I think the cows can wander around with
(10:08):
the collars, Okay, can't they? I don't know about the
back end. I think that would be a wee bit uncomfortable.
And Jeff says, good luck with that device. We don't
need it in Southland. The wind does it for us.
Certainly has in recent times. Yep, Southland on the recovery
path from a brutal bashing Monte. The weather has been
(10:30):
unkind right around the country a bit later in the
hour we're off to the Tasman Nelson region with Julian Rain.
But up next it's Kate Ackland. I caught up with
her a couple of hours, two or three hours ago.
She was in a pub in Bath. What's the chair
of Beef and Lamb doing there? I tell you after
the break God. Kate Ackland does a Canterbury farmer. She's
(11:10):
also the chair of Beef and Lamb New Zealand. Today,
as we record this interview, we find it in a
pub in Bath. What a beautiful city that is in
Western England. Kate, you're over there wearing your wine hat,
not your wino's hat, your wine hat because you're involved
in a Marlboro vine yard, a winery called sugar Loaf Wine.
(11:31):
Tough going at the moment, Hi, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Look, it is really tough going in the wine industry
at the minute. So yes, I'm just over here visiting
some visiting some buyers and drawing up a bit of business.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Are you helping the consumption of the Sugar Loaf wines
and the Bath pub? Do they stock your wine in
their pub?
Speaker 5 (11:48):
They do? Actually, we're at a great pub. I've got
eight wine buyers with me and we are working our
way through the sugarloaf range as we speak, so we're
about midway through the range at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, talk to me about an and I want to
move on to greenhouse scas submissions. Putting on your beef
and lamb New Zealand hat. But how tough is it
on a like on a scale of one to ten
for viticulture for the wine industry at the moment, because
are people who are growing grapes effectively running them running
at a loss?
Speaker 5 (12:17):
Look, it's really tough for growers at the minute, and
I think a lot of them are running at a loss.
We've seen a couple of just massive harvests back to
back and there's just an oversupply of product at the minute.
But you know, there's good signs that the industry is
self moderating in terms of reducing the crop loads. There's
quite a lot of replanting going on, and there's been
a really good push by New Zealand wine growers and
(12:40):
a lot of wineries to get out into market and
start selling some product.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Are people changing their drinking habits and is this going
to be an ongoing thing or is this just going
to be a fashionable cycle.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Look, I think we've been saying that for years, that
people are changing their drinking habits. I think Marlbaret's serving
you blongers like any other wine. And I think it
has a really strong positive future. I mean, I'm a
strong believer in the future of it. I think this
is just a bit of a bump in the road
that we need to get through.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Well, good luck selling some of that sugar loaf wine
in the UK, Kate Acklin, let's put on your beef
and Lamb New Zealand hat. I'm reading a headline here
Beef and Lamb en z leads global agricultural organizations in
a united call for split gas greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
Are you getting goodbye in? Are you like Jasinda? You
(13:32):
know Jacinda had the christ Church call. You've got the
split gas a call. Kate.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Well, look, Jamie, this is actually massive and it all
came about from beck In May. Last time I was
in the UK, I had a coffee with a guy
called Tom Bradshaw, who was the head of the INFEW
in England, and we were just talking about greenhouse gas
reporting and metrics and the fact that we really need
to be treating methane differently, and so we came up
(13:57):
with a bit of a plan to try and get
a con sense of view on this. And initially it
was just going to be between the NFU England and
be from the New Zealand, and so our staff got
together and sort of formed this joint position. But then
they really sort of took the ball by the horns
of those and they went right out and they started
talking to other organizations, to the Australians and the Canadians
(14:18):
and the Americans and the Irish, and then suddenly this
thing is just sort of snowballed. So we've got thirty
organizations from fourteen different countries who have all so far,
I mean there's more by the day, but signed up
to this call. And it's a call to governments to
start reporting on greenhouse gases as a split guess approach,
particularly in their international contribution. So when we're talking about
(14:40):
your Paris accord, we need to be treating me sane differently.
And you know it's very hard. We often hear from
the New Zealand government that they don't want to be
the outlier, and so getting this global view of it,
suddenly they're not the outlier any anymore. You know, you've
got all the other agricultural nations they're talking about greenhouse
gases and the way. So to get this level of
(15:02):
agreement in this level buy in, it's sort of four
years conversations to get to this point, but it is
really massive.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Well god on you, who are you making the call too?
Speaker 5 (15:11):
So the idea is to put a bit of pressure
on all of the respective governments as we head into
the next round of people doing their Paris commitments, to
actually start treating methane differently. So you know, we'll be
talking to New Zealand politicians and we'll be saying, look, hey,
this is not just uck, this is not just agriculture
(15:32):
trying to look after ourselves. Actually, you know, we've got
developing nations, We've got you know, Cambodia and ken here,
and we've got established agricultural nations and they're all saying
that actually methane should be treated differently, that food production
is important, and you know, let's get the metrics right.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Hey, Kate Ackland, I know it's late in the evening
UK time, Monday night. Are you going to get up
at four am in the morning and watch the Melbourne Cup.
You're at Canterbury. You're landed gentry, aren't you from Canterbury?
You will have grown up on this sort of stuff.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I think you know. I'm a good taraniki girl, so no,
hopefully I'll still be asleep at four.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
O'clock in the morning.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
But I only arrived in the UK at six am
this morning, so actually I probably will be awake.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Well you probably will be if you're up. Have a
look at it and looking forward to the Melbourne Cuppa,
a race that stops two nations. Thanks for some of
your time from the other side of the world.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Great baster talk.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Thank you. Kate Yeat caught up with her a wee
bit earlier this morning. It's about it's only eleven thirty
eleven thirty pm in the UK because they've had daylight
saving and we've had daylight saving. We've flipped it around
and I was just I went to their winery website,
Sugar Loaf Wines, and Kate founded Sugar Loaf Wines in
(16:52):
two thousand and four as a twenty three year old
entrepreneurial young woman indeed nowadays of beef and lamb New Zealand.
Up next, Tom Young an interesting article by Keith Woodford
and Farmers Weekly and Interest dot co dot in zed
got me to thinking, are we headed for a bit
of a correction and red meat prices? Can they defy
(17:14):
gravity forever? We'll get Tom Young's take on that next
on the Country Michelle will be in here with Rural News.
We're going to have a look at the Melbourne Cup.
I've got the favorite and two donkeys. I don't know
what Michelle's got. We'll find out when we do Rural
News and sports news. He's the national livestock manager for Africa.
(17:50):
His name is Tom Young, based out of a very
dry and worryingly dry Hawks Bay. I'm going to come
back to that time, but I want to talk about
red meat prices up thirty percent. This is beef and
lamb since twenty twenty four. Professor Keith Woodford, who I
really respect and admire, writing in the Farmer's Weekly, said
it is a sweet spot that won't be maintained and
(18:12):
he's picking a big fall in the lambs schedule come Christmas.
Is Keith glass half empty on this one?
Speaker 6 (18:20):
Well, Jamie, yep, I'm not convinced there's going to be
a big, big fall there'll be the normal I think
there'll be the normal backing off in schedules. You know,
we're sitting around eleven dollar mark on LAMB now on
both islands. And I would say, and I'm guessing a
wee bit here, because no one knows the future, but
I would say LAMB might beck its way down to
(18:41):
nine fifty, perhaps even if you're lucky, ten dollars at
the bottom of the schedule. But I don't. I can't
confirm that. But that's a bit of a best guess
from me.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, farmers would grab that with two hands, wouldn't they.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
Well, he would have thought, so, yes, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, okay, Well, maybe Keith is glass half empty. I
must get him on the show. I always enjoy what
he has to say. So he's a painting of bright
a picture for beef than for LAMB.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Yeah, yeah, I mean beef. I mean beef money is
a record levels too. I mean it's in the nine
dollars range for born Prime now on both islands. And
that'll go through a normal decline, I guess in schedule value.
So we sort of probably see a dollar to a
dollar fifty coming out of the beef. So you might
(19:24):
end up, you know, somewhere high sevens eight dollars or
something for a prime steer and a ball. So it's
I'm going to collapse and fall out of bed and
I think a few you know, middle of summer January
something like that. If we were back at eight dollars
or a bit better than eight for born prime, most
farmers will be pretty pretty happy with that.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Well, some of those cattle are literally black gold.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, they sure are.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
I mean, if they're putting on a I suppose a
kilo carcasswait a day or perhaps a bit more, seven
days a week and you're you're getting nine dollars a
sort of a kilo. You're making sixty odd dollars a week.
So things are going pretty well if you've got some
good cattle.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So what are we expecting livestock numbers wise? You guys
are going to have to crunch the numbers because now
you've got a strengthened Alliance group to go up against
presumably YEP.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So look, the competition irrespective of what Alliance does, the
competition was never going to go out of the livestock
procurement game. They are enough processes involved in trying to
secure stock that is always highly competitive, and I don't
think that's ever going to be any different. And certainly
(20:34):
you know, there was a big drop in numbers last
year land numbers and beef numbers, to be honest, in
both islands, So that'll keep the competitive tension there. I
very much doubt that'll ever go away. And it's again,
we've got plenty of capacity around us, probably arguably too much,
so I would expect that will sort of drive behaviors
(20:56):
from there on out.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Were you quietly wishing alliance tipped over?
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Well, we do our thing. We're pretty comfortable with how
we're going. We've got two plants in the South Island
that go pretty well and Traders obviously Traders South Pacific
Meats wholly owned by FC. We've got seven in the
North Island and they go pretty well too. We've got
a good team of livestock buyers. We try and pay
a good competitive price and be fair with everyone we
(21:21):
deal with. So yeah, we're pretty happy with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Talk to me about the dry and Hawk Spain.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Yeah, so, I mean it's getting a little bit desperate now.
We've had some everyone said the wind. I think across
both Islands, but we've had extreme heat with it, so
we've had a number of thirty degree days back to
back with pretty fierce sort of westerly nor westerly wins.
So the place is pretty baked now. So it's a
bit of shame really, but I guess I guess anyone
(21:49):
that's selling store lambs, they're getting pretty well paid. So
there's a good market for stock if you have to
go store. So it sort of all is not lost
just yet.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
And a final one for you. You used to work
with the bloke by the name of Mark Delatour at AFCO. Yes,
now he's gone to Greater Heights or has he as
he's the chief executive of Open Country Derry. Now he
always turns left when he gets onto a plane. Do
you do that at AFCO?
Speaker 6 (22:17):
We go Whichie will wait his money to be made, Jamie,
that's sore, We work it.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Thank you very much for your time. I was going
to call you Mark Delatour. I might stick with her
with Tom Young that's an unsoldier compliment. Hey, thanks to
that time, and I hope you do get some rain.
And Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
No probadent all, Thanks lot, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Thanks Tom. It is twenty six away from one year
with the country brought to you by Brand Summer. Your
feedback in reference to Nikola Willis, hope she's visiting some
of the poor buggers with the pivots down, says Carl. Jamie.
How can Willis say that labor squandered money when labor
borrowed tens of billions less than Willis's record high one
(22:59):
hundred thirty eight point three billions she borrowed last year,
and she is on track to beat her own record
this year. She's put us in a deep recession while
Labor kept us out of the recession for all of
their last term. Willis is a drunken sailor, chairs Jasindra
and Grant. They're not texting me. It's a Wayne not
(23:23):
and done half. I agree with that one. But anyhow,
we appreciate all your opinions here and Jamie, anyone who
thinks we'll still be getting eleven dollars this is for
LAMB mid season needs to lay off the glass barbie
from Robbie. What's the glass barbie? Michelle? You find out
during the break. See, I've led a sheltered life and
(23:46):
we'll come back and we're going to do rural news
and sports news and tell you about our picks in
the Melbourne Cup, or at what we've drawn on the
Melbourne Cup in the office sweep steak key, we band
(24:12):
evermore and running today for the running of the Melbourne Cup.
Thanks for everyone who told me what the glass barbie was.
You see, I led a sheltered life Michelle and Riversdale.
The only glass thing we had in Riversdale was a
jug at the pub. We were simple boys, just simple
farm boys. And Andy Mure from Balfa, who hosts the
must slightly dodgy town up the road a bit from Riversdale,
(24:36):
he was able to tell me it was a meth pipe.
Wouldn't surprise me in his youth anyhow. Thank you for that,
and thank you Robbie for that text about the being
on the glass barbie. If you think you're going to
get eleven dollars, there's no way. Keith Wood, but I
must get him on the show, Professor Keith Wood. But
I don't think he thinks we're going to get eleven bucks.
(24:58):
But you know, Tom was quite sort of there. Here's
Michelle Worth's Rural News.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
What the Country's World News with Coup Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawn Bower brand visit steel Ford. Dot
cot In said for your.
Speaker 7 (25:11):
Locals, Doggist and AMP show season is in full swing.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You would have had the old glass barbie at the
Rosy and Belclouth. I guarantee it.
Speaker 7 (25:20):
We had plastic jugs. That's how poor we were.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
But I wasn't talking about beer. I was talking about
other substances.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
I don't know what you're talking about. I need a
very innocent life.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Were you the only one at the Rosie who did
anyhow carry on?
Speaker 7 (25:34):
Probably not wrong, Okay.
Speaker 8 (25:35):
So we're in full swing with AMP shows around the country.
Jamie is going to be broadcasting live from christ Church
AMP Show next week, which is very exciting to.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Make sure you, and launching the Mackayson.
Speaker 7 (25:46):
And launching the new Machais are very excited.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I don't know if we've got it in glass or
a keg. I think it might be in a kid
I think it's in a key. You can drink it
out of a glass. Come and join us Thursday next
Thursday in christ Church.
Speaker 8 (25:57):
And there's more happening around the country. So the country's
oldest agricultural show is on again this weekend in the
far North up in the Bay of Islands, beautiful part
of the country and it will bring around seven thousand
people to the Ymatte North show Grounds. The show was
first held in eighteen forty two, which makes it the
oldest amp show of its kind in the country and
(26:17):
in the early days the show rotated to different towns
around the region, but it's been based in Wymatti North
for several decades now. But beautiful part of the country.
Would love to go up to that amp show.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yep, Bay of Islands, Sir Jewel and our Crown. Absolutely
stunning and.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Sports on the country with AFCO business.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Well done, and Michelle said before I cut her off
with the line what have I got for sport? Well,
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson's had a chance to reflect
on his early rugby career. Upon returning to Scotland as
a teenager, he played a few games at Air or
at the Air Club before rising to international level. Back home,
Robertson finally remembers a fifty pound reward for a try
(26:58):
would have been at King's Ransom back in the day
for Raza and New Zealand wicket keeper Tim Tim Saiffert
has been ruled out of the T twenty cricket series
against the West Indies. He suffered a broken finger batting
for Northern Districts and their Ford Trophy loss to Wellington.
Mitch Hay has been called up into that squad and
we've decided that that game's the TEA twenty series against
(27:21):
Tomorrow Night.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Tomorrow Night starts and there's one here in Dunedin. I
think is it next week all the week after. I'm
very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
One, right. And the Melbourne Cup. I bought a not
a third of the field and eighth of the field.
I've got I've never won on off the sweep in
my life, but I have got half yours, which is
one of the favorites. And then I've got three and
five and I think their donkeys, what have you got?
Speaker 8 (27:43):
I've got? Well, I can't pronounce the name of mine properly,
to be honest. My own was Presage, not Turn, which
is one of the favorites. It's a gray horse. You
don't see gray horses winning the Melbourne Cup very often.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I don't think, well, didn't we have gray Way winning
the Melbourne Cup once?
Speaker 7 (27:57):
A long time ago.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
Oh yeah, yeah, they always sem to be bays or
chess nuts.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah okay, so yeah, well we'll await with interest to
see how we get on in the office sweep. I
suspect I won't win, but if I do win, I'm
going to shout the office coffee because I think I've
got enough if I win to shout everyone in coffee.
That's the sort of bloke I am.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Well, you've made the promise on you and now.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I might not know what a glass barbie is, but
if I win, I'm going to be very generous. Up next,
Thomas McDonald. We're all over the world today. We've been
in Bath in England. What a great city that is.
And up next we're heading to Shanghai if we can
track him down. So you've heard from Nikola Willis about
(28:50):
spreading cow pee evenly around the paddock. The mind boggles,
doesn't it. Here's a young guy going places. He's spreading
himself right around the world. He is now effectively the
boss of the Spring Sheep Milk Company. His name is
Thomas McDonald. First come across him in twenty eighteen when
he won the Zander McDonald Award. Thomas, you've been with
(29:11):
us the Spring Sheep Milk Company for ten years since
it's inception. Get it right, and you're celebrating ten years
today in Shanghai. Good morning or good afternoon, New Zealand time.
Speaker 9 (29:24):
Good afternoon, Jamie. Yes, thank you very much for having
me on. We're up here in Shanghai. Yeah, celebrating ten
years off Spring Sheet, which is a fantastic milestone. We'll
have all of our customers, stakeholders and business partners in
this market coming together, So a really big moment for
us as a business one to reflect on what's been
a really neat journey.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Is there any money in milking sheep?
Speaker 9 (29:45):
Yes, there is. Yeah, we've seen a really exciting I
guess value chain created for New Zealand and that's probably
one of the main things that's kept me so interested
in this business over the last ten years is we've
got a genuine opportunity here to take a New zealain
Land use through an innovative factory and a team doing
wonderful things there and take it here into market in
(30:05):
places like Shanghai, Vietnam, Malaysia and around the world. As
you know well, we have focused on in fan formula
as a business at spring sheep, and that's a value
chain that is adding value to each of those parts
that I've mentioned to the value chain and actually driving
a real neat future for the primary sector in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Well, as I said, we were mentioning about cows and
spreading the pea more evenly around the pastures to reduce
the environmental footprint. One of the real advantages you guys
have with sheep as the environmental footprint is much less
than with bovines.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
That's exactly right, and I think you and I have
spoken many times over the years about the reasons why
farmers in New Zealand may be interested in milking sheep.
That's certainly one of the reasons. I think as we've
developed the model over the past ten years, it's become
very clear that sheep milking has ait diversification of an
existing business. Also, succession has been a really big thing
driving out business forwards. Are seeing another generation back home
(31:00):
onto the land and set up a new industry. So here,
for a various number of reasons, we've got a great
and very innovative group of farmers now with us milking
about thirteen thousand cheap every day.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Have you got farmers who are effectively operating a hybrid
model dairy cows and sheep.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
Yeah, we do, i'd say. You know, when we started this,
we thought there'd be quite a few sole source from
sheep milking farms, and probably as it's turned out, for
the range of factors around environmental divestification and succession, we've
seen a really common model emerge of perhaps a one
generation having cows on the platform and a second generation
developing their own sheep milking business. And that model seems
(31:40):
to have a real complementary land use to it, which
is fantastic to see it emerge, and it probably is
today one of our front running farming models.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Your chief executive, Nick Hammond has stepped aside. You're now
the boss at Spring Sheep. He's been appointed zespri's new
chief strategy officer, so that's a feather in his cap
and a good promotion for him. You've been with the
company for ten years. This is a natural progression for you.
You're quite young, if you don't mind me saying so,
to be a chief executive, well done.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
No, thank you very much, Jamie. And it's been a
real privilege to be involved in this business across When
I think about our genetics business, working with our very
innovateive farmers, and time leading our factory and manufacturing operations
and then get to be up here and market it
is a wonderful business. It's an absolute privilege to lead
it across all of those various teams, and I'm absolutely
(32:31):
looking forward to the challenge ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So where's the future for milking sheep?
Speaker 9 (32:36):
We are very much looking to the future in all
of our Southeast Asian markets right now. So we're up
here in Shanghai. We're attending CIIE, which is one of
the large trade shows for consumer and branded goods up here.
The best way I can describe it to you is
that we spent the last ten years building the platform
to establish sheet milking as an industry in New Yealand.
The focus for the next ten years is really scaling
(32:58):
that and taking these branded products without to more and
more consumers right around the world. So that's going to
be a big focus of mine and of the team,
both based up here in China and our other markets
and back home in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
And you're going to be moving beyond infant formula.
Speaker 9 (33:13):
Yeah, we have to a certain extent already Jamie. So
we've got a food service and ingredients business as well,
and at the moment we've currently got a cheese program
which is in I guess the product development stage that
we're working on as well. So sheet milking, as many
of your listeners would know, as a wonderful raw material,
we've got the option to do things with it. The
first focus of the business has been getting to that
(33:33):
initial scale and the powders. And as we look to
the next ten years, I guess the world's the oyster.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
As I say you enjoy the big trade show in Shanghai.
Thank you very much for your time at Thomas McDonald,
the newly minted chief executive of Spring Sheep Milk, Well
done and good luck to your previous spots, Nick Hammond
and his new venture with Sesbury.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Great to chat Jammy.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Thanks thank you Thomas all the way from showing hats
him up next it will have some of your feedback.
The KLP device reminds me of Country Calendars Turkeys and
gum Boots program. Yeah, they used to do some great takeoffs.
Take the mickeys on Country Calendar. Remember the bloke playing
the fence that was brilliant as well, we will come
(34:18):
back with Julian Rain, dairy entrepreneur, former president of Horticulture,
New zeal One. The weather's been a bitch, no other
word for it recently in this country. His region took
a hammering as well. We'll see how the recovery's going
next on the country running songs the Beg's I forgot
(34:53):
what a good song that was run to me from
the Beg's early begs pre disco. This man predates disco
as well, although he might have been in his prime
in the late seventies, I don't know. Julian Rain, former
President of Horticulture in New Zealand, Nelson based dairy entrepreneur
and horticulturalist. Hey, we've been talking about Julian about the
(35:17):
damage that's been caused in Southland, Southwest Otago, Canterbury of
late because of the winds. But it's easy to forget
that you guys had your share from mother nature midwinter.
You had a couple of events in a row.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
We did in June and then mid July in quick succession,
really smash us around, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So had you had a lot of trees down, didn't
you smashed?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Yes? The wind event is more recent so the flooding
and water and inundation that was all winter. It's been
more a spring event when we've had these wind events
that have come in and dealt to the foresters.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
So how's the recovery going for them? Can they you know,
I know, if the trees get blown over, they're still
salvageable or are.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
They There's sort of various aspects. Firstly, they've got to
be old enough, and if they are old enough they
get in and take them out. They get sap stained
if you don't harvest them quickly enough. But they, I
can tell you they're like beavering ants up there at
(36:29):
the moment, taking out as much of the downwood as
they can go on.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
It's this time of the year that you're really as
a horticulturalist start to worry about hal.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Yes, so we have had some hail around Nelson. Ironically,
you don't really know you've got hale or in a
hale zone until you actually start growing crops and apples
are really good indicator for hale, and we've had some
hail already unfortunately, but it's just the nature of the
(37:02):
industry we're in.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
How is the recovery going from those flooding events. Those
two events one after another late June mid July.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
They well, no one wants the event in the first place,
but it's really encouraging to see the communities pull together,
contractors out, their council doing it's but central government doing
a wee bit and getting in behind the people who
have been badly affected and just get it and clean
(37:34):
it up.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I've got an eighth to the field in the Melbourne Cup.
I bought three horses because no one else would buy them,
so I said, if I won't, I'm going to shout
coffee for the staff tomorrow. What about you, You've got
three horses as well, and you are the boss.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Well you've got you've got to have a flutter once
a year at least, Jamieen. To make it all work,
you've got to have someone it on all of the field,
otherwise it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Well, I've got three, five and fourteen. What are your three, one,
eight and twelve?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So between us we've got a fear change.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yes we have. Well, I hope you get a bonus
point and I'm pinning my hopes on number fourteen. It's
one of the favorite half yours. We'll see how we
go tomorrow. It could be a lean day for the
staff here. Julian Rain, thanks for your time.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Kiers, Jamie, thank you.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
That's us done and dust and see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McGue. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist in
John Deer construction equipment.
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