November 11, 2025 • 38 mins
Jamie Mackay talks to Steve Wyn-Harris, Lawrence Field, Farmer Tom Martin, and Chris Russell.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay thanks to Brent starkest of the
leading agriculture brands.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Been around the world and again.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
My mother don't know where, None don't know where.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Way he's gone away and none don't noway An it's
my baby, unger thad him Get Amie zelland welcome to
the Country. The show is brought to you by Brent.
My name's Jamie McKay. This is a bit of a
one hit wonder from nineteen ninety Lisa Stansfield. All around
(00:41):
the world and I thought i'd play this today because
we are heading all around the world. Have already been
to Istanbul, but earlier this morning where I caught up
with my UK farm and correspondent farmer Tom Martin. Don't worry,
he's going to be back in England in time for
the test this weekend. You'll hear from him later in
the hour. Lawrence Field, Whira Wrapper farm accountant nineteen ninety five,
(01:04):
New Zealand sheer milker. Over the year he's been conducting
the Rabobank Farm succession workshops and Chris Russell's Ossie correspondent.
He's on today, not tomorrow, because tomorrow and Friday we
are broadcasting live from the Canterbury Amp Show. Tomorrow, the
twenty twenty five Makaisa will be launched. We'll tell you
(01:25):
how you can win five hundred dollars cash by simply
going to our Facebook page. But sitting in for the
Prime Minister Christopher Luxen, who normally kicks off the show.
He'll be on the show on Friday from Christchurch is
Steve win Harris, who vicariously claims he could have been
Prime minister. Hello Steve, if you'd accepted the offer to
(01:49):
stand for Parliament many years ago.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Yeah, by both National and by Labor and a team
them both down.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Jamie, Well, that smartest move you ever made other than
marrying Jane, I think. But Steve, you let let's face it,
you used to be on the show. You used to
be a regular because I needed a bit of a
wet liberal on the show and you filled that void nicely.
Are you a Labor Party apologist?
Speaker 5 (02:11):
No, I'm just I'm in the center. You know, it
was a bit of pool to see the previous government going,
you know, as left wing as it did, with all
their dogmas and probably but the same at the moment
with the two big tails on the dog. And that's
probably want to be more right wing governments. I just
want to be in the center. I want us to
be in the middle, Jamie Will.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
The middles are safe so own, isn't it? Well?
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Come?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
We might come back to politics. I've got a great
story about the last man who died in World War One.
Remind me to squeeze that one out before the end
of our our chat, Steve. But I want to talk
to you about the I guess the big issue in
hawks By. You're based in central hawks Bay at the moment,
and that is the dry You are standing out like
a sore thumb on the newer or Earth Science as
(02:54):
en Z Drought Indicator map.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, very dry. Many of us have only had heart
of an annual rainfall bequeath the nice easy winter and
a fantastic lambing and carving through the spring because it
was so dry. But those winds kicked in and no
late spring rains have come. Although there has been a
bit of a change the last couple of days, but
just a bit overcast. There's a bit of drizzle around.
(03:20):
A few places got a thunderstorm, not many and most
people have had two or three mills, so you know,
barely enough other than make you feel better. But so people,
the hills have gone off. They're browned off quite fast,
and the crops are struggling. Any dry land crops, including
you know, shooting beef farmers breaskas hours have struck direct
(03:41):
drilled into sprayed out paddocks. They've struck and just a
few meals eye and they desperately need Only ten or
twenty meals would be good. So we keep our fingers crossed.
But the good news is I had to look at
the saw and the anomaly from last year, and we're
as as dry as we were last year. We were
really worried. And then we've got a bit of rain
in early December, and then of course it right through
Christmas New Year and bequeathed this a really good late
(04:04):
summer and autumn, so you know, it's not too late,
but it's getting close.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Well, there is talk of a Larnina which would play
unto your hands, wouldn't it if it did turn around
that way?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
I speck in eighty two eighty three when we discovered
El Nino and I started writing a bit about it.
At that stage I thought, you know, l Nino good,
I mean al Nino bad, Larnina good because at eighty
two eighty three drought it started blowing, is like it
did a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago,
started blowing in September and it never stopped until May.
It was incessant gale force winds and the BAFE transferation
(04:38):
was horrendous and it drove me in and be mad.
But subsequently, you know, we've had probably as many Larnina droughts.
They tend to be autumn droughts, tend to be a
nicer drought, it's not as windy. But and then of
course there's the years where Laranina brings a cyclone, so
you know that average only having half our average rainfall
at the moment, they could be rectified at Christmas with
a cyclone and we could get through four hundred millis
(05:00):
who notes you sent.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Me a text during or after yesterday's show accusing me
of being a bit tough on Damien O'Connor. For the
life of me, I can't see why we're sending him
or any backbench MP opposition MP to the other side
of the world. I mean, the government's trying to preach
austerity when it comes to spending. They're not leading by
(05:22):
example there.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Well, I guess if you were consistent and had been
getting stuck into the shadow Minister of Trade in the
National Party and now government, that would be fair enough.
I guess you know it's Dame Minutes possible could be
Minister of Trade in the next government. For these guys
to maintain relationships, so bad thing. But yeah, for someone
(05:46):
with a really low rent portfolio, some backbencher in the
Greens or something not that I'd agree with the entirely.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Okay, I was going to talk to you earlier this morning.
I did catch up with farmer Tom Martin and he
was holiday and believe it or not, in Turkey in
the Stanbul. I know that you've been there. Did you
use the stan Bull as your gateway to get to Gyllipoli?
Speaker 5 (06:09):
We got to Istanbul and we're running out of time
and money and we just loved is Tanbul so much
we decided not to do that. It's a big day.
Eighteen hours on a bus down and he spent about
six or seven hours at Gallipoli. We loved Istanbul so much.
We said, right, you know, if we have to come
back to Europe again because we've got a sun lives
just we've been there for our son's wedding recently. If
(06:29):
we have to come back here in the next two
or three years, we're definitely coming back to Istanbul and
Turkey because the Turks are fantastic and we'll do it properly,
go down to Glipoli properly rather than do a rush trip.
But yeah, we were just very taken with Istanbul and
got on a ferry. Don't do one of those expensive
cruises up the boss Orus. Just get on the commercial
fairy and we went all the way up the Bosporus
and climbed up a big hill to ruin cars and
(06:51):
looked at the at the Black Sea, and it was
just fantastic, great city, favorite city.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Why doesn't surprise me It took the cheap option. Steve
well m the stage to your life and we're going
to talk farm succession with Lawrence Field shortly. You should
be treating the long suffering Jane.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, I mean we were away for seven weeks. You've
got to make the pennies. Last I booked two star
hotels just above sort of hostels to try and keep
the wife happy. But you know, if you're going to
do a long trip like that, you can't sworn around
the four or five star hotels for very long Jamie.
So yeah, I'm more generous with other people than myself.
I should say, Oh, that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Doesn't say much. Hey, do you know the story of
the last official death of World War One? A man
who sought redemption? Have you heard the story, Steve?
Speaker 5 (07:38):
I think it's vaguely familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if
you've already told it to your audience.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
But no, you haven't told it to my audience. I
wanted to tell it to hear the last night, but
she cut me off. A guy by the name you
know what it's like in radio, Steve.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, I thought you were interviewing me and not
telling your stories.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
But I just want to get the story out, and
you're the only opportunity in the show because all the
other guests are really interesting. So I'm thinking, how can
I us up Steve's spot? Awey, But I could tell
my story about the last man who died in World
War II. So he was a twenty three year old
private by the name of Henry Gunther. He had a
(08:19):
fance fiancee should I say, can't even read my own writing.
And he had a comfortable desk job at a Baltimore bank. Okay,
he was an American, a handsome, mustachioed grandson of German immigrants.
So he got shipped off to France at near the
end of the war July nineteen eighteen, and he became
(08:41):
his company's supply sergeant. But when military censores, you know, Steve,
how they used to read the letters. Yeah, so they
read his and he'd written a letter back to a friend,
complaining about life in the trenches, as you would, and
urging his mate to avoid serving his country. So the
army census read this and they demoted him to private. Now,
(09:02):
the old fiance she didn't show much loyalty A but
like our wives when we're on the radio, Steve, as
soon as he got promoted or demoted to a private,
she broke off the engagement. So it's ten forty four
am I quarter to eleven on November the eleventh, remembering
(09:23):
that the armistice was signed at five o'clock, but hostilities
were to end at eleven o'clock. Eleven o'clock, a runner
came towards the Americans and saying hold your lines, neither
advance nor give way to the rear. So that's sixteen
minutes to go. Guntha might have believed he'd had to
(09:45):
regain his honor and prove his allegiance to the United States.
Two German machine gun squads manning a roadblock counted down
the war's remaining minutes. So they were sitting up the
road in there with their machine guns counting them down,
and Private Henry Gunther decided that he would salvage his
reputation in the last few minutes of the war, so
(10:09):
he suddenly charged towards the machine gun nest with his
fixed bayonet. His comrades yelled at him to stop, as
did the bewildered Germans in their broken English. But he
didn't know. Didn't he know? Should I say the war
was minutes from from its end? Of course he did.
If he heard the pleas, he ignored them. So a
(10:30):
five round burst from the German gun struck Gunfa in
the left temple Steve. He died instantly, his body collapsed
in the mud. The time was ten fifty nine am.
How about that for a story.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Well, what surprised me, Jamie, is that you were intent
on telling that story rather than listening me to tell
you about Romania.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
No, I'm not interested. This is about This is my show,
not yours, Steve. You've got your show on Tuesdays and Thursdays, right,
this is my show.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Well, it wasn't good story, Jamie, if you want me to.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Probably poorly told. But isn't it amazing that you would
do that to try and salvage your reputation in the
last last sixteen minutes of the war. So he Private
Henry Gunther was the last man to officially die on
Armistice Day. Apparently, Steve. Here's another fact for you. About
two thy seven hundred and fifty people died on Armistice
(11:27):
Day in Europe between five am effectively or sunlight no doubt,
and eleven o'clock. What a waste of life was?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Yes, well, it's a sell a tree story in some
details that you've given us all, Jamie, and will be
wiser for it.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Well, I think your slot's all the better for this story, Steve.
Great to chat mate, and I do seriously hope you
get some rain, and not only central Hawks Bay but
in all of the Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Good. No, I'm hoping to have got our fingers crossed him,
just like the point it I'm your only life serving
correspondent that quit and wasn't guessed. So I've got something.
I've got something.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now, well you're not my longest serving correspondent. He's up
at the end of the hour, Chris Ross I.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Did it for over twenty years and all for a
Dixie Chuck CD.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think you were overpaid.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Steve love you like a brother seeing Jamie by.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Here we go it, Steve Wan Harris. You can listen
to Steve if you're in Central hawks Bay on the
Cocki's Hour on Central FM Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other
three days of the week you get the country. So now,
the reason we had Steve on filling in for the
Prime Minister is because the Prime Minister is going to
be on Friday's show where we are going to be
(12:42):
broadcasting for the next couple of days at the Canterbury
A and P Show. Tomorrow we launched the twenty twenty
five Makayser, So come along and join us. You're most
welcome to It's a bit like the Rabobank farm succession workshops.
You don't have to be a Rabobank client to go
to them. You just you just need to turn up
and have a sample with us. Tomorrow the Emerson's Tiny
(13:05):
Pub will be there. Really looking forward to it. But
today head to the Country Facebook page and comment on
the Emerson's Mackaiser host and it's simple. The question is
who would you like to share a cold one with?
You're into one five hundred dollars cash. The Makaiser is
a bold hop oil and fused New Zealand pilsner brewed
(13:25):
with the taste of crisp lemons and limes, with a
refreshing finish. Looking forward to sampling it tomorrow. Haven't tasted
it myself yet. Up next, we're going down the road
from Hawk's Bay to the Waira Wrapper and the nineteen
ninety five a New Zealand Sheer Farmer of the Year.
He didn't now was the world the weakest? Well, well
(13:57):
we all know how dry it's getting in Hawk's Bay.
Let's go down the road awe Bit to the wirra
A Rapper region. There we find Lawrence Field now on
a past life. In fact, thirty years ago this year
Lawrence was a sheer Milker of the Year. These days
he's a wire rapper farm accountant. And for your sins, Lawrence,
you're busy running the Rabobank succession planning workshops. We're going
(14:21):
to come back to that one. Talk to me about
the dry or otherwise in the wirer rapper region.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
It's really variable.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
There's an incredible gradient from west to east, so I
think with the predominant westleys we've been getting anybody up
under the hills is actually really too wet, you know,
struggling to get supplement made, pugging paddocks, and then once
you go out east, people are winning early offloading store
(14:52):
lambs and it's really quite dire. So it's quite variable
right across the wire rapper. But we could from about
you know, State Highway to east everybody could do with
some decent rains.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
You were mentioning to me in the commercial break about
Peter Jackson, Sir Peter Jackson, he's got a farm there.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, he's just round the road from us Matahiwee. And
there's probably a band you know, to the west of
State Highway too, that's in a sweet spot not too
dry and not too wet. So not that Peter will
be worried about how much grass he's growing.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yes, I'm sure he's not dependent on his farm for
his income. What about that other well known wire wrapper
farmer and filmmaker, the preachy pious James Cameron. Where's his farm?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
His farm is down by Lake Wirappa, out from Featherston,
and a lot of those blocks down there have really
good irrigation, and at least with westerly where westerly winds,
our rivers will have been topped up regularly. I don't
think anybody will have been restricted, so the irrigators will
be going flat out a lot of places, including on
(16:02):
cameraon's walnut.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, on his walnuts. I don't think he has any
animals there. He does, by the way, make great movies,
and his avatar movies are coming out shortly. Let's give
him credit for that. But I do get annoyed. Sorry,
I've got to get this off my chest, Lawrence. When
people who fly on private jets between Auckland and Ala
lecture us on greenhouse gas emissions. Anyhow, I've got that
(16:24):
off my chest. Talk to me about your farm succession workshops.
I do get a wee bit worried, Lawrence, when I
see in the press release Jingo Lingo jingos such as succession, journey,
discovery phase. Do you all sit around in a circle
at the workshop and sing kumbay.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Our No, there's no, there's no kumbay, Jamie. It's it's
they're actually a really good combination of prevent presenting a
few ideas, you know, a bit of research and and
some things that I've pulled together from a whole range
of sources. And then we encourage family groups to attend,
(17:05):
you know, at least two from each business and even
preferably somebody from the next generation. So whenever we do
a section, then there's a chance for people to look
at it themselves, you know, to have a little discussion
in their family group. And one of the classics is timing. Now,
I won't ask you or I about, you know, how
(17:27):
long we might keep doing what we're doing, Jamie. But
a lot of people say I'm going to be out
of here in five years. But if you ask them
in three years time, it's still five years.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
It's a roll in five years.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So you know, it's the discovery is about working out
what do people want, you know, where do we want
to live? How long are we going to keep doing this,
what's our role in the ongoing farm? All those sorts
of things. So it's a good combination of a bit
of theory, a bit of practice.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
And we have a few laughs.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So you're not sitting around them big group. I presume
you break into family groups because you don't want to
air your dirty laundry in public, as it were, or
have your family argument over succession in public. But I
guess it does encourage people to open up.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
A wee bit.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, it does, And you know, I think we create
quite a good trusting environment where sometimes people will share stories,
you know, of how they've got on. One of the
classics I heard Jamie was there was a father and
son who said that they were six weeks six years
into a three year plan. So you know, this is
(18:35):
how it goes, but it is there's a real opportunity
for people to work together in their family groups.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
The biggest problem with farm succession, and I know this well,
is that you've got a huge asset. It might be
five or ten million dollar asset. You may have several siblings.
One of them or maybe two of them want to
go farming. It's how you treat the other ones, and
even more importantly, how mum and dad get off the
farm and don't live a life as paupoise.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Absolutely, and I'm unapologetic Jamie that I absolutely believe it
starts with the owners. You know, we talk about the
golden rule. She who's got the gold makes the rules.
So it's got to start with the owners. You know,
there has to be a secure future for them. And yeah,
(19:25):
and then we look at then we can talk about
well does anybody have the interest or the skills to
go farming? And my approach, Jamie is that the order
that you were born in and your gender has nothing
to do with who would make the best farmer, who
would make the best success of this business. And that's
(19:45):
where you know you've got to start from.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
I believe it's all about starting the conversation. You know,
your workshops this year, you've run what eighteen of them
this year? They've been very successful. Rabobanks keen to keep
bankrolling this and I know you don't come sheep la,
So they're going to be doing it again in twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, eighteen workshops this year, You're right, Jamie, not far
under five hundred farmers and growers attended so at this
stage we're planning to run twenty four for next year
right across the country from Southland to Northland, and so
it's a great opportunity to get along and as you say,
(20:24):
start the conversation, start thinking about how you would how
you would.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Make a start and register your interest.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, exactly. The best way, even if the workshops aren't
up there yet, is go to the rubber Bank website
and there's a tab there called Knowledge and Networks, and
you scroll down there and there's an ability to register
your interest for a workshop that may be coming up
later in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
And you don't even need to be a Rabobank client.
Lawrence Field out of the wire rapper. Thank you for
your time and I do hope you get some rain
east of State Highway too.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Thanks Jamie, that'll be great good to talk.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Yes, indeed, Lawrence twenty nine away from one, Robbie, I
love you. Robbie's texted and I take my hat off
to you. Jamie. That's an amazing story and yet you
made it as boring as hell. That's a skill. Thanks Robbie.
Up next, Michelle, Welcome back to the country. The show
is brought to you by brandt. I'm Jamie McKay shortly
(21:27):
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Speaker 4 (22:48):
Okay, Michelle, what are you got for us? I think
you've got the location of the Emerson's Tiny Pub tomorrow
at the show christ Church a and pick Canterbury amb Show.
That's right.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I think this is relatively important. If you want to
come and see us at the christ Church amp show
tomorrow or Canterbury Show whatever they're going to call it.
From now on, come seas at the tiny pub. We'll
have Emerson's there on tap. The new Mackaiser. Obviously, you
can come find us located at Site J twenty one,
which is opposite the information site in the Green, so
it should be pretty easy to find. Come visit us
(23:17):
tomorrow between twelve and one.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Sports on the Country with AFCO one hundred percent key
we owned.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
And trusted it. That's rare.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
New Zealand's cleaned up Scotland eighty to forty eight in
the second Netball Test Glasgow winning the series two now
and the Warriors will kick off their twenty twenty six
NRL season on Friday, the sixth of March at home
against the Roosters, where there should be a first appearance
for the Chucks Mega Signing Daily Cherry Evans. What a
(23:47):
great player he is up next. Farmer Tom caught up
with them earlier this morning in his Standbull. Here is
our UK farm and correspondent, farmer Tom Martin. Big social
media influence. I no doubt he's doing lots of posts
from where he is at the moment because he's in Turkey,
(24:09):
a fascinating country. Is Stanbull one of the most wonderful
cities in the world. And it's rather app Tom than
in UK time as we record this anyhow, it's Armistice Day.
And what a role Turkey played around the First World War.
Speaker 7 (24:24):
That's right. Well, it's a bit of a kind of
a pivot country in many ways, ancient and modern. Of course,
Turkey playing a bit of a role in the Ukraine
conflict as well, and controlling the Bosphorus, so really controlling
all that trade and traffic going up up to the
Black Sea. And I didn't see it this time when
I flew in, But when I flew in, I was
(24:46):
here about eighteen months ago, back to instance actually, and
you could see all those cargo ships waiting out in
the Mediterranean to get up to the Bostra still to
the Black Sea. So you realize what an important geopolitical
location is really interesting when you when you dive into it.
But interesting, but also you know, pretty pretty, pretty pretty terrible,
(25:08):
to be honest, we're you know, we're it's in a
position which is just a few hundred miles away from
two pretty bloody war zones. So yeah, Armistice Day or
Remembrance Day as we would call it, really really important.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Stan Bull wasn't on my bucket list. I really only
went there because I wanted to go to Gallipoli. That's
very much a right of passage, as you'll understand for
all Kiwis. But I found a Standbull to be perhaps
the most amazing city I've ever been to in the world.
As you say, at bridges effectively Asia and Europe.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
It is, it's a melting pot. It's and you know what,
it's got a lot in common with the U K.
It's a it's a it's a trading point. You know,
it's it's a nation of traders, you think, obviously, we know,
we think about the ancient silt writ and things like that,
But the amount of trade that would have come through
through this place in over the century, it's a remarkable,
(26:03):
no wonder. It's this melting pot of cultures as well
as as well as occupying a strategic position.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Are you still a trading nation or as a kea
starmer band trading and farming.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
We're pretty good at llowing in lots of imports. I'm
not sure we're having a particularly great time at the moment.
It certainly feels pretty bleak as a farmer, mind you.
I'm saying that I realized that I'm on holiday in Turkey,
which you know, which for the UK is just a
few hours. But it feels pretty exotic to be talking
(26:37):
about what a tough time we're having in farming. But
it's been pretty head down since I reckon probably the
last week in June. So now I've deserved a few
days out.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Yeah, fair enough, Tom the in if you your National
Farmers Union, the equivalent of a Federated Farmers has had
a letter writing campaign. Apparently farmers have written twelve thousand
letters to five hundred and fifty MPs in just days.
And if that's not enough, this is over the inheritance
taxt On November the twenty sixth, they're going to drive
their tractors yet again into Westminster. I wonder whether you're
(27:08):
going to take yours to coincide with the Chancellor's autumn budget.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
I reckon I have to leave now to get there
for November the twenty sixth. I won't be but it's
a really really important day. Last year the budget was
in the more traditional time said it's thirtieth of October,
and that's of course when we first heard and actually
when the Department for the Environment include Rural Affairs I
think first heard that there will be these changes to
(27:35):
the inheritance tax exemptions that we I was going to say, enjoy,
but actually that we really need as farmers to continue
to operate family businesses. We do, but it's it's something
which we've been really campaigning about for the last year,
since that last budget. And interestingly, I think everybody probably
about apart from I don't know half a dozen people
(27:58):
who could sit around the same time Treasury, think it's
a terrible idea. What they're planning at the moment in
reducing those restrictions, they are penalizing family businesses and actually
still permitting people to commit low level tax avoidance. So
they're really they're really missing on both of those goals.
But very recently the Secretary of State for DEFRA has
(28:19):
went on the radio and said she said, there is
no way that the Treasury will be looking to change
those previously announced exemptions. So of course, Jamie, you know
they probably are going to. That's what they do, isn't it.
They say that they're not going to and then they do,
or they say that they're going to do something and
then they don't. So we are hopeful. I don't think
(28:39):
we're optimistic, but I think we're hopeful that there may
well be a change of revision, an amendment to the
current plans. Then it certainly needs to be.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
You're an arable farmer just north of London, I guess
effectively as you hit out of your light autumn into
the winter period. Of course, northern Hemisphere opposite seasons to us,
this is effectively your off season. That's why you're holidaying
in this standball.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Tom, That's right, we're just really quieted down were because
we've had such a hot, dry summer. I think we're
the hottest dry sum record and I don't know, but
certainly very hot, very dry. It's really been non stop
since that last week in June when we've gone and
went into a very early harvest, straight their into interfortunately
really good conditions after that dry, dry summer for autumn planting,
(29:27):
and we put our last last field of winter soon
beams in two weeks last Friday. So yeah, we're just
starting quite down now. If you want to feel sorry
for us. We've had the I think we've had the
dullest October on record, this record going all over the place,
but I think the dullest in terms of the fewest
sunshine hours. But I still think we're going to have
(29:47):
a pretty good autumn. It's nice and dry, the roots
will be getting down and I'm a farmer, so I'm
always an optimist about next harvest.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Now you're also an England Rugby supporter. That makes you
a naturally born optimist. Are you getting back to Twickenham
this week in for the taste?
Speaker 7 (30:03):
I won't be down there, but i'll be home. I'll
be back at the Northampton Saints ground, which is my
local team of course, supplied a lot of the England
top brass, including one Henry Pollock from from our from
our club, so I'll be watching and support of big
cheering on England from Northampton Saints.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
That Henry Pollock is kind of almost a hardbrid rugby player,
a super sub, isn't he.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
He's a remarkable guy. I mean, he's just got this
this phenomenal want ability but also this outrageous temperament where
he really kind of riles up the opposition but seems
to you know, doesn't doesn't respond to anything and seems
to crack on. He He's no doubt going to be
targeted as when he comes on. But even even with that,
you know you've seen the last few games, he still
(30:47):
manages to provide a spark and score the odd try
and do us proud. So we're looking forward to cheering
him on on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
It's going to be a wonderful taste s match. I
hope you get a bonus point Farm but Tom enjoy Turkey.
Speaker 7 (31:01):
Thanks Javin.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Thanks Tom up next to our Ossie correspondent Chris Russell
on the Country, he's our guy in Australia. Let's not
mention Italy. Don't mention the war. Can I say that?
Aren't the Italians Chris Russell famous for having tanks that
only had a reverse gear in the Second World War.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Yeah, they had four reverse gears apparently, and only one
forward because however he used the forward one.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well, the Italian forwards used their forward gear against your lot.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Oh, we certainly got into trouble and you know, I
know part of it is an injury injury issues, but
we're just not there and it's very Oh. Look, as
you know, we keep on hanging a hat on hope
when we get a good win like we did against
South Africa that in that first game. But you know,
it's just hopeless situation. And we've lost five now out
(31:53):
of our last six. We've got Ireland this weekend. We've
lost Will Skelton, of course, who's one of our star players.
He's sprained his ankle over the weekend, so he's not
going to be playing. So I don't know where we go, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
I just go up and down.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
And it's because I've become such a devotee of rugby
league because at least I can stop being despondent about
rugby league.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Well, I did watch a wee bit of your Ossie
rugby league team playing England. My goodness that Reese Walsh
is a brilliant rugby player. He would be great on
air code. Anyhow, let's move on. I want to talk
about this one. This surprises me. Goat meat the only
acceptable red meat to many Americans. That surprises me.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Yeah, well that's it. And marry Americans. They're very idealistic
about their meat. And for many Americans, particularly on the Coase,
the only meat they'll consider consuming before they go vegetarian
is goat meat because they see it wild caught rangeland
goats as coming into the worms of something that's sustainable,
(32:58):
and certainly is.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I was talked to a farmer out near Louth in
western New South Wales, the other side of the Darling River.
He just caught six thousand goats to pay for a
new shearing shed he put up. He said, you want
it's like the magic pudding. He said, you won't even
see where they've been. Next year there'll be six thousand
new ones. And of course they are very sustainable, and
(33:20):
the Americans are very conscious of that and these conscious
they're trying to buy a food consistent with all their
ethical environment on ethical values, and of course we've run
into the situation now where this good money being made
out of gasts. So people are saying, oh, we want
to start breeding them and want to be better ones,
that we are going to put more weight on and
feed them better. As soon as we start to do that,
(33:42):
the Americans are going to say, no, sorry, not instant anymore.
It's no longer a natural production system, and that's the
main reason we're happy to buy them, so we'll go
on becoming vegetarians instead. So we've got to have that dilemma.
I remember your venison producers in the South Island face
the thing when I came and spoke at a venison
conference there some years ago, and someone had built a
(34:05):
wintering shed up in the hills there, and the New
Zealand venison people made him pull it down because it
didn't sit with their image of sort of freezing stags
up on top of the hillside, you know, not being
able to get warm and all the rest of it,
but being wild.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Well, give me a bit of feral venison meat any
day over the goat meat anyhow. Something you do hate,
Chris Russell, you hate seeing your wallabies lose. But you're
getting used to that. I guess you've been doing it
for about three or four decades in a row. Now
you hate feral cats, but you even hate the domesticated moggi.
You're such a cruel man.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Oh yeah, Well, you know it's not the cats, it's
the owners of the problem, because I've yetnam made a
cat owner who thinks that their cats are hunters. They
all think they're happy little things that sit by the
fire all day and never go out. But in Christmas Island,
in which is an island belonging to Australia, but it's
just off the coast of Indonesia, effectively northwest of Western Australia,
(35:03):
they've had the most successful eradication program against cats. They've
got rid of now ninety percent of their cats and
they're claiming that by the end of next year they
will have got rid of all of the cats. So
that's a generation just by putting money into every type
of method to shoot, poison, whatever we need to do
to get rid of them. There are many Christmas Island
(35:26):
is a very unique spot naturally because there's so many
species over there which only exist on Christmas Island, and
yet particularly in the case of lizards, the wildcats have
more or less eaten them to extinction. The feral cats
can kill an estimate one point five billion navy animals
in Australia every year, one point five billion. Now Christmas
(35:50):
Islands one hundred and thirty five square kilometers, and they've
really done well on making sure that they've saved They
have lost some species completely, but they've saved so many
species over the years through their eradication program, so good
luck to them. I hope that they're successful. Of course
they get the same complaints from people saying, oh no,
(36:12):
why can't we have our pressous little cats on the island,
But you're just not allowed to. And they actually have
the cat police who walk around the island. If they
find an unregistered cat that's been brought in since the ban,
they'll just pick it up, take it away and kill it.
And very successful, very effective. Thousands of cats have been
culled and so they're hopeful that this is going to
(36:34):
be success. Well, bring it on, let's do it.
Speaker 4 (36:36):
In that Chris Russell, you were mentioning the cat police,
you are truly the cat police of the Northern Suburbs
of Sydney. You've got an electric fence around your boundary
fence to keep the.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Cats out, well I do it.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
It works very well, just one wire and on earth
around the top of my paling fence in the backyard.
Haven't had any cat problems in here since, and the
neighbors all accept just one of those weird about Chris,
but just proves the fact that without that fence, those
cats at night will be in my garden eating, catching lizards,
killing small birds, all the things that cats do, but
(37:11):
very effective. Six thousand volts is are pretty good to
Terran Chris.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
What happens if the kit next door kicks us football
over your fence and jumps.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Over to get it over the fence, and the worst
that would happen that they get a little ping off
the top of a six thousand old fence like they
would out of an electric fence on a dairy. So
it's not going to worry them, and it's certainly legal.
And I think my electric fence generally will do six kilometers. Well,
I've only got it doing about one hundred meters, so
it's very good.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Well, I can tell you from my farming days. Six
thousand vaults would give you a fair whack. I wouldn't
want to be a cat hanging around your place. Chris Russell,
good luck against Ireland, you might need it. I will
catch you again, same time, same place, next week.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
No worry, Shamy.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Wrapping the Country. Join us tomorrow at Sight j twenty
one at the Canterbury Amp Show. Will be with the
team from Emerson's at the Emerson's Tiny Pub for the
launch of the twenty twenty five Mackaisa. Remember go to
our Facebook page, answer the simple question on the post
there and you could win five hundred dollars cash. See
(38:22):
you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent You're specialist in
John Deere machinery.
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie McKay thanks to Brent starkest of the
leading agriculture brands.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Been around the world and again.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
My mother don't know where, None don't know where.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Way he's gone away and none don't noway An it's
my baby, unger thad him Get Amie zelland welcome to
the Country. The show is brought to you by Brent.
My name's Jamie McKay. This is a bit of a
one hit wonder from nineteen ninety Lisa Stansfield. All around
(00:41):
the world and I thought i'd play this today because
we are heading all around the world. Have already been
to Istanbul, but earlier this morning where I caught up
with my UK farm and correspondent farmer Tom Martin. Don't worry,
he's going to be back in England in time for
the test this weekend. You'll hear from him later in
the hour. Lawrence Field, Whira Wrapper farm accountant nineteen ninety five,
(01:04):
New Zealand sheer milker. Over the year he's been conducting
the Rabobank Farm succession workshops and Chris Russell's Ossie correspondent.
He's on today, not tomorrow, because tomorrow and Friday we
are broadcasting live from the Canterbury Amp Show. Tomorrow, the
twenty twenty five Makaisa will be launched. We'll tell you
(01:25):
how you can win five hundred dollars cash by simply
going to our Facebook page. But sitting in for the
Prime Minister Christopher Luxen, who normally kicks off the show.
He'll be on the show on Friday from Christchurch is
Steve win Harris, who vicariously claims he could have been
Prime minister. Hello Steve, if you'd accepted the offer to
(01:49):
stand for Parliament many years ago.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Yeah, by both National and by Labor and a team
them both down.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Jamie, Well, that smartest move you ever made other than
marrying Jane, I think. But Steve, you let let's face it,
you used to be on the show. You used to
be a regular because I needed a bit of a
wet liberal on the show and you filled that void nicely.
Are you a Labor Party apologist?
Speaker 5 (02:11):
No, I'm just I'm in the center. You know, it
was a bit of pool to see the previous government going,
you know, as left wing as it did, with all
their dogmas and probably but the same at the moment
with the two big tails on the dog. And that's
probably want to be more right wing governments. I just
want to be in the center. I want us to
be in the middle, Jamie Will.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
The middles are safe so own, isn't it? Well?
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Come?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
We might come back to politics. I've got a great
story about the last man who died in World War One.
Remind me to squeeze that one out before the end
of our our chat, Steve. But I want to talk
to you about the I guess the big issue in
hawks By. You're based in central hawks Bay at the moment,
and that is the dry You are standing out like
a sore thumb on the newer or Earth Science as
(02:54):
en Z Drought Indicator map.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, very dry. Many of us have only had heart
of an annual rainfall bequeath the nice easy winter and
a fantastic lambing and carving through the spring because it
was so dry. But those winds kicked in and no
late spring rains have come. Although there has been a
bit of a change the last couple of days, but
just a bit overcast. There's a bit of drizzle around.
(03:20):
A few places got a thunderstorm, not many and most
people have had two or three mills, so you know,
barely enough other than make you feel better. But so people,
the hills have gone off. They're browned off quite fast,
and the crops are struggling. Any dry land crops, including
you know, shooting beef farmers breaskas hours have struck direct
(03:41):
drilled into sprayed out paddocks. They've struck and just a
few meals eye and they desperately need Only ten or
twenty meals would be good. So we keep our fingers crossed.
But the good news is I had to look at
the saw and the anomaly from last year, and we're
as as dry as we were last year. We were
really worried. And then we've got a bit of rain
in early December, and then of course it right through
Christmas New Year and bequeathed this a really good late
(04:04):
summer and autumn, so you know, it's not too late,
but it's getting close.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Well, there is talk of a Larnina which would play
unto your hands, wouldn't it if it did turn around
that way?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
I speck in eighty two eighty three when we discovered
El Nino and I started writing a bit about it.
At that stage I thought, you know, l Nino good,
I mean al Nino bad, Larnina good because at eighty
two eighty three drought it started blowing, is like it
did a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago,
started blowing in September and it never stopped until May.
It was incessant gale force winds and the BAFE transferation
(04:38):
was horrendous and it drove me in and be mad.
But subsequently, you know, we've had probably as many Larnina droughts.
They tend to be autumn droughts, tend to be a
nicer drought, it's not as windy. But and then of
course there's the years where Laranina brings a cyclone, so
you know that average only having half our average rainfall
at the moment, they could be rectified at Christmas with
a cyclone and we could get through four hundred millis
(05:00):
who notes you sent.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Me a text during or after yesterday's show accusing me
of being a bit tough on Damien O'Connor. For the
life of me, I can't see why we're sending him
or any backbench MP opposition MP to the other side
of the world. I mean, the government's trying to preach
austerity when it comes to spending. They're not leading by
(05:22):
example there.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Well, I guess if you were consistent and had been
getting stuck into the shadow Minister of Trade in the
National Party and now government, that would be fair enough.
I guess you know it's Dame Minutes possible could be
Minister of Trade in the next government. For these guys
to maintain relationships, so bad thing. But yeah, for someone
(05:46):
with a really low rent portfolio, some backbencher in the
Greens or something not that I'd agree with the entirely.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Okay, I was going to talk to you earlier this morning.
I did catch up with farmer Tom Martin and he
was holiday and believe it or not, in Turkey in
the Stanbul. I know that you've been there. Did you
use the stan Bull as your gateway to get to Gyllipoli?
Speaker 5 (06:09):
We got to Istanbul and we're running out of time
and money and we just loved is Tanbul so much
we decided not to do that. It's a big day.
Eighteen hours on a bus down and he spent about
six or seven hours at Gallipoli. We loved Istanbul so much.
We said, right, you know, if we have to come
back to Europe again because we've got a sun lives
just we've been there for our son's wedding recently. If
(06:29):
we have to come back here in the next two
or three years, we're definitely coming back to Istanbul and
Turkey because the Turks are fantastic and we'll do it properly,
go down to Glipoli properly rather than do a rush trip.
But yeah, we were just very taken with Istanbul and
got on a ferry. Don't do one of those expensive
cruises up the boss Orus. Just get on the commercial
fairy and we went all the way up the Bosporus
and climbed up a big hill to ruin cars and
(06:51):
looked at the at the Black Sea, and it was
just fantastic, great city, favorite city.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Why doesn't surprise me It took the cheap option. Steve
well m the stage to your life and we're going
to talk farm succession with Lawrence Field shortly. You should
be treating the long suffering Jane.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, I mean we were away for seven weeks. You've
got to make the pennies. Last I booked two star
hotels just above sort of hostels to try and keep
the wife happy. But you know, if you're going to
do a long trip like that, you can't sworn around
the four or five star hotels for very long Jamie.
So yeah, I'm more generous with other people than myself.
I should say, Oh, that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Doesn't say much. Hey, do you know the story of
the last official death of World War One? A man
who sought redemption? Have you heard the story, Steve?
Speaker 5 (07:38):
I think it's vaguely familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if
you've already told it to your audience.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
But no, you haven't told it to my audience. I
wanted to tell it to hear the last night, but
she cut me off. A guy by the name you
know what it's like in radio, Steve.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, I thought you were interviewing me and not
telling your stories.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
But I just want to get the story out, and
you're the only opportunity in the show because all the
other guests are really interesting. So I'm thinking, how can
I us up Steve's spot? Awey, But I could tell
my story about the last man who died in World
War II. So he was a twenty three year old
private by the name of Henry Gunther. He had a
(08:19):
fance fiancee should I say, can't even read my own writing.
And he had a comfortable desk job at a Baltimore bank. Okay,
he was an American, a handsome, mustachioed grandson of German immigrants.
So he got shipped off to France at near the
end of the war July nineteen eighteen, and he became
(08:41):
his company's supply sergeant. But when military censores, you know, Steve,
how they used to read the letters. Yeah, so they
read his and he'd written a letter back to a friend,
complaining about life in the trenches, as you would, and
urging his mate to avoid serving his country. So the
army census read this and they demoted him to private. Now,
(09:02):
the old fiance she didn't show much loyalty A but
like our wives when we're on the radio, Steve, as
soon as he got promoted or demoted to a private,
she broke off the engagement. So it's ten forty four
am I quarter to eleven on November the eleventh, remembering
(09:23):
that the armistice was signed at five o'clock, but hostilities
were to end at eleven o'clock. Eleven o'clock, a runner
came towards the Americans and saying hold your lines, neither
advance nor give way to the rear. So that's sixteen
minutes to go. Guntha might have believed he'd had to
(09:45):
regain his honor and prove his allegiance to the United States.
Two German machine gun squads manning a roadblock counted down
the war's remaining minutes. So they were sitting up the
road in there with their machine guns counting them down,
and Private Henry Gunther decided that he would salvage his
reputation in the last few minutes of the war, so
(10:09):
he suddenly charged towards the machine gun nest with his
fixed bayonet. His comrades yelled at him to stop, as
did the bewildered Germans in their broken English. But he
didn't know. Didn't he know? Should I say the war
was minutes from from its end? Of course he did.
If he heard the pleas, he ignored them. So a
(10:30):
five round burst from the German gun struck Gunfa in
the left temple Steve. He died instantly, his body collapsed
in the mud. The time was ten fifty nine am.
How about that for a story.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Well, what surprised me, Jamie, is that you were intent
on telling that story rather than listening me to tell
you about Romania.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
No, I'm not interested. This is about This is my show,
not yours, Steve. You've got your show on Tuesdays and Thursdays, right,
this is my show.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Well, it wasn't good story, Jamie, if you want me to.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Probably poorly told. But isn't it amazing that you would
do that to try and salvage your reputation in the
last last sixteen minutes of the war. So he Private
Henry Gunther was the last man to officially die on
Armistice Day. Apparently, Steve. Here's another fact for you. About
two thy seven hundred and fifty people died on Armistice
(11:27):
Day in Europe between five am effectively or sunlight no doubt,
and eleven o'clock. What a waste of life was?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Yes, well, it's a sell a tree story in some
details that you've given us all, Jamie, and will be
wiser for it.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Well, I think your slot's all the better for this story, Steve.
Great to chat mate, and I do seriously hope you
get some rain, and not only central Hawks Bay but
in all of the Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Good. No, I'm hoping to have got our fingers crossed him,
just like the point it I'm your only life serving
correspondent that quit and wasn't guessed. So I've got something.
I've got something.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now, well you're not my longest serving correspondent. He's up
at the end of the hour, Chris Ross I.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Did it for over twenty years and all for a
Dixie Chuck CD.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think you were overpaid.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Steve love you like a brother seeing Jamie by.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Here we go it, Steve Wan Harris. You can listen
to Steve if you're in Central hawks Bay on the
Cocki's Hour on Central FM Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other
three days of the week you get the country. So now,
the reason we had Steve on filling in for the
Prime Minister is because the Prime Minister is going to
be on Friday's show where we are going to be
(12:42):
broadcasting for the next couple of days at the Canterbury
A and P Show. Tomorrow we launched the twenty twenty
five Makayser, So come along and join us. You're most
welcome to It's a bit like the Rabobank farm succession workshops.
You don't have to be a Rabobank client to go
to them. You just you just need to turn up
and have a sample with us. Tomorrow the Emerson's Tiny
(13:05):
Pub will be there. Really looking forward to it. But
today head to the Country Facebook page and comment on
the Emerson's Mackaiser host and it's simple. The question is
who would you like to share a cold one with?
You're into one five hundred dollars cash. The Makaiser is
a bold hop oil and fused New Zealand pilsner brewed
(13:25):
with the taste of crisp lemons and limes, with a
refreshing finish. Looking forward to sampling it tomorrow. Haven't tasted
it myself yet. Up next, we're going down the road
from Hawk's Bay to the Waira Wrapper and the nineteen
ninety five a New Zealand Sheer Farmer of the Year.
He didn't now was the world the weakest? Well, well
(13:57):
we all know how dry it's getting in Hawk's Bay.
Let's go down the road awe Bit to the wirra
A Rapper region. There we find Lawrence Field now on
a past life. In fact, thirty years ago this year
Lawrence was a sheer Milker of the Year. These days
he's a wire rapper farm accountant. And for your sins, Lawrence,
you're busy running the Rabobank succession planning workshops. We're going
(14:21):
to come back to that one. Talk to me about
the dry or otherwise in the wirer rapper region.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
It's really variable.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
There's an incredible gradient from west to east, so I
think with the predominant westleys we've been getting anybody up
under the hills is actually really too wet, you know,
struggling to get supplement made, pugging paddocks, and then once
you go out east, people are winning early offloading store
(14:52):
lambs and it's really quite dire. So it's quite variable
right across the wire rapper. But we could from about
you know, State Highway to east everybody could do with
some decent rains.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
You were mentioning to me in the commercial break about
Peter Jackson, Sir Peter Jackson, he's got a farm there.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, he's just round the road from us Matahiwee. And
there's probably a band you know, to the west of
State Highway too, that's in a sweet spot not too
dry and not too wet. So not that Peter will
be worried about how much grass he's growing.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Yes, I'm sure he's not dependent on his farm for
his income. What about that other well known wire wrapper
farmer and filmmaker, the preachy pious James Cameron. Where's his farm?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
His farm is down by Lake Wirappa, out from Featherston,
and a lot of those blocks down there have really
good irrigation, and at least with westerly where westerly winds,
our rivers will have been topped up regularly. I don't
think anybody will have been restricted, so the irrigators will
be going flat out a lot of places, including on
(16:02):
cameraon's walnut.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, on his walnuts. I don't think he has any
animals there. He does, by the way, make great movies,
and his avatar movies are coming out shortly. Let's give
him credit for that. But I do get annoyed. Sorry,
I've got to get this off my chest, Lawrence. When
people who fly on private jets between Auckland and Ala
lecture us on greenhouse gas emissions. Anyhow, I've got that
(16:24):
off my chest. Talk to me about your farm succession workshops.
I do get a wee bit worried, Lawrence, when I
see in the press release Jingo Lingo jingos such as succession, journey,
discovery phase. Do you all sit around in a circle
at the workshop and sing kumbay.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Our No, there's no, there's no kumbay, Jamie. It's it's
they're actually a really good combination of prevent presenting a
few ideas, you know, a bit of research and and
some things that I've pulled together from a whole range
of sources. And then we encourage family groups to attend,
(17:05):
you know, at least two from each business and even
preferably somebody from the next generation. So whenever we do
a section, then there's a chance for people to look
at it themselves, you know, to have a little discussion
in their family group. And one of the classics is timing. Now,
I won't ask you or I about, you know, how
(17:27):
long we might keep doing what we're doing, Jamie. But
a lot of people say I'm going to be out
of here in five years. But if you ask them
in three years time, it's still five years.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
It's a roll in five years.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So you know, it's the discovery is about working out
what do people want, you know, where do we want
to live? How long are we going to keep doing this,
what's our role in the ongoing farm? All those sorts
of things. So it's a good combination of a bit
of theory, a bit of practice.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
And we have a few laughs.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So you're not sitting around them big group. I presume
you break into family groups because you don't want to
air your dirty laundry in public, as it were, or
have your family argument over succession in public. But I
guess it does encourage people to open up.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
A wee bit.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, it does, And you know, I think we create
quite a good trusting environment where sometimes people will share stories,
you know, of how they've got on. One of the
classics I heard Jamie was there was a father and
son who said that they were six weeks six years
into a three year plan. So you know, this is
(18:35):
how it goes, but it is there's a real opportunity
for people to work together in their family groups.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
The biggest problem with farm succession, and I know this well,
is that you've got a huge asset. It might be
five or ten million dollar asset. You may have several siblings.
One of them or maybe two of them want to
go farming. It's how you treat the other ones, and
even more importantly, how mum and dad get off the
farm and don't live a life as paupoise.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Absolutely, and I'm unapologetic Jamie that I absolutely believe it
starts with the owners. You know, we talk about the
golden rule. She who's got the gold makes the rules.
So it's got to start with the owners. You know,
there has to be a secure future for them. And yeah,
(19:25):
and then we look at then we can talk about
well does anybody have the interest or the skills to
go farming? And my approach, Jamie is that the order
that you were born in and your gender has nothing
to do with who would make the best farmer, who
would make the best success of this business. And that's
(19:45):
where you know you've got to start from.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
I believe it's all about starting the conversation. You know,
your workshops this year, you've run what eighteen of them
this year? They've been very successful. Rabobanks keen to keep
bankrolling this and I know you don't come sheep la,
So they're going to be doing it again in twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, eighteen workshops this year, You're right, Jamie, not far
under five hundred farmers and growers attended so at this
stage we're planning to run twenty four for next year
right across the country from Southland to Northland, and so
it's a great opportunity to get along and as you say,
(20:24):
start the conversation, start thinking about how you would how
you would.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Make a start and register your interest.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, exactly. The best way, even if the workshops aren't
up there yet, is go to the rubber Bank website
and there's a tab there called Knowledge and Networks, and
you scroll down there and there's an ability to register
your interest for a workshop that may be coming up
later in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
And you don't even need to be a Rabobank client.
Lawrence Field out of the wire rapper. Thank you for
your time and I do hope you get some rain
east of State Highway too.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Thanks Jamie, that'll be great good to talk.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Yes, indeed, Lawrence twenty nine away from one, Robbie, I
love you. Robbie's texted and I take my hat off
to you. Jamie. That's an amazing story and yet you
made it as boring as hell. That's a skill. Thanks Robbie.
Up next, Michelle, Welcome back to the country. The show
is brought to you by brandt. I'm Jamie McKay shortly
(21:27):
Michelle Watt with the latest and Rural News will update
sports news for you as well. But where the work
needs to be done, you need a ute that pulls
its weight and then some. That's why Kiwi Farmers choose
Isuzu Utes, built tough and reliable with truck DNA. Forget
Black Friday. For a limited time, your local Isuzu Utes
dealership is offering the Real Deal with Mates rates. The
(21:50):
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(22:12):
for real peace of mind. And there's a bonus just
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Speaker 1 (22:39):
The country's world news with Cod Cadet, New Zealand's leading
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Speaker 4 (22:48):
Okay, Michelle, what are you got for us? I think
you've got the location of the Emerson's Tiny Pub tomorrow
at the show christ Church a and pick Canterbury amb Show.
That's right.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
I think this is relatively important. If you want to
come and see us at the christ Church amp show
tomorrow or Canterbury Show whatever they're going to call it.
From now on, come seas at the tiny pub. We'll
have Emerson's there on tap. The new Mackaiser. Obviously, you
can come find us located at Site J twenty one,
which is opposite the information site in the Green, so
it should be pretty easy to find. Come visit us
(23:17):
tomorrow between twelve and one.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Sports on the Country with AFCO one hundred percent key
we owned.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
And trusted it. That's rare.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
New Zealand's cleaned up Scotland eighty to forty eight in
the second Netball Test Glasgow winning the series two now
and the Warriors will kick off their twenty twenty six
NRL season on Friday, the sixth of March at home
against the Roosters, where there should be a first appearance
for the Chucks Mega Signing Daily Cherry Evans. What a
(23:47):
great player he is up next. Farmer Tom caught up
with them earlier this morning in his Standbull. Here is
our UK farm and correspondent, farmer Tom Martin. Big social
media influence. I no doubt he's doing lots of posts
from where he is at the moment because he's in Turkey,
(24:09):
a fascinating country. Is Stanbull one of the most wonderful
cities in the world. And it's rather app Tom than
in UK time as we record this anyhow, it's Armistice Day.
And what a role Turkey played around the First World War.
Speaker 7 (24:24):
That's right. Well, it's a bit of a kind of
a pivot country in many ways, ancient and modern. Of course,
Turkey playing a bit of a role in the Ukraine
conflict as well, and controlling the Bosphorus, so really controlling
all that trade and traffic going up up to the
Black Sea. And I didn't see it this time when
I flew in, But when I flew in, I was
(24:46):
here about eighteen months ago, back to instance actually, and
you could see all those cargo ships waiting out in
the Mediterranean to get up to the Bostra still to
the Black Sea. So you realize what an important geopolitical
location is really interesting when you when you dive into it.
But interesting, but also you know, pretty pretty, pretty pretty terrible,
(25:08):
to be honest, we're you know, we're it's in a
position which is just a few hundred miles away from
two pretty bloody war zones. So yeah, Armistice Day or
Remembrance Day as we would call it, really really important.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Stan Bull wasn't on my bucket list. I really only
went there because I wanted to go to Gallipoli. That's
very much a right of passage, as you'll understand for
all Kiwis. But I found a Standbull to be perhaps
the most amazing city I've ever been to in the world.
As you say, at bridges effectively Asia and Europe.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
It is, it's a melting pot. It's and you know what,
it's got a lot in common with the U K.
It's a it's a it's a trading point. You know,
it's it's a nation of traders, you think, obviously, we know,
we think about the ancient silt writ and things like that,
But the amount of trade that would have come through
through this place in over the century, it's a remarkable,
(26:03):
no wonder. It's this melting pot of cultures as well
as as well as occupying a strategic position.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Are you still a trading nation or as a kea
starmer band trading and farming.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
We're pretty good at llowing in lots of imports. I'm
not sure we're having a particularly great time at the moment.
It certainly feels pretty bleak as a farmer, mind you.
I'm saying that I realized that I'm on holiday in Turkey,
which you know, which for the UK is just a
few hours. But it feels pretty exotic to be talking
(26:37):
about what a tough time we're having in farming. But
it's been pretty head down since I reckon probably the
last week in June. So now I've deserved a few
days out.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Yeah, fair enough, Tom the in if you your National
Farmers Union, the equivalent of a Federated Farmers has had
a letter writing campaign. Apparently farmers have written twelve thousand
letters to five hundred and fifty MPs in just days.
And if that's not enough, this is over the inheritance
taxt On November the twenty sixth, they're going to drive
their tractors yet again into Westminster. I wonder whether you're
(27:08):
going to take yours to coincide with the Chancellor's autumn budget.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
I reckon I have to leave now to get there
for November the twenty sixth. I won't be but it's
a really really important day. Last year the budget was
in the more traditional time said it's thirtieth of October,
and that's of course when we first heard and actually
when the Department for the Environment include Rural Affairs I
think first heard that there will be these changes to
(27:35):
the inheritance tax exemptions that we I was going to say, enjoy,
but actually that we really need as farmers to continue
to operate family businesses. We do, but it's it's something
which we've been really campaigning about for the last year,
since that last budget. And interestingly, I think everybody probably
about apart from I don't know half a dozen people
(27:58):
who could sit around the same time Treasury, think it's
a terrible idea. What they're planning at the moment in
reducing those restrictions, they are penalizing family businesses and actually
still permitting people to commit low level tax avoidance. So
they're really they're really missing on both of those goals.
But very recently the Secretary of State for DEFRA has
(28:19):
went on the radio and said she said, there is
no way that the Treasury will be looking to change
those previously announced exemptions. So of course, Jamie, you know
they probably are going to. That's what they do, isn't it.
They say that they're not going to and then they do,
or they say that they're going to do something and
then they don't. So we are hopeful. I don't think
(28:39):
we're optimistic, but I think we're hopeful that there may
well be a change of revision, an amendment to the
current plans. Then it certainly needs to be.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
You're an arable farmer just north of London, I guess
effectively as you hit out of your light autumn into
the winter period. Of course, northern Hemisphere opposite seasons to us,
this is effectively your off season. That's why you're holidaying
in this standball.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Tom, That's right, we're just really quieted down were because
we've had such a hot, dry summer. I think we're
the hottest dry sum record and I don't know, but
certainly very hot, very dry. It's really been non stop
since that last week in June when we've gone and
went into a very early harvest, straight their into interfortunately
really good conditions after that dry, dry summer for autumn planting,
(29:27):
and we put our last last field of winter soon
beams in two weeks last Friday. So yeah, we're just
starting quite down now. If you want to feel sorry
for us. We've had the I think we've had the
dullest October on record, this record going all over the place,
but I think the dullest in terms of the fewest
sunshine hours. But I still think we're going to have
(29:47):
a pretty good autumn. It's nice and dry, the roots
will be getting down and I'm a farmer, so I'm
always an optimist about next harvest.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Now you're also an England Rugby supporter. That makes you
a naturally born optimist. Are you getting back to Twickenham
this week in for the taste?
Speaker 7 (30:03):
I won't be down there, but i'll be home. I'll
be back at the Northampton Saints ground, which is my
local team of course, supplied a lot of the England
top brass, including one Henry Pollock from from our from
our club, so I'll be watching and support of big
cheering on England from Northampton Saints.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
That Henry Pollock is kind of almost a hardbrid rugby player,
a super sub, isn't he.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
He's a remarkable guy. I mean, he's just got this
this phenomenal want ability but also this outrageous temperament where
he really kind of riles up the opposition but seems
to you know, doesn't doesn't respond to anything and seems
to crack on. He He's no doubt going to be
targeted as when he comes on. But even even with that,
you know you've seen the last few games, he still
(30:47):
manages to provide a spark and score the odd try
and do us proud. So we're looking forward to cheering
him on on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
It's going to be a wonderful taste s match. I
hope you get a bonus point Farm but Tom enjoy Turkey.
Speaker 7 (31:01):
Thanks Javin.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Thanks Tom up next to our Ossie correspondent Chris Russell
on the Country, he's our guy in Australia. Let's not
mention Italy. Don't mention the war. Can I say that?
Aren't the Italians Chris Russell famous for having tanks that
only had a reverse gear in the Second World War.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Yeah, they had four reverse gears apparently, and only one
forward because however he used the forward one.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well, the Italian forwards used their forward gear against your lot.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Oh, we certainly got into trouble and you know, I
know part of it is an injury injury issues, but
we're just not there and it's very Oh. Look, as
you know, we keep on hanging a hat on hope
when we get a good win like we did against
South Africa that in that first game. But you know,
it's just hopeless situation. And we've lost five now out
(31:53):
of our last six. We've got Ireland this weekend. We've
lost Will Skelton, of course, who's one of our star players.
He's sprained his ankle over the weekend, so he's not
going to be playing. So I don't know where we go, Jamie.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
I just go up and down.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
And it's because I've become such a devotee of rugby
league because at least I can stop being despondent about
rugby league.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Well, I did watch a wee bit of your Ossie
rugby league team playing England. My goodness that Reese Walsh
is a brilliant rugby player. He would be great on
air code. Anyhow, let's move on. I want to talk
about this one. This surprises me. Goat meat the only
acceptable red meat to many Americans. That surprises me.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Yeah, well that's it. And marry Americans. They're very idealistic
about their meat. And for many Americans, particularly on the Coase,
the only meat they'll consider consuming before they go vegetarian
is goat meat because they see it wild caught rangeland
goats as coming into the worms of something that's sustainable,
(32:58):
and certainly is.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I was talked to a farmer out near Louth in
western New South Wales, the other side of the Darling River.
He just caught six thousand goats to pay for a
new shearing shed he put up. He said, you want
it's like the magic pudding. He said, you won't even
see where they've been. Next year there'll be six thousand
new ones. And of course they are very sustainable, and
(33:20):
the Americans are very conscious of that and these conscious
they're trying to buy a food consistent with all their
ethical environment on ethical values, and of course we've run
into the situation now where this good money being made
out of gasts. So people are saying, oh, we want
to start breeding them and want to be better ones,
that we are going to put more weight on and
feed them better. As soon as we start to do that,
(33:42):
the Americans are going to say, no, sorry, not instant anymore.
It's no longer a natural production system, and that's the
main reason we're happy to buy them, so we'll go
on becoming vegetarians instead. So we've got to have that dilemma.
I remember your venison producers in the South Island face
the thing when I came and spoke at a venison
conference there some years ago, and someone had built a
(34:05):
wintering shed up in the hills there, and the New
Zealand venison people made him pull it down because it
didn't sit with their image of sort of freezing stags
up on top of the hillside, you know, not being
able to get warm and all the rest of it,
but being wild.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Well, give me a bit of feral venison meat any
day over the goat meat anyhow. Something you do hate,
Chris Russell, you hate seeing your wallabies lose. But you're
getting used to that. I guess you've been doing it
for about three or four decades in a row. Now
you hate feral cats, but you even hate the domesticated moggi.
You're such a cruel man.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Oh yeah, Well, you know it's not the cats, it's
the owners of the problem, because I've yetnam made a
cat owner who thinks that their cats are hunters. They
all think they're happy little things that sit by the
fire all day and never go out. But in Christmas Island,
in which is an island belonging to Australia, but it's
just off the coast of Indonesia, effectively northwest of Western Australia,
(35:03):
they've had the most successful eradication program against cats. They've
got rid of now ninety percent of their cats and
they're claiming that by the end of next year they
will have got rid of all of the cats. So
that's a generation just by putting money into every type
of method to shoot, poison, whatever we need to do
to get rid of them. There are many Christmas Island
(35:26):
is a very unique spot naturally because there's so many
species over there which only exist on Christmas Island, and
yet particularly in the case of lizards, the wildcats have
more or less eaten them to extinction. The feral cats
can kill an estimate one point five billion navy animals
in Australia every year, one point five billion. Now Christmas
(35:50):
Islands one hundred and thirty five square kilometers, and they've
really done well on making sure that they've saved They
have lost some species completely, but they've saved so many
species over the years through their eradication program, so good
luck to them. I hope that they're successful. Of course
they get the same complaints from people saying, oh no,
(36:12):
why can't we have our pressous little cats on the island,
But you're just not allowed to. And they actually have
the cat police who walk around the island. If they
find an unregistered cat that's been brought in since the ban,
they'll just pick it up, take it away and kill it.
And very successful, very effective. Thousands of cats have been
culled and so they're hopeful that this is going to
(36:34):
be success. Well, bring it on, let's do it.
Speaker 4 (36:36):
In that Chris Russell, you were mentioning the cat police,
you are truly the cat police of the Northern Suburbs
of Sydney. You've got an electric fence around your boundary
fence to keep the.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Cats out, well I do it.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
It works very well, just one wire and on earth
around the top of my paling fence in the backyard.
Haven't had any cat problems in here since, and the
neighbors all accept just one of those weird about Chris,
but just proves the fact that without that fence, those
cats at night will be in my garden eating, catching lizards,
killing small birds, all the things that cats do, but
(37:11):
very effective. Six thousand volts is are pretty good to
Terran Chris.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
What happens if the kit next door kicks us football
over your fence and jumps.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Over to get it over the fence, and the worst
that would happen that they get a little ping off
the top of a six thousand old fence like they
would out of an electric fence on a dairy. So
it's not going to worry them, and it's certainly legal.
And I think my electric fence generally will do six kilometers. Well,
I've only got it doing about one hundred meters, so
it's very good.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Well, I can tell you from my farming days. Six
thousand vaults would give you a fair whack. I wouldn't
want to be a cat hanging around your place. Chris Russell,
good luck against Ireland, you might need it. I will
catch you again, same time, same place, next week.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
No worry, Shamy.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Wrapping the Country. Join us tomorrow at Sight j twenty
one at the Canterbury Amp Show. Will be with the
team from Emerson's at the Emerson's Tiny Pub for the
launch of the twenty twenty five Mackaisa. Remember go to
our Facebook page, answer the simple question on the post
there and you could win five hundred dollars cash. See
(38:22):
you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent You're specialist in
John Deere machinery.
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