Jamie Mackay: The Country host on the mood of Fieldays 2025

It's all go at Fieldays 2025, and the Country's Jamie Mackay is taking it all in.

Farmers are in a better mood as primary export figures soar - and business is booming.

Jamie Mackay recaps the mood of day two of Fieldays.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jamie McKay, host to the Country with Us from Field Days.
Hey Jamie, Hello Heather, how much fun are you having.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
A lot of fun? I'm about to go out for
a night on the tron with the Country team. Are
all in the background?

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Is that them laughing?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Smoothing away? Now they're laughing at me for talking about
a night on the tron. But look, honestly, Thursday night
in Hamilton at field Days is as big as it gets.
If you're from if you were Right and Gore or
Riverstar like.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Me, Yeah, this is a big lights. Where do you
got to go with?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Where do you go when you go out in Hamilton?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Where are we going to? Ben Smith and McKenzie shameless
plug for that restaurant? But after that here the but wait,
there's more. We go to the spates Alehouse and Hamilton,
run by former All Black Aaron Penny, and we have
and we have the unofficial you know how we had
the Radio Awards last week and you're the Broadcaster of
the year decade century, I don't know, but we go

(00:56):
out and have like the rural Broadcaster of the Year.
But it's just an absolute roast between ourselves media works
and what are that other out for co Sport Nation. Yeah,
so that's just a few bears spats good.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
And so tomorrow is it a complete right off? Like
are you going to be chugging back the ginger beers
and eating the McDonald's to try and make it through?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
No, no, no, not at all, Heather. A drink like
a man, worked like a man the next day, and no, look,
I'll be home tucked up in good time. Nothing good
happens after midnight. Back in the early days thirty years ago,
I would burn the candle at both ends. But not now,
because Heather, I've got to do serious rural reports like
the Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries reports, which was

(01:39):
released today, and I know you're dying to find out
all well and then right, so, our primary sector exports
are worth nearly sixty billion fifty nine point nine billion, okay,
and Ray Smith, the Director General of MPI, said he
wanted to tweak the accounting department just to get it
past sixty billion. They died hole just shure sixty billion.

(02:02):
But here's the kicker. They want a primary sector to
reached sixty five point seven billion by twenty twenty nine,
which is in four years Remember they set the target
last year twenty four primary sector exports in the next
decade where they're going to have to go a long
way because they need to get from fifty nine to

(02:22):
about just over one hundred billion to double exports. So
someone's going to have to do the heavy lifting. As
it stands at the moment, the dairy export industry up
sixteen percent for the year ended thirtieth June, twenty seven
billion dollars out of the sixty that's nearly half meat
and waller good solid twelve billion horticulture bit of a

(02:43):
star of the stable. Perhaps that's what will save our
bacon in the end up nineteen percent to eight point
five billion, Forestry slightly stagnant at six point three billion,
and Shane Jones's seafood export revenue has lifted two percent
to two point two billion.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Brilliant stuff. Hey, go and enjoy yourselves. You'll deserve it
and spend up large and help them out. That's Jamie Mackay,
Hosts of the Country. Where did he say smith in
something or other? Do you want to see him? Go there?

Speaker 2 (03:10):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive Listen live to
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