Jamie Mackay: The Country host on the weather impacting the South Island

MetService says the strong winds that battered the South Island and lower North are now easing - but there are still a few things to keep an eye on.

Red wind warnings have lifted for Canterbury, Southland, Stewart Island, Clutha, Wellington and Wairarapa.

Widespread power outages remain across Canterbury, Wairarapa, Manawatu-Whanganui, Marlborough and Southland, where some repairs could take more than a week.

The Country's Jamie Mackay unpacks the damage further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jamie McKay, Host of the Countries with Us. Hello Jamie.
I'd like to say good evening, Heather, but it hasn't
been for a lot of people. What's it like, how's
it with you guys? Well, I'm based in Dunedan. There's
a few trees over here. It got rather blustery just
after midday or one or two o'clock. Is the weather
changed in Picrgo got hammered. We know all parts of

(00:21):
the country have been hammered, but I think if you're
looking for the worst affected from what I can see anyhow,
it would probably be Canterbury, especially North Canterbury. Got a
message from a farmer who said he's been in the
Muri basin today. That's covid and Era area in North Canterbury.
His words, effing carnage. Fifty pivots. These are the big

(00:42):
pivot arrogators. Blown over trees and sheds gone everywhere. So
it's going to take a lot of repairing. And you
might remember a few years ago when they had a
big wind in Canterbury. Those pivot irrigators, which cost hundreds
of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars. They try and park
them up into the wind when it's really strong. But

(01:02):
it looks like that wasn't enough. A number of those
have been damaged. And the irony of all the situation
is they're going to need those pivot irrigators very shortly
because this wind has not only been wickedly destructive, it's
raally starting to dry out the east coast of both islands.

(01:23):
On the Synergizer has Rabobank said they quite like the
look of it. What's a synergizer? The synergizer is the
name of the cow, Jamie, Oh, is it? Well, I'm
learning from you. You should just do the rural spot yourself.
I assume we're talking about the same Rabobank reports strategic

(01:44):
moment for dairy beef in New Zealand is that I
love the Synergizer. Well, look, we've got a big issue
in this country in the dairy industry, and that is
what to do with the bobby calfs. So what happens
to the carves for people who are unaware that for
a cow to produce milk, it has to get pregnant,
it has to have a calf. The calfs are taken

(02:05):
off the dairy cows at three to four days of
age and then the cows and milk. Now what happens
to those calves, Well, about a quarter of them are
retained as replacement dairy eiffers. The females about another quarter
raised as dairy beef and they will be processed. I'm

(02:28):
worried to use the word killed heather in these enlightened times,
but they will be killed as beef animals in two
to three years time. But that leaves the other half
and they haven't got a very good future at all.
Basically they go to the meat works as bobby calves
at four to five days old. That's feel And if

(02:48):
that sounds barbaric, it's not as barbaric as they used
to be because they used to just be disposed on farms.
So look, I think if where or the dairy industry
should I say, has so license to operate, and especially
with the animal welfare cruelty side of all this, it
will become important that every calf born is raised and

(03:11):
serves a useful purpose. So I think that's where having
more dairy beef pride of progeny from these dairy cows
will be the answer. Because Rabobank had come out and
said at current market average prices for this season. Rearing
an additional six hundred thousand calves could unlock one point
two billion dollars in value. And imagine if we had that, Heather,

(03:34):
we could pay the teachers more to learn about Palestine,
and we could play the pay the hard working doctors
and nurses a bit more. Goodness knows they deserve it.
God on you. Jamie has always really loved talking to you.
That's Jamie Mackay, who's the host of the Country. For
more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks.
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast

(03:56):
on iHeartRadio.