Jamie Mackay: The Country host on the death of David Anderson

Long-serving agri-business journalist David Anderson died aged 57 in Timaru on Friday.

Due to illness, Anderson had stepped down as managing editor with Rural News in April.

The Country's Jamie Mackay pays tribute to him here today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jamie McKay from the Country dot co dot ms in,
Hey Jamie.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
How are you good day, Andrew? How are you going?

Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm good Sad news the death of a great agrig
business journalist David Anderson young too, just fifty seven. Tell
us about his work.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, well, he was obviously a longtime member of the
rural media, had a real spark in his eye. I
would call him the Felicity fair At Andrew of rural
media because he used to run a column and it's
still going since his passing, called the Hound and Rural News,
where he would have a swipe at anyone deemed woke.

(00:36):
PC and or labor politicians, especially poor old Damien O'Connor
and David Parker seem to be in the sites of
the Hound. But look, he's a good bloke. Grew up
on a sheep and bee farm, went to Lincoln, studied
farm management, took finish that he went sharing working at
the freezing works. He's incidentally the brother of Waytaki MP

(00:58):
Miles Anders and the older brother and he managed Miles's
election campaign last year. He spent time at Fonterra Deer
Industry in zed a couple of years or eighteen months
as Press secretary for Bill English even managed to squeeze
in a Callog's scholarship as well. So look, his wit
and his glint and his eye will be missed from
all of us in the rural media. This funeral will

(01:20):
be held at Timaru's Sacred Heart, Basilica tomorrow. Rest in peace,
David Anderson beautiful Church too.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Now to other topics, and of course the big hope
for New Zealand farmers in terms of emission reduction is
reducing the methane in the farts and the boops. And
now a new compound. Poor New Zealand farmers are a
step closer.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, well I just picked up on this one today.
I think I saw it and Farmers Weekly. I better
give him a bit of a credits for that one.
So because the government Andrew has talked about having tools
because they're not going to charge for emissions till twenty
thirty now, and they're talking about having tools of available
for farmers as soon as twenty twenty seven. Well, a

(02:04):
company called a Room in eight good name actually with
the numeric eight on the end, registered its feed additives
with the agricultural compounds and veterinary Medicines Board in Australia
and New Zealand. I've got an organic compound. They claim
it to be the most effective of all actives tested
from methane reduction and livestock. They're conducting as we speak trials.

(02:29):
They're doing one trial in the Wyekaddo measuring the methane
output from lactating dairy cow cows being offered the supplement
three times a day over forty five days. Now it's
easy opt to offer dairy cows who are coming in
and out of milking sheds supplements. They're much easier to
treat than say, beef cattle out on an extensive grazing regime.

(02:51):
So they've also got a beef trial being conducted at
AG Research in Palmerston North. The company, interestingly, Andrew, is
backed by Bell Gates, so they're not going to be
sure of money. I've already claimed an eighty percent reduction
in methane output was its product when dosing live stock
through water troughs. So as I've always said it to Andrew,
science will be the winner.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Science is always the winner, Jamie. Thank you so much.
Jamie McKay from the Country dot co dot MZ for
more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
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