The Country 22/09/25: Todd Clark talks to Jamie Mackay

Our US farming correspondent reflects on Farm Aid 40 years on, a dry fall/autumn, and he looks forward to seeing the All Blacks in Chicago in November.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's musical theme is Farm Aid forty. Yes, some of
the old stars, the old rockers are still going. This
guy's not an old rocker. He's been flat out on
a Sunday US time working on his farm as they
head into their fall, what we call autumn. His name
is Todd Clark. Todd, you obviously weren't at Farm Aid

(00:22):
forty in Minneapolis. Do you remember the very first farm
Aid which was held in nineteen eighty five at a
place called Champagne, Illinois. Eighty thousand people there, they raised
nine million? Does it ring any bells for you?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good afternoon, Jamie. I don't remember that. I was fifteen
years old at the time, and well, I can't say
that I don't remember it. I vaguely remember that. But
in the eighties here in the US, that was the
really tough time for farmers and a lot of concerns
about the current situation. How does it to mimic the eighties?

(01:02):
And I think it's very different. But yeah, that's Farm
Aide for the most part. Every year has had a
concert in various parts of the country, and so this
year it was up in Minnesota. And they're certainly doing
good work. I'm not sure what happens to farm aid
once Willie and Neil Young and others pass on. We're

(01:27):
not wis wishing them to pass on, but they've been
with it start to finish so far. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Well, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, they're
sort of the organizers there. Back there Farm Made by
the Way in nineteen eighty five included those guys, Billy Joel,
Roy Orbison's no longer with us, Nora Is Tom Petty.
Interesting times indeed, see back in nineteen eighty five, and
it was a tough time here in New Zealand as well.

(01:56):
We had a change of government and farmers really struggled
in the mid to late eighties in this country. But
in the US crop prices we're crashing bank foreclosures, wiping
out farm of family farms at alarming rates, and pushing
farmer suicides to record levels. So we'll move on to
what's happening on farm at the moment. Sunday it's meant

(02:19):
to be the Sabbath, the day of rest. Todd, you
flat out.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Everything you just said is correct, except for the reason
we're flat out is we're finally maybe going to get
some rain we haven't received. We really haven't received a
good rain since July. We've had a little bit of
sporadic rain through that period, but everything is brown and dry.

(02:46):
The leaves on the trees are starting to fall off,
and not because it's fall or autumn, but just because
of lack of moisture, and so sore I was finishing
up seeding, interceding some grass into a alfalfa field, a
lucern field, and a week ago we've in the last

(03:06):
week we've planned about one hundred acres of alfalfa, just
gambling on that we're going to get the moisture and
that the frost will be late enough for it to take.
But but it's really dry. It's extremely dry, and we'll
welcome this rain if we get it, but it's for

(03:27):
this this season. It's it's too late, but we can
start to build build a reserve for this coming year.
Creeks and ponds, lakes, all of that sort of thing
are way down at this point.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
You're based in Lexington, Kentucky, bluegrass country, should I say
horse racing capital of the world. Really the is it
the Kingland yielding sales have been on that's Lexington, there
record prices.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
That is correct, Jamie. The in the last couple of
weeks they've sold at the September sale, which is that
that's the their best sale for yearlings. Over three thousand
horses grossed over five hundred and thirty million dollars. Fifty
six of those horses brought a million or more, with

(04:14):
the top horse being three point three million dollars. And
this is all yearlings that are selling for this price.
So in this area between cattle and certainly cattle aren't
aren't fetching prices like that, but between cattle and thoroughbreds
the prices are exceptional. But we're about to start feeding hay,

(04:39):
which is a couple of months early, and it's a
long time till March.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Todd Clark, thanks for some of your time today on
the country. Look forward to chatting to you in October.
And I know you're heading along to the All Blacks
Versus Island in Chicago on the first of November. How
exciting for you. I know you're a big All Blacks fan.
More about that next time we chat. See you like
to mate.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Thanks Jamie, So you