The Country 30/09/25: Rebecca Greaves talks to Hamish McKay

We catch up with an award-winning rural journalist from Pongaroa, who takes a break from docking to chat with The Country.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The country. We go to pong Aura up to the
hill country. Rebecca grieves, Hello, have we got you loud
and clear? I know you've had to clamber up a hill.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, well, hopefully we'll be all right. It's having a
little bit breathy. And then we had two lambs and
you calling out in the background back, Yeah, we're here.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
See the line I had earlier today was perfect, but
as the old wind picked up over there in the
Tartle rush, Yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Four casts to be very windy, as it has been
for the laste while, which is why we're trying to
get some dockings matched out today.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
You got a big crew there, Well, we had some.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Helpers and now we're down to just Rich and I.
So he's just doing some other jobs while I'm doing this,
and then I'm going to go back and I'm picking
up and vaccinating, and then he'll do everything else. So
it's a little bit of a slow afternoon, but just
getting it done.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Ah, the old husband and wife docking sometimes can fall
apart at the seams. I historically have some evidence of that.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I don't know if you're referring to me, but no,
we're always very good. I don't know what happened with
your family home. But I ever tried to dog with
Sarah But.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, yeah, no, no, I've never tried. I never based
on the evidence of watching my parents, And no I don't.
I don't try and get my Auckland wife out to
do docking, although she just she'd hate, you know, even
though our practices today are so much better than they
were forty fifty years ago, Yeah, she'd still be challenged
by them. Look, just quick discussion on the farm. Farm

(01:24):
gate prices remain strong and look like they will and
even in the medium to long term. How much is
that affecting your day to day decisions on the farm,
and how are you feeling about life in general and
going forward.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
I don't know that it's really affecting our day to
day decisions too much, because we try to just keep
you know, keep going and keep taking forward steps even
when we did have challenging prices. We just got some
first going on today our mates from terror or Holliwootzer here.
So I had a life and death experience this morning
where I bought my five year old horse. I wrote

(01:57):
him out to docking, but the chople was literally flying
right beside him or over him while I was riding
him this morning, and I thought that I might just
might hop off, But I think it just every who may.
It makes you feel good though, I mean, it definitely
gives you a confidence, bost. But I don't know that
we've we haven't gone out and purchased anything because we
think that the prices are good, but just trying to

(02:20):
keep doing, you know, keep doing all the right things
and for the farm and put it into the position
to I guess, capitalize and make the most of a
good season and good prices.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, who's flying? Who's flying the tower roots chop of
to day?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I actually know who's piloting it, but it was a
big one and it's seriously noisy. Regretting my life choices
of deciding to ride a horse to work, especially a
five year old Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, yeah, no exactly, Okay, Roddy, there wouldn't be more
than one helicopter outfit and terror a pie too, or
I guess would be Alex Chillick, wouldn't I don't know,
I guess, you know.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
And as Alex alexis, who were ready.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah yeah, yeah, the good thy happy boy who made
his way to Parmers North Boys High and then christ
College robbed them of us anyway, good lead as Alex Chillick.
Good stuff, hey becks. We'll let you get back to
the docking there with Rich on the farm there at Oh,
he didn't even get as far as discussing what was
for lunch, but at the cruise gone, I suppose it's
not a big lunch yet on the farm today for
the docking. That's Rebeck agrees. Out of the Tartaro Pongoro

(03:24):
region there