The Country 27/01/26: Kevin 'Smiley' Barrett talks to Jamie Mackay

Taranaki dairy farmer and the sire of the Barrett rugby clan. Today we talk farming and footy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Smiley Barrett joins us from his coastal Taranaki dairy farm,
talk about of farming and foody. I'll start with the farming,
and I guess you've got to be careful what you
say about the footy, Smiley. How's the season treating you?
Did you get a lot of spill over rain from
that big event on the North Island.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hey, good afternoon, Jeremie, and in listeners here, Yeah, we did.
With it's been pretty underpredictable of the weather, Jermy of
you know, sort of take quite of a notice in
it sort of week to week and with sort of
weakish sort of lows sorry, high's coming up from down below,
and there's a lot of tropical moisture sort of hanging around,
and it's pretty hard to sort of predict, you know,

(00:36):
what's happening a week here or three days actually learn
a week out, you know. So, yeah, it has been
we have been getting some good rain, which is which
is a very it's probably a bit like we were
three years ago there we had very good covers going
through the summer and it's great after the last year
resist time this last year we were rolling at a
lot of settlement.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah, okay, so are you happy with your lot as
a dairy farmer. At the moment of this, the couple
of positive GDT auctions to start the season off, it
was getting a wee bit worrying with nine falls in
a row at the end of last year.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Here it was like I had a friend used to
work with, I mean Boston, I and Michael Mvey come
out the end of October actually, and he was He
said then that the milk price in the back of
Ireland the autumn he had dropped thirty percent, you know,
so you know, Frontier are pretty slow. It's announcing it,
you know. So here I mean was obviously with you know,

(01:31):
sound it with a price bend, but they've obviously pulled,
you know, the narrative there now. But in obviously with
the States, you know, with China not taking the grain
out of the States, there was a lot of food
on here and over there. So the American farmers were
pumping ends of cares and I think they were up
four percent then in production, which four percent of States

(01:53):
production is nineteen percent of New Zealand production. So if
we're nineteen percent extra production, Jamie, you know where it's
got to go on the open market, so that's what's
stamping the milk price.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
I believe the boys come home for Christmas and help
out on the phone.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Here they do. They did well, that hadn't actually come
over for Christmas. We had had a few celebrations. Actually
we had just shut the door on the treat the
home before we had el My youngest daughter got married
in early Decenbac and then we just had Blake's whitting
this weekend, so she's been pretty frantic in the Baared household.
So they didn't come over for Christmas, cup and dead.

(02:27):
But yes, we decided to stay. Stay with you, stay
with you, You're stay where you are and just you
will see you later on.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Okay, yeah, be remissively not to ask you this. Who's
going to be the next door black coach? You'll get
all the inside whispers.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
I don't know me. That's Jamyn. Come on, well, there's
not too many they can put your hand up, really,
but was now they're thrown out two overseas. You know
the coach needs today have overseas experience. Well when he's
in on rugby. I mean they should be letting their
coaches go overseas, you know. I mean the media was,
you know, before Raids I got the job, banging on

(03:03):
he's the best man for the for the job, and
the media have got that to answer for this and
new Diet, right, we should be looking at coaches, you know,
go overseas to gain that experience, you know, to coach
different cultures and in different environments and different players and
most important learn from their mistakes so how they can
be a better coach, you know. So you know that's
my viewnit, But like saying, now, there's there's few and

(03:24):
far between because they haven't let coaches go overseas. You know.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Well, I think, well, I think we've only got two
to pick from now, haven't we, Jamie Joseph or Dave
Rennie or maybe a combination of the two.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, listen, I mean famn that. You know, we've had
good coaches there, like you know, Jason to Holland, which
you know I write very highly. Probably I don't know
why he left us them Jamie whye walked out with them? Yeah,
whether obviously you need to get raised on the show
and ask him why.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
I don't think Raiser is doing much media at the moment.
I don't blame him either. Part of me feels a
bit sorry for him. The whole thing. Well, anyhow, we'll
we'll see what comes out on the wash. It will
keep us all amused and entertained over the next few weeks,
selecting that all black coach. Hey, Smiley, I've got to go.
Thanks for some of your time, really appreciated, and I'm
glad you're enjoying a pretty good, relatively good season on

(04:13):
your Taranaki dairy farm.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Good go, Chief day. We have a good day.