The Muster- Don Morrison: Training The Next Generation Of Farmers

Howie Morrison says educating the next generation of farmers is something that should be not taken for granted.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
What the song is hard love?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah, I love.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
The songs called a love a raidy Night by Eddie Rabbit.
It should be called a love of raidy night any
time of year apart from September. This is the muster.
Don Morrison joins us next willow Bank Farmer, as well
as being in a Lionesport director. Good afternoon, how he
how things going in the trenches.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
I've got it, Andy, There plenty going on at the moment.
Yet lamming right into it. They're just lambing very fast,
probably halfway through. We're only supposed to start on the twelfth,
a few earlier ones, but the main mob started but
going very fast. So yeah, the old The weather wasn't
great a few days ago, but I think the damage

(00:51):
is often more. We'll certainly here it was more perceived
than we actually got. So a lot of live lambs
and it always amazes me the resilience that some of
them have when they're born in that rubbish.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
As far as the wind, how bad was it out
at your place.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
That day? I can't remember. Was it a fello? Yeah?
Saturday was just yeah, it was. It was cold. It
just kept coming in and bringing front. Although to be
fair that it were clear, so you know that's off
in the savior when it can clear a bit and
they can get stop from being hunched up and getting
to have a drink. So yeah, it wasn't much fun,
but we had lots of live lambs and it's actually

(01:30):
a good test. We don't want weather like that. But
certainly one of the things we've been breeding for for
many years is is that survivability and resilience. Andy, you know,
we've been first playing at birth since or twenty five
years now to try and build up profiles of rams
with high survival. And the other thing that's probably helped
is this GDF nine gene we've got, which is the

(01:51):
twinning geen. So we're still getting our good standings, but
we're cutting down on the number of triplets and the
number of singles, so so you know, yeah, you're maximizing
your opportunity once you haven't got those triplets.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
There no more rogue lambs on the suites.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
No, but that was a good fifty or sixty or
seventy us at lambs early and once again they were
a good test of survival. But no, that was a
wee hit start. We got now just the normal the
normal thick of things.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Andy, how are your feek has looking to a little
sunshine I supposed to be appreciated.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Oh, there's every sheep hasn't got an equal powder. Unfortunately,
some are good and some aren't so good. That goes
for the grass covers and the shelter. But you've just
you've got a whole farm you've got to fill up
with sheep. So yeah, no, no, they're all right, Andy,
it's just you bit of sunshine would be good.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Now we'll talk about that. We'll touch on this.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
How agribusiness isn't being included in twenty twenty eight curriculum changes.
I spoke about this with Penny Simmons yesterday. Now what's
happening is agriculture and horticulture aren't going to be standalone
subjects in schools from twenty twenty eight. You're only going
to be industry lead instead. Now, howe, what are your
thoughts around this. You've been to Lincoln, you've been and

(03:01):
served your time at Bob's back in the day, obviously,
but at the same time we need to be encouraging
as much growth as we can, especially at secondary school
age for people who want to future in agriculture.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
And it's probably been a long intergenerational unrecognition of the
of the opportunity we have at Egg and Hought. So,
you know, you look back when I went to school,
which doesn't seem that long ago, but as a wee
while you know, Egg was certainly never tilted as as
a career opportunity unless you wanted to go back to
dad's farm. You know, even when I went to Lincoln,

(03:33):
it was your pretty narrow opportunities at the time, your
channel to being a valuer and a farmer, a banker
or a farmer. Where pretty soon by the time we
were graduated, there was all sorts of commercial opportunities. You've
got opportunities and marketing sales, the district HR and look,
I know the graduates at a university have the highest

(03:55):
employment straight out of university employment rate, but you know
it should be recognized because it's yet huge opportunity.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Andy, Well, there's a lot more opportunities in agriculture these
days than what there was, say twenty thirty years ago, though.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
I know, well, well, I guess certainly when you look
at those downstream opportunities, and that's what I'm saying, there's
massive opportunities in whatever field you want to work, you know, genetics, production, processing,
supply chain, logistics. You know that it's massive. So it
actually seems really crazy that we are that government and

(04:31):
that has consistently haven't recognized that.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
It sounds as though the government talks about playing a
big game regarding farming as such. Do you think they've
let the ball down on this occasion in quite a
big way?

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Ah See, I think it's a tough gig out there
for the government. Andy. This recession or whatever we're in
has been has been a long running one. We haven't
we haven't bounced back from COVID like most other Western
economies had, and you know, people are hurting. It's it's understandable.
Was this frustration out there. And you know, look, I'm
heavily critical of this coalition government with some of their

(05:05):
sidetracked stuff they've had, particularly around the treaty issues, some
of the resource management freeing up the stuff they're doing,
which hasn't added one single cent to our economy. And
yet they've really annoyed a whole lot of people. And
you throw that in with the economic frustration we're dealing with.

(05:26):
You know, it's not a good feel out there.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
But at the same time agricultures driving the economy as well,
that just seems to make it a little bit more bizarre.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Oh. Absolutely, And you're seeing the bounce back in our
rural communities. You know, we we were the first to suffer,
and that always the way it goes. It hurts in
our rural communities. I know one year ago, two years ago,
that was probably my toughest year farming in thirty years financially.
But you know, the urban scenes of the squeeze wasn't
quite on then, but now you know, we're coming out
of it. But those those urban you know, the urban

(05:59):
sector is really hurting a lot.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Of positives around the lamb price. At the moment, we've
seen record prices at the sale yards. How we hopefully
this optimism continues into the season.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well two things for that, Andy, you know, you've got
great demand and a lot of our markets based on
you know, shortened protein supplies, particularly around the beef or
the beef certainly in America, but even the lamb. And
the other thing that's interesting is you know China, which
is was our biggest market, is still relatively depressed. So

(06:31):
I guess the upside is when that Chinese economy can
lift a bit, we might have you know, that will
increase demand. But the fair on where those prices are
and our other markets is when does it reach a
tipping point that they substitute out of red meat back
to you back to poultry, back to back to pork,
things like that. So it's it's you know, the volatility

(06:51):
is what what makes me a little bit nervous.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Andy, Well, it's the volatives, the volatility around China especially.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, well they've they've had a suppressed economy ever since COVID,
so you know, we we all took that hat straight
after that, there was a very short bounce back, and
it's actually probably that American the American demand that's that's
actually still keeping us going pretty well. I think I've
read the last two years in grinding meat and the

(07:20):
you know, the Hamburger mints has risen seventy three percent,
So that's certainly been a big part of that lift
and in your beef prices, but certainly lamb has been
you know, still good demand in the US for the lamb,
and the tariffs seemed to be not affecting that that
price point at the moment.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Okay, Donald, now it's time for you to say I
told you so. I sent you a chicky text the
other day after Boden Barracks set up that try in Auckland.
The captain seen another side of the All Blacks and
unfortunately it wasn't a good one.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Here's your chance to Rant.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
I wouldn't say Rand that, Andy. I would just say,
you know, things start at the top and you know
Raiser was a product of a fairly you know, parochial
Canterbury push. You know he done very well, but you know,
no international experience. I was pretty critical back at the
time when we had the luck the Jamie Joseph or Schmidt.
There was people with a proven record and then unfortunately, Andy,

(08:17):
every good team or great team has got to have
an inspirational captain. So whether that's John Eils and Martin
Johnson friendsois Pina. You look at the French desertoil pulous
Richie mccare you know that's that's what you need. And
I'm afraid Scott might be a nice guy, but he's
just not not a leader, particularly when we have Ardie
Savilla there. I saw Laradi a couple of games last

(08:40):
year watch from the grandstand and incredible what he did
with that Mowana PACIFICA team and just what his work
raiders off the ball, which you don't see on TV,
but he leads people. So yeah, but Boden Barrett still
doesn't run up the line. Not an anti Barrett day.
But they're all nice guys, I'm sure, But you know
you need to get a second five center combination. So

(09:00):
just keep watching this space, continue with where we are
and this is what we'll get.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Just one final thought, Howie, is it time for the
Indian R to open up the coaching position of the
Ull Blacks to overseas coaches?

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Well, absolutely it should be, But I'm not suggesting that's
an overseas coach would be better because I think we've
got some of the best coaches there. I'm really saying
we need to look at the best coaches with a
proven track record amongst their own, amongst their own. What
we need to do if we're going to play on
a level playing field, Andy, is have those foreign players
that should be available for selection. So you look at

(09:35):
most of our other international op you counter parts, they're
certainly using their best players where we're locking a whole
lot of ours are out of they're playing in Japan
or France.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
You're going to be interesting. How we always appreciate your time.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Very good Andy, look forward to next time.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
Dol Morrison farming, Will I back?

Speaker 3 (09:56):
You're listening to the Muster up next Grant Disaster McMaster
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