December 5, 2025 • 46 mins
Andy Muir talks to James Meager, Andy Dennis, Jason Herrick, Steve Henderson and David Stevens.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
That's not our have the strange A very good morning.
Welcome along to the best of the muster. A collaboration
of interviews and took our attention during a busy week
here at hocknuy HQ.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
My name's Andy Muller.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We're starting off with Andy Dennis farming up at the
Gold Coast of the South.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Island, which is Manapori.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
This is these are kackers whords, mind you, but he
tells us about how it is anything but the sizzling
heat that.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You'd associate with the Gold Coast and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
How it's just been a real issue getting farm work
done over the past six weeks or so. James Meagho
was on the program as well, Minister of the South Island,
Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Youth and Associate
Minister of Transport, talking about a number of things that
have occurred down here in the South and we quiz
them about the state of the roads as well, asking
where are we going to hit these potholes fixed on
(00:53):
State Highway One. Jason Herrick are South of Federated Farmers,
just looking at the situation for fed's perspective over the
past month or two, quite a bit's been going on there,
but the big thing for me, for a lot of people.
This time last year they had a pretty active stoush
going of South and fishing game, but Jason tows us
this year things.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Are settled down.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Steve Henderson farm's at Aberua with irrelevant message too around
fires on your farm and pyramids.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Why they're a good thing.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And finally David Stevens Farming aboufer def farmer. He's been
in the game a very long time. He explains the
dear velveting situation as far as exports overseas in an
industry that is struggling at the moment as well. So
without further ado, we'll start the yell with Andy Dennis.
You're listening to the best of the muster. I will.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
James Meagher is a Minister for the South Island, so
we got a few other portfolios including Minister for Hunting
and Fishing for Youth and as well Associate Minister of
Transport and joins us this afternoon. James, good afternoon, thanks
for catching up once again.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Andy, great to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So it sounds as.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Though you've had a busy week you were down Stuart Island.
How's everything down there. From your perspective, it was good.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
It's actually my first visit to Stuart Island. I mean
as a kid, we probably got as far south as
the Needa, never eventually any further. So it was really
awesome to be able to go down there. That was
on the back of a trip to Fjordland. Actually went
to the Wappity ballot that night. T what I have
not seen grown men squoil and delight as much in
my life when they win a ballot for the Whoppiti ballot.
(02:41):
So congratulations all those guys who won their ballot. Then
we shot down to Stuart Island and just I had
a really good day. They met plenty of the locals,
saw some of their infrastructure needs, but also saw some
of the awesome environmental outcomes on Olvera and then some
of the pretty pristine opportunities that are down there. For
white Tail too, didn't find any found a few tracks,
(03:04):
to be fair, I didn't walk too far from the
Hunter's Hut, but definitely keen to go down there next
year and see what we can catch.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Well, that's a great thing about your portfolios. I suppose James.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
You get around the South Island and get off the
beaten track.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, and I mean I had got the opportunity to
spend the weekend at SNANO in Nelson, Tasman as well.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
All portfolio work of course.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And I mean hunting and fishing means you have to
be on the ground to see what's actually happening. So
it can be a hard life sometimes getting up at
six oclock to go and wander down the river for
about seven or eight hours. But you know someone's got
to do it, and I'll do it for you. I'll
do it on your behalf. Andy.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Now, the big talk over the past ten days or
so has been all around council amalgamations. I had Rob
Scott on the program last week's Southland District Council mayor.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He's all for this occurring.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Depending on who you speak to, especially in the farming fraternity,
it seems to be mixed as far as views.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Yeah, so we take a step back a second when
we released the RIMA reforms in the next couple of weeks,
and let's not be around the bush here. This is
going to totally turn the resource management system on its head.
You're talking massive reductions in the amount of consents that
people are going to need massive savings and costs hugely
simplified planning system. With a simplified planning system, we're going
(04:18):
to need a simplified system of local government. And questions
have arisen, i think over the past two years quite
rightly from locals about the role of regional councils and
about the whether it are fit for purpose anymore, and
so on the back of the RAMA reforms, we've taken
this step of saying, right, if the community wants to change,
will allow them the opportunity to have changed, so quick summary,
(04:38):
replacing the regional councils a council laws with the elected
body of maas the mayor's job that those groups will
then be to determine what the local government looks like
in the area. So if you take the ACAN catchment,
it might be, for example, that you have unitaries in
and around the Greater Cristich area. Then it might be
that the South Canterbury amalgamation is not what they want
(05:00):
and they still want a layer of regional council at
the top of that. But ultimately that'll be up for
the mayors to come together and decide with the community,
and they put that pitch to ministers for all regions
in the country.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
One concern around the amalgamations James as the staffing issue
and the worklow concern of rationalization was on the cards.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, there's the thing with regional councilors is that they
still do do things right, so they are still carrying
out functions that are provided to them by statute. So
that the changing of the elected officials at the top
won't have an immediate uphauling of the structure of the
councilors themselves. That'll be have to be worked through as
(05:39):
we go through RMA reform and figuring out what functions
properly lie with an a regional council structure, what functions
should be with the territorial authorities or your local councils,
and what kinds of functions can we keep back to
either you as the landholder to be responsible for your
own water quality or your own environmental quality, or a
wider environmental regulator like if you're talking air pollution, whether
(06:02):
we kick that back to a national regulator. So all
of those conversations and discussions have to be had and
what it will mean for there will be some change
for the staffing and the regional council structures. But that
happens in private enterprise all the time. People have to
change and adapt and move with what the demands of
their customer are. And in this case, the customer is
the voting public. And I think the voting public has
(06:23):
seen enough of regional councils that haven't been as enabling
and as proactive around resource management as what they could
have done.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
So the government at the moment, they're hoping to implement
changes towards us over the next couple of years, is
that right? Or start making movements toward this.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The plan is to first to prioritize RMA reform, so
the first tranche of those or the major tranche of
those changes will be coming out the side of Christmas
and off to Select committee. That'll be what fundamentally changes
the system. Then you'll need to have that local government
reorganization off the back of that, because it'll be hard
to determine exactly what the regional all the replacement functions
(07:02):
are until you know what RMA looks like. But we
can kind of do it at the same time. So
you're looking mid twenty six, which is next year, for
the RMA to go through and then legislation to start
making those changes around regional councils at about the same time.
So there is a bit of a sequence in challenging
to get this all lined up, but we think we
can do it, and we think we can get change
(07:23):
that is probably long overdue for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Now putting your hunting and fishing cap on now, James,
the stouts that were seen in the past between South
and Fishing Game and South Confederated Farmers has been pretty
quiet on that front over the past couple of months,
So perhaps they're finally on the same peace pipe.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Yeah, I hope. So, I hope it's not a seasonal
thing and that we're not just heading into a bit
of a winter lull where things have been all right.
But I think I think the two organizations are working
much more closely together. There has to be some change
and then around staffing and in around leadership, and I
think of of course, looking forward to reform of the
wider Fishing Game Organization has probably put it at the
(08:04):
front of regional council's mind that change is coming and
that if they want to continue to have sort of
that social support to operate as a regional Council. They
need to be able to be working more closely and
more proactively with the key stakeholders and whether that's sort
of your airports or local farmers or local environmental groups.
We want them to be the voice for anglers and
(08:27):
game boo hunters on the ground and to do that
key work that I think we all want them to
focus on. You, if you pay your license, we want
that money to go into maintaining the fisheries and increasing
the bird numbers and increasing the fish numbers so there's
good hunting opportunities and less of that airgro on that
back and forth. And I think we have seen that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Now your other hat you want to put on today,
the Associate Minister of Transport. Now, the roads down here
in the south, particularly between Goreon and Vicagle State Highway
one going up Edendale Hill, which is a very important
link going down inn Vercargo than the south of the
country as such, it's in diabolical need of an upgrade.
Now we're hearing about infrastructure happening up the country.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Which is great.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Well, can we expect anything meaningful regarding State Highway one
in the south.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, So there's a couple of things there for state
highways both one and across the board. There's the significant
amount of money we put into the pothole both maintenance
and prevention funding. Now every winter that turns into a
bit of a dog's breeface because it's hard to do
decent amount of work on the road but the weather conditions.
So you do a bit of INtime maintenance, a bit
of patching here and there, try and get things through
(09:33):
the summer, and then do a significant amount of work
over summer. So you'll see some large roading programs and
repair programs underway over the summer when the weather's a
bit good. I've always thought we could probably push a
bit harder and get a bit more done over the
Christmas period when traffic is a little bit lower, when
there are a fewer trucks on the road. So we'll
see if we can push unity to a bit harder
(09:53):
along there. But then you're right. You also mentioned some
recent announcements around State Highway sixth on the west coast.
It will help feed all the way through down Southend
as well. And there's a slipping amount of resource and
money going into a new road up near the EPTAF
slip and there's a series about six resilience projects coming
through a Targo and South and two. But ultimately we
(10:15):
all know what it comes down to, and it comes
down to a limited amount of resources and being able
to spread that across quite a significant amount of infrastructure needs.
So we need to think more carefully about how do
we raise the revenue that we need to invest in
the infrastructure that you ever run in demands and we'll
be thinking very carefully about that over the next few years,
including things like value catcher and transitioning light user vehicles
(10:37):
onto road user charges and tolls and all the things
that we can look at to try and get the
revenue to fix the roads.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Good on you, James, always appreciate your time on the Master.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Get on your thanks Andy.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Thanks to Sergeant Dan Stock Foods. It is time for
the Southern Farm around Up. We're away to Menapori, the
self appointed old Coast of a South Island and we're
catching up there with Eddie Dennis Kek.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Good afternoon and welcome once again.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
There were don't yeah, I might retract that statement I
make because it certainly hasn't been the Gold Coast of
New Zealand for a long time. There. Actually it's turning
into the puddle coast of just to be ready bewhere,
I think, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well you've got those sandy beaches.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
There's surely in a few weeks time it'll be blue
sky and people some bathing.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
Well, yeah, we've had a better run of weather. We're
sort of getting some fine days in a row, but
we're probably still getting thirty or forty miles a week,
which you just sort of get everything lined up ready
to go, and if you don't squeeze all that tract
to work in twenty four hours and gets up drilled,
you get another sort of fifty meals a each day
and you have to go back and start again. So
we are getting somewhere, but there's a battle. It's a
(11:46):
real battle.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It's interesting you say that because parts of Southend are
starting to brown.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Off on the likes, but it's a polar opposite. They're
in the basin.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yes, well it's still this just that weather flow. When
we're getting rain, I think everywhere else is getting the
wind pushed and in front of it. So yeah, no,
as long as it keeps raining we can get some
stuff on the ground, they'll be great. But yeah, we're
going to need sort of a few reasons of the
rains through the summer just to try and get these
(12:14):
crops to catch up if we even get them in
the ground, because if we go dry straight away, it's
not going to be pretty.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So how much of a trick to work would you say?
You've got done?
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Oh, we've sort of got everything lined up. Really, go,
we just need a week of good, good weather just
to get it all sort of ticked off. I've sort
of got I went hard on Saturday and got pretty
much most of the young grass and then rolled, so
that's a bit of a relief. And then yeah, hopefully
it's rained all yesterday today. We can just sort of
(12:45):
get some trail sorted by the end of the week
or the week after. And I've sort of sprayed out
all the sweet ground. It's all direct drilled, so they're
sitting there where to go. So yeah, once everything lines up,
it's the same old story. It'll happen. But you know,
the first of Decembers it's getting on there.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, So how much one to crop do you put
in Andy?
Speaker 5 (13:09):
About thirty five hecties of swedes and then yeah, thirty
five pigti of kales the second second crop second year,
and then it's usually be out there to coming out
of the young grass. There's sort of another ten heats
red clover. But yeah, it's all still underwater at the moment.
So but yeah, that's sort of me in a nutshell. Yeah, well,
I think, yeah, the fishing competition again the weekend have
(13:33):
been postponed from Labor weekend. I think plenty of people
made it up, and I think a lot of people
got a bit of a shock at how high the
lakes and all are, and the rivers and everywhere, And
they've probably dropped sort of a meter and a half
two meters since since it was really bad. So there's
still a lot of water coming out of the hills,
the ground. The ground so full of water it only
(13:54):
takes another teen to fifteen mills and everything. It's lying
all over the place, all in puddles and whole every again.
So yeah, we're certainly we're certainly full.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Yeah, So how are the stock doing in the weak conditions?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
They seem they seem pretty good. Yeah, Like the hinds,
they are all set stock obviously falling. They've really kicked
a gear in the last sort of week, so it'd
be nice to have a little bit more grass around there.
But as long as everything calves, okay, it sort of
doesn't create a lot of work later on to tidy
up stuff. So yeah, that'd be the only concern at
(14:29):
the moment. News look okay, and lambs look okay. So
I think we're taking away right, Yeah, as far as
sort of stock wise.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Goes, Yeah, you'll be coming up to waning shortly, i'd imagine, yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Middle of the month, and then I've pushed the Romney's
right back up until Christmas. We won't do a draft
out of them. Were sort of back back quite a
lot of lambs, so I'm just gonna wan them and
put them back out and go through and get replacements
out of everything before I start killing lambs.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, and of course fell and false thing at the moment,
but unfortunately, unfortunately the price isn't.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Yeah, so it's all sort of coming a bit able
to nowhere, which is a bit crazy because dinzer z
to sort of prepare farmers for this, and we've had
no comment from them, which is very disappointing. But we've
effectively have had a price drop this year. We don't
know it yet. The prices aren't even out and where
the valve and seasons effectively finished, there's just young stags
(15:27):
to go. But we've had a price drop and we've
also had another non traditional grading come in, so there's
two non traditional grades now, so a lot of what
used to be a well super as moved over into
a non traditional grade. And yeah, we don't even know
what the price is. But you get a bit of
a shock when you're going through the grading your velvet
(15:48):
and you're looking at a third and a third and
the third Now, I can can can can considering you know,
I used to have a lot of essay and a
So it's China wanting it back sort of more sectionally
round and smaller and lighter. Yeah, so they can do
more with it. But it certainly it's a bit of
a kick in the guts getting an expected price drop.
(16:10):
Like I said, we don't know that yet, but everyone's
saying it will be as well as a different grading system.
So yeah, velvets, velvet's really been spun on its bummer
weave it.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, I knowed you said duns have pretty much been
ill and void lately.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
As far as commentary, what would that be?
Speaker 5 (16:28):
I have no idea, Like surely throughout the last twelve
months I would have been having these talks and stuff.
But yeah, I mean it all comes from buyers and
changing the way they do it. So yeah, we just
need some answers probably, But luckily there's been there's been
(16:49):
money talked, and it's that low that people are in shock,
and luckily people are just holding onto their velvet and
just saying, well, you're not getting anything until we get
a decent, firm amount. Because people started putting it onto
the market or dropping on the market, suddenly that becomes
the price, which that's it's miles off where where that
where it should be from what I've heard.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
So realistically, how long can you hang on to velvet?
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Well, it would depend too much Fraser space you've got, Yeah,
like if you've got plenty of phrases freeze space, you
can fit it all in and to store it. But
that creates a problem for next season as well, doesn't it.
But yeah, who knows? Who knows? China is very good
at doing business a whole lot bitter than that. So yeah,
we just need demandswers, probably before Christmas, which would be good.
(17:36):
But I've already heard of a lot of guys selling
velving steaks or cutting the heads off veiling steaks already.
So yeah, the problem is gonna get solved one way
or another. We're gonna go smaller or there'll be less
velvet captain New Zealand. So yeah, that's that's sort of
there it goes, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And the big thing is to remember only Korea as
self area that is in China to New Zealand velvet.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
Is that correct effectively? Yep? And probably eighty percent of
it goes through China, is processed there and then on
sold of Korea. So yeah, that's they sort of control
a little wee bit, which is a bit of a shame,
but I mean, I mean New Zealand's as always done
what New Zealand's done well and bread bred better. Staggs
cutting more velvet over the last sort of ten fifteen years,
(18:25):
and we probably are cutting a lot more velvet than
we used to definitely are, and we've also got bigger
and thicker, and that's probably not what the market ever wanted,
but it just goes to show how well New Zealand
farmers can sort of breed bread bread breed so well
and go forward so fast.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah, now you're a strong advocate for the deer industry.
Care here has this got you changing your opinion or
you still think.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You've got to keep the faith.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
Velvet and Staggs have a very good fit on this farm.
Like in the spring we've grown a lot of grass.
In the summer we can go dry, so that helping stags.
He's had his cut in the spring, and yet regrowth
taken on and over in the summer, and then through
that sort of dry period every March he's on nothing
and and that suits really well. But there's a price
(19:13):
that that Stags sort of got to still return you.
And they're just a small part of my business. Not
they're not. They're not, they're not everything. There's only one
hundred and twenty Staggs on the farm, so they certainly
had their fit. But yeah, we'll be we'll have to
be rethinking here. It looks at the prices what I've heard,
which that's hope not Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Hey, good on your KK.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
We've always appreciated your time on the must of Us afternoon.
You enjoy the festive season, and here's hoping the sun
comes out and you get a week of that blue
sky you're after. We always appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, Merry Christmas anyone, everyone, and that same you, Andy,
You enjoy your beast of season.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Jason Herrick as president of South and Fair Rate of Farmers,
and we catch up once again. Good afternoon, Jace. We
haven't spoken for a while. Hell's things.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Yeah, good afternoon and a yeah, living the dream, you
know that's this good old Southern weather's starting to deliver
some good results at the end of spring, beginning of summer.
But no, I've been galivanting around the country, to be honest,
and having a chat with a lot of people, so
I don't really enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I'll pull you up on that weather talk straight away.
People have fires that last night for Pete's sake.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
Really Yeah, oh well, I can't say I've had my
fire on, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
We've picked up our fire and we're already for center.
I'll just put that out there.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Hey, look, we've had it in the past too, right
where we've liten the fires in the first week of
December before and don't forget some of our largest snow
dumps we've had has been in that November period as well.
The weather is the weather and you just take it
one day at a time and deal with it as
it comes.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
From a federative farmers perspective. Over the past three or
four weeks, Jase has been quite a bit going on.
We'll acknowledge the weather events of coming up six weeks
ago and trees still down a lot of places.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You see it every week, especially.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
When I went through to nudge Woodheads at South Totago
last week. It's unbelievable the scenes that were seeing. What's
the story from what you're hearing?
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Yeah, same deal. So I've been on a few farms
and talked to quite a few farmers and you know,
there's still a lot of trees down there and still
have a lot of issues, and people still don't know
where to start. But it's going to take a lot
a long time to clean a lot of it up
because you know, we're at that time of year where
landing is coming to an end for a lot of
the high country, Tailing still happening in other areas, and
(21:43):
you've got making going on for dairy farmers, and obviously
the arable boys are in full swing getting all the
spraying and stuff done. So cleaning up trees is secondary
job at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So people have menaged in the gate the last month. Okay,
all things considered, would you.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Say absolutely, like southernd resilience is pretty pretty high. Man Like, seriously,
Southern people they all get around one another and look
after one another. And to be honest that the confidence
is still pretty high out there.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah. You look at sold temperatures and like everything's above
twelve degrees as you'd expect for the first week of December.
But it's certainly been another tailling spring.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
I definitely like the difference between the spring and last
is last spring it was wet right across South and
where it's been quite sporadic this year in certain areas.
So northern South has been pretty good wet wise, whereas
the lower coast has been hit again, you know, with
a lot of wetness. So you know, at least it's
spread about and everyone has different different issues with the weather,
(22:43):
whereas last year it was right across the board and
you know, the whole community was affected. So you know,
that's the difference between one year to the next, and
again it'll be different again next year.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Now council changes the way that we do were local
democracy down here, you're all for this occurring. The government's
made noise is about this happening over the next couple
of years. Are you entirely happy of what they proposed?
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Not fully happy with what they're proposing. Definitely like the talk,
and to be honest, we've been leading it down here
in South and as well. Rob Scott put a proposal
on the table and you know it's not one hundred
percent you know, what we would like, but it's definitely
in the same realms in around the amalgamation of councils
and having two unitaries, one for the city, one for
(23:26):
the role. But I definitely didn't like what the government
announced of getting rid of our councilors around the regional
council table in the next eighteen months and replacing them
with the mayors. Not for that, because while we've still
got regional council operating, we need to make sure we've
got good representation around that table. And to be honest,
you know, not all the meyors are royally focused either,
so you know, it wasn't happy with that announcement and
(23:49):
I honestly think that the government jumped a gun on
that and they released it at the wrong time. They
probably should have put the changes out in the RMA first,
what they're proposing there before they went down this road,
so people had a little bit more clarity on what's
being proposed. And at the moment everyone's sitting in Limba
not knowing whose job is going to be what.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But remembering Jacen advocate for change as far as the
local councils, is it a case would be careful what
you wish for.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
No, No, definitely not. So we do need change because
we can't carry on in the same path right and
because the system is broken, extremely broken, and if we
carry it on the same trajectory, who will be able
to afford to pay rates by twenty thirty five, you know,
So things definitely need to change and if nothing changes,
nothing changes. So definitely for the change of of the councils.
(24:36):
But it needs to be done right. And I think
we've got the opportunity in Southland here to lead from
the front and you know, and make sure we do
it right.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Rates phrases well, this is all well and good in theory,
but they'll just be add ons anywhere and even we
are else unfortunately.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
Yeah, exactly, so, I mean you could almost use that
phrase be keeper what you wish for there, but all
for rates definitely decreasing, because to be honest, it's a
lot of the rate increases for unnecessary spending. And when
you see all these little like to have projects that
councils put out there, instead of concentrating on the core
(25:13):
core business and around infrastructure and doing what they're what
they're set up to do, they tend to spend money
on stupid stuff. So definitely it'll it'll put a big
spotlight on on those unnecessary expenditures because then the councils
are going to have to really rain down in their
spending and really and decide what's important.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Because James Meger on the show yesterday talking about changes
to the ARI may will become into fruition and then
we'll see things start to happen.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
But are you convinced, not fully convinced, like I mean yet,
we need definitely a new ROMA and we do need
changes in there, and we'll just wait to see where
that lands and then we can push back on what's
not good enough from there and then.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
We'll go we'll go through the consultation period. Like there
is a process to go through and it's going to take
some time to land and they reckon to implement the
whole arma, it could take two to three years.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Now as far as the Watoonal Lagoon, what's the latest there.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
So the decision landed on the Watturna where a consent
was granted, and to be honest, the farmers' voices we're
not listening to whatsoever. Nothing coming up in that. So
all fifty three conditions that landed in that consent, which
is owned by es DOC and EWE pretty much unworkable
and you'd get to the point where the lagoon will
(26:30):
never be opened because they wouldn't be able to meet
all conditions to open. So we have put an appeal
in and appealed the full consent, all fifty three conditions,
and we'll work forward with the three parties, hopefully go
into mediation first, but if we end up having to
go to court, then that's where we have to go.
We've got to get a good outcome for the locals
(26:51):
in the wat Turner Lagoon, because as it currently stands,
they haven't got any outcome whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
But realistically, how likely are you to get a positive
outcome I out of something like that?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
If you do happen to.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Go to court a lot that the dialogue within the
Council at the moment is pretty good with us and
they agreeing with our concerns, so they're very, very keen
to sit down at the table and talk about things
and go to mediation. So we'll start that process first
and then we'll move forward from there and we won't
(27:23):
be doing anything until after the second of February is
the date I've been given, and then we'll head into
next year and go through mediation. And as it currently stands,
while while it's all happening, we just carry on as
we are where environments south and we'll have the right
to open the lagoon under emergency powers of need dialogue.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
It's almost like the word of the year for Federated Farmers, Jason. Now,
we talk about this with other organizations, but then we
look at the situation with south of fishing game. We
go back twelve months and it was not a very
it wasn't a good situation. It will this be fair
regarding access to riverways and the likes.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
This year is a totally different situation.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
So obviously there's been some huge sarounds and huge games
there where fishing game is concerned and a lot of
personnel changes. So communication has been pretty good from fishing
game and fairly positive and sort of working in the
right direction. And we have got a meeting coming up
with them soon, just they haven't quite determined a time
(28:23):
and date for that yet, but we want to talk
about duck numbers coming into next year and how we
can get farmers issued permits for duck control, especially through
that crop establishment phase, and making sure that they have
the ability to cut off some ducks if need be.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So a lot of bridges have been mended.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
To coin a phrase, i'd say bridges have been put together. Okay,
I won't say they've been fully mended, but definitely we've
had a few band aids put on and like I said,
conversations and it's a work in progress, but we'll get there.
I'm positive of that. And because dialok is actually open
(29:01):
now and the discussions are going both ways, and we'll
never agree to We'll agree to disagree all the way through.
There's no toys about that. We won't agree on everything.
But at least we're we're talking and they are listening
to us as well.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So the runners are on the bridge as sleepers are
on their way, and that means it's time for us
to go.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Jason Herrick out of South con Federated Farmers always appreciate
your time.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
You're welcome.
Speaker 8 (29:22):
Have a good afternoon, Eddy, who doesn't know what I'm
talking about, who's a never left home, who's never strung now.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Steve Henderson of Varroa joins us this afternoon on the muster.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Good afternoon, Steve. The checks they were once upon a
time the Dixie Checks.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
But everybody goes and changes their names like Andy's right, yeah, all.
Speaker 9 (29:45):
Of but PC they still with the Dixie Checks to
ask down here?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Still still good chains.
Speaker 9 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, there's to tapping and.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
How old are you? Seventy?
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Sometimes I feel like it.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Down there where you are. Anyway, how's it been.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
Of Blake.
Speaker 9 (30:04):
We've been pretty good. We've got to we splash a
rain like most other people on Sunday, and yeah, we're
we're probably.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
We haven't had a disc like in early December or
late in November like this in a long time.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
It's usually one extreme or the other. So here we're
still fled out top and trying to limit the seed head,
and we're still getting some pretty good growth rates at
the back of it. So yeah, we're pulled a few
bit of feed out of the shed and obviously no
someplement's going to build pet it, so yeah, it'ditially making
cheat milk, which is good for a change.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So you're actually coping pretty well down there, because depending
on who you speak to them, which you're a part
of Southland, it's a different scenario here.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
We are well, it's all in perspective. We've only pulled
out the just once today, so in perspective we are
actually going pretty good computer the other years. So noun
conditions are good for getting most of the seed in
the ground. You still get the odd patch that you've
got to work around and then they'll dry up. But yeah,
as a whole we're going pretty.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Good grass covers.
Speaker 9 (30:58):
Then they're looking okay, yeah, there's crazy in a pastoride
right now actually, so I think they would have buttoned back.
We might be visiged for Probena twenty one fifty maybe
average cover and kels are leaving really good residuals at
the moment. So we've already done one left of topping
and we're the selective of what we top now because
(31:18):
you know, if the said not warranting topping. You can
burn a lot of diesel just for aesthetics, so they
need a weave of the seed then there for us
top them now and near the kells are cleaning them
ups really good and milk flies a shine that too.
The grass sort of platowed, whereas last year we started
to fall off the grass pretty quickly. From now on
and it's just ready grass quality.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Yeah, it's an interesting how every season though it is
such a variance and what you're going to get.
Speaker 9 (31:42):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
It is.
Speaker 9 (31:43):
You can do as many budgets and be prepared for
as much as you can, but yeah, it's just on
the day or on the week, you've got to adapt
to it and you sort of you know, they say
have your things on the poulson and you probably do
to a degree. You do need to know what kills
are leaving behind them, how much beads going into the
shed and the response, so we don't want to leave
too much in the pedicat food. So yeah, we've made
(32:06):
a couple of calls in the last ten days to
pull them to the feeding back to sort of match
what they're leaving in the peddics. So yeah, it's good
and it's it's good to be farming again. As in
you know, August, September, September, October, we weren't really farming.
We were just reacting to what we had to do.
Now you can make those calls and see the results
and we're not getting made of by stuck in peddocks,
(32:27):
and here it's enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Like so the GDT result overnight.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I've talked about this with Darn Moore and Dave Frame
just before, but you're pretty much you're putting everything in
perspective at the moment.
Speaker 9 (32:38):
Here we are, you know, we're obviously open country suppliers.
And at the supply of meetings they were they were
talking about the increase of milk coming on TIFF and
it's just respective I think of what's happening. But like
everything out there, there's ways to huge beats, so to speak.
So we've got a bit bit of milk with milk
futures locked in.
Speaker 8 (33:00):
It.
Speaker 9 (33:00):
We've got teen dollars so that it's no different to
fixing the interest rates or you know, taking a contract
on the imported feeds. So you just look at your
top top maybe three expenses in your top income, which
is obviously milk. So yeah, we always heard your bets
enough to pay invoices and keep the bank happy.
Speaker 10 (33:18):
That's what we do.
Speaker 9 (33:18):
And then we're about half fifty percent of their milk.
We'll usually heat each year. So yeah, it's just all
part and parcel. And it's obviously, you know, four or
five year game, not just the one year game.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
During I particularly enjoy the birds chirping in the background
while you're talking positive about the situation. It's a thing
of beauty, it is, And I don't know what happens
in hour.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
I had a comment yesterday now there's only about too
bloody chirping and there's a trick riding in the background,
which all the thoughts would cover that. But anyway, it
was a happy place.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Must be a good time at the hand of some fun.
This afternoon got to be.
Speaker 9 (33:52):
I look forward to it.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
How you want to touch.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
On this as well, regarding fires and the likes fire
permit season, it's what we all know what's been happening
over the past couple of months down here in the
south trees down everywhere are still branches, and the likes
and just a message you want to share.
Speaker 9 (34:06):
Yeah, so we we've actually had two different types of fires.
We had a trip to go on fire about two
weeks ago and yeah, that was very close to a
dock block which we've order. So yep, big sense declends
all they got out and an professionally well time and
got that fire out so it didn't quite get in
the dock block. I mean, yeah, obviously everybody's got a
(34:28):
lot of tree trimmings and branches they've got to be burnt,
and some are a bit more critical than others. So
we've got a couple that we're burning right now. Any
young grass head that we're trying to get in so
ye was looking them up and we're in a zone
I think the zone seed down here, so we we
we need permits all the time when we're light a fire.
But it's just being aware of what you're what you're doing,
(34:49):
what you don't do, like obviously today at the calm day,
so yep, they're pick the box and keeping the heads
of well away from the hu directory lighting was It's
been two or three incidents down here where it's been
while being burned and then the winds got up and
they've been team meters to the headline that been pulled
from and the fire crew has been out to put
(35:10):
their heads out where. It's just that it's almost just
a waste of their bloody time when they could be
saving something more critical. So it's just been mindful around that,
and if you need to light it, light it, if
you don't need to light it, just like for the
weathers in the right situation and flying in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Regetting your tractor. Was it due to bird beasts?
Speaker 9 (35:30):
No, it wasn't. No, it'd have been just thing all
day and then have our four in the afternoon. The
tractor stopped on poor old killerm and there must have
been electrical to stop the tractor. And then ye, within
a couple of minutes there was a flame and the
tractor's being tractors, you know, but have always a due
here and classics they just light up. So yeah, he
was pretty good. He rang me and then here we
(35:51):
got on the case and he helped the old fires
to roll out some hoses and get it out because
it's just the unknown of what ken heaven. It could
just be an end, but it goes up a bit
high and jumps into the dock block and then yeah,
we're always reasonably renowned for the old peat fires. So
we didn't want to be one of those fellows. It's
not just what happens on the day, cuss.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah, exactly, they can.
Speaker 9 (36:09):
They can last forever, and most of those peat bogs
they just continue underground and pop up, you know, four
hundred meters for a k away and in some months
time and he continue to burn. So hopefully we stomped
out as.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Quick as we did.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
So that's your version of the Great Tire Fire and Springfield, right.
Speaker 9 (36:25):
Yeah, it was yet yet there's plenty of off colored
smoke and we didn't bring any sausages and they have time.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
For that, but you know, it was good and just
finally as well, you want to give a shout out
to the IHC calf scheme.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Yep.
Speaker 9 (36:37):
So he's getting picked up this afternoon, no doubt, along
with probably hundreds of others them Zeppelin. So yeah, they're
going out to Lawnville. And you've also got Algambray Friday
and hospice going on in the same day, which is
a sol day tomorrow. So I know the calfs are
last week week was pretty hot, and let's make this
one just as hot with you know, they're all gifted
calves and they all go to a good course because
(37:00):
between those three charities idea say, everybody will know someone
that's been involved in them, and it's a it's a quick,
easy way for you know, afters cockies to give back
to those organizations. But no doubt we'll see in in
the future.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Absolutely, Steve.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Hey, we'll leave you to it with some toe tapping
the checks and yet those little birdies chirp in the
background as a thing of beauty.
Speaker 9 (37:20):
We will know why. Thanks Andy.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
We're away to Neverdale at Balfer this afternoon, catching up
with David Stevens.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Of course his signature tune.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
If he were, if he was a wrestler back in
the day with the w W Weaver, would have been
a little bit of academic.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Good afternoon, David, That.
Speaker 10 (37:44):
Good afternoon, Andy, Yes, I might have the sneak oversies.
You go and watch something actually.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Now out there at Balfer on the farm of course.
At nether Dale Health things been pretty good.
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Yeah, we've just uh, well we've just taken a lot
of silid of actually, so we've had a reasonable growth
things probably a weaver a slow than in other years.
But I know we're taking you along and we don't
have a lot of deer here now, so all the
deer farmers out there that are doing valving will be
(38:16):
into their two year olds involving them at the moment.
So and also probably trying to move a bit of
velvet too, which has been a bit weaver bit of
a challenge this year. That's been I think buyers are
picking it up, but a lot of them haven't put
a price on it yet and they've sort of given
(38:38):
them a deposit to just pick it up. So it's
been a wee bit of a challenge for the hear
of the deer farmers that have major velvet producers.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Yeah, the velveting situation, it's not a flash onund Edie
Dennis was talking about it on Monday's show.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
But certainly with South Korea.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
And China being the two markets and or almost dictating
what's happening, it hasn't been a very good situation.
Speaker 10 (39:06):
No, But that's I mean we've been We've had some
good years actually, Andy, and that's when China's started buying direct.
I know they do re export in Korea after they
process because obviously their processing is a lot cheaper than
what we can do it. But with China and direct
(39:26):
purchasing from here. It certainly helped the market over the
probably the last six to eight years, so you know,
we've done well with that, and of course what's happened
is that the velvet Herdi has grown, so we've gone
from what we used to talk about back in my
day and way back four hundred ton was sort of
(39:47):
the max of what we could produce and actually keep
a reasonable price. Now we're looking at a thousand ton,
so you know, things have grown a lot, and the
market's going also, So you know, we've been doing reasonably well,
but last year things pulled back a bit. Obviously COVID
(40:10):
and China hasn't helped. There's sort of a lag there
with products sort of sitting in the market, so they're
in a position where typical commodity, you know, the strength
of the power i should say, has shifted from the
producer to to the market those in the marketplace, so
(40:34):
it's only affected things just out there at the moment.
They're probably talking around about that for the top end,
which is the traditional velvet, around about the eighty dollars,
and there's probably not a lot of that in the market. Really,
it's probably only about fifteen percent, and then you're looking
at probably around the fifty to sixty might even be
(40:54):
slightly lower than that for the non traditional So you know,
that big heavy rough stuff not paying a lot for it.
So but to be fair, you know, we've always realized
that the marketplace there's always wanted that tidy velvet. It's
much easier to process. The big rough stuff's hard to
(41:14):
process and it's a bit of a challenge. So you know,
the industry has changed a lot over those years. We'll
end up with a lot of super a velvet, which
is the big heavy stuff in the market now, and
it's you know, we're sort of paying the price for
it now. So I would imagine most people will be
cutting quite early this year, cutting the velvet early, and
(41:37):
you know, in the next couple of years, I can
see the product volumes actually reducing because you know, people
will be getting rid of the big rough stags, the
ones who grow the big rough heads, and I'll probably
send them to the processor and then cut early on
their good velvet. So I would imagine the volume for
(41:59):
the next a couple of years will drop back, and
we may even see it drop back to about eight
hundred Ton.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
This sounds like one of the industries that are still
being affected by COVID, given that was five and a
half nearly five and three quarter years ago.
Speaker 10 (42:13):
Yeah, it hungover in China though for some time after
everybody else, So you know, it's probably not the you know,
it's just part of what's happened really to the velvet price.
It's only part of it. I think the volume has
just got out of kilter with the market, and you know,
(42:34):
we need to either drop back or grow that market.
So that's had quite a huge effect really on the
prices this year.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
So how long do you see it, David, until supply
demand meets equel base.
Speaker 10 (42:47):
I think if we start dropping back, you know, we
could be a couple of years out. I think depends
This year is going to be very interesting just to
see where the volume ends up, just a total volume
with with those changes. I know there's a number of
people that actually have sent old mixt day stags to
(43:07):
the works that are rougher. I think I made a
comment to you back sort of early winter that if
I was if I was still volving large numbers, I
would probably go through and color out all those big
old stags with the rougher heads. And I mean at
that stage, you know, the schedule was very good. You
(43:29):
can get space. I don't think that's the case now
it's space is tightened right up, So it could be
a challenge because really with those older stags you've got
a situation unless they're booked in that you know, the
rut comes around and you can't actually shift them. So
that'll be a bit of a challenge as well. But
it'll depend ap on just it'll be interesting this year
(43:51):
just to see what the volume is at the end
of the year, and that I would think a couple
of years out anyhow, I.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Suppose I'm positive. Is the fath the Venison schedules remaining
pretty buoyant.
Speaker 10 (44:04):
Yes, yeah, no, it is, and yeah I think And
also that elk market into the States, it's very good
and it looks as though it's going to hold up
right through sort of around that eleven dollars the case.
So that's pretty good going. It's a good market and
we need to look after it.
Speaker 5 (44:24):
So it's no.
Speaker 10 (44:26):
It's been interesting in the sense that there's been a
fair bit of grumbling take place in the process of
this year with the changes of the grading system. Looking
at the grading myself, personally, I think it's it's correct,
but I think the whole process is it hasn't been great.
Speaker 5 (44:47):
You know.
Speaker 10 (44:48):
Really, if you're going to look at changing the grades,
you need to take that needs to take place really
in May so people are actually aware of things, where
the changes are and where things are going. So it
wasn't the process wasn't great. Personally, I think that it
was hijacked a bit by some of the buyers. I
(45:11):
wouldn't blame DINS for the outcome. I think that they
were hijacked a bit on the way through, and I
think it's a lesson to be learned that the processes
need to work with the producers in any changes and
it's something that we need to do in the future actually,
(45:32):
So I think the case of sitting down really DINS
is really only a facilitator and the producers and the
buyers should actually be making those decisions together if they're
changing the grades. So it's something we need to look
at really in the future.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Just finally, the New Zealand Velvet Awards. They're happening December
the eleventh at Escott Park. This is always a great time.
Speaker 10 (46:00):
Yes, CNN a. This is the forty third Velvet and
Hard Antler Awards, so it's a good Christmas du really,
I suppose for anybody who wants to come along. We've
got a guest speaker this year, Amy Scott, and I
didn't know much about her, but they say she's very good.
(46:21):
I think she brings along and tells me on a
buyer that energy, honesty and zero fluff. So I'm not
quite sure. Subject subjects are less friction, more fun, so
it could be an interesting night.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
David Stevens here death farming about for wrapping up the
best of a muster.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Enjoy the weekend no matter what you're up to. My
name's Andy Mure. Catch on Monday, one o'clock in the
plan As
That's not our have the strange A very good morning.
Welcome along to the best of the muster. A collaboration
of interviews and took our attention during a busy week
here at hocknuy HQ.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
My name's Andy Muller.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We're starting off with Andy Dennis farming up at the
Gold Coast of the South.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Island, which is Manapori.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
This is these are kackers whords, mind you, but he
tells us about how it is anything but the sizzling
heat that.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You'd associate with the Gold Coast and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
How it's just been a real issue getting farm work
done over the past six weeks or so. James Meagho
was on the program as well, Minister of the South Island,
Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Youth and Associate
Minister of Transport, talking about a number of things that
have occurred down here in the South and we quiz
them about the state of the roads as well, asking
where are we going to hit these potholes fixed on
(00:53):
State Highway One. Jason Herrick are South of Federated Farmers,
just looking at the situation for fed's perspective over the
past month or two, quite a bit's been going on there,
but the big thing for me, for a lot of people.
This time last year they had a pretty active stoush
going of South and fishing game, but Jason tows us
this year things.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Are settled down.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Steve Henderson farm's at Aberua with irrelevant message too around
fires on your farm and pyramids.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Why they're a good thing.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And finally David Stevens Farming aboufer def farmer. He's been
in the game a very long time. He explains the
dear velveting situation as far as exports overseas in an
industry that is struggling at the moment as well. So
without further ado, we'll start the yell with Andy Dennis.
You're listening to the best of the muster. I will.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Go.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
James Meagher is a Minister for the South Island, so
we got a few other portfolios including Minister for Hunting
and Fishing for Youth and as well Associate Minister of
Transport and joins us this afternoon. James, good afternoon, thanks
for catching up once again.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Andy, great to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So it sounds as.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Though you've had a busy week you were down Stuart Island.
How's everything down there. From your perspective, it was good.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
It's actually my first visit to Stuart Island. I mean
as a kid, we probably got as far south as
the Needa, never eventually any further. So it was really
awesome to be able to go down there. That was
on the back of a trip to Fjordland. Actually went
to the Wappity ballot that night. T what I have
not seen grown men squoil and delight as much in
my life when they win a ballot for the Whoppiti ballot.
(02:41):
So congratulations all those guys who won their ballot. Then
we shot down to Stuart Island and just I had
a really good day. They met plenty of the locals,
saw some of their infrastructure needs, but also saw some
of the awesome environmental outcomes on Olvera and then some
of the pretty pristine opportunities that are down there. For
white Tail too, didn't find any found a few tracks,
(03:04):
to be fair, I didn't walk too far from the
Hunter's Hut, but definitely keen to go down there next
year and see what we can catch.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Well, that's a great thing about your portfolios. I suppose James.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
You get around the South Island and get off the
beaten track.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, and I mean I had got the opportunity to
spend the weekend at SNANO in Nelson, Tasman as well.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
All portfolio work of course.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And I mean hunting and fishing means you have to
be on the ground to see what's actually happening. So
it can be a hard life sometimes getting up at
six oclock to go and wander down the river for
about seven or eight hours. But you know someone's got
to do it, and I'll do it for you. I'll
do it on your behalf. Andy.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Now, the big talk over the past ten days or
so has been all around council amalgamations. I had Rob
Scott on the program last week's Southland District Council mayor.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He's all for this occurring.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Depending on who you speak to, especially in the farming fraternity,
it seems to be mixed as far as views.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Yeah, so we take a step back a second when
we released the RIMA reforms in the next couple of weeks,
and let's not be around the bush here. This is
going to totally turn the resource management system on its head.
You're talking massive reductions in the amount of consents that
people are going to need massive savings and costs hugely
simplified planning system. With a simplified planning system, we're going
(04:18):
to need a simplified system of local government. And questions
have arisen, i think over the past two years quite
rightly from locals about the role of regional councils and
about the whether it are fit for purpose anymore, and
so on the back of the RAMA reforms, we've taken
this step of saying, right, if the community wants to change,
will allow them the opportunity to have changed, so quick summary,
(04:38):
replacing the regional councils a council laws with the elected
body of maas the mayor's job that those groups will
then be to determine what the local government looks like
in the area. So if you take the ACAN catchment,
it might be, for example, that you have unitaries in
and around the Greater Cristich area. Then it might be
that the South Canterbury amalgamation is not what they want
(05:00):
and they still want a layer of regional council at
the top of that. But ultimately that'll be up for
the mayors to come together and decide with the community,
and they put that pitch to ministers for all regions
in the country.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
One concern around the amalgamations James as the staffing issue
and the worklow concern of rationalization was on the cards.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, there's the thing with regional councilors is that they
still do do things right, so they are still carrying
out functions that are provided to them by statute. So
that the changing of the elected officials at the top
won't have an immediate uphauling of the structure of the
councilors themselves. That'll be have to be worked through as
(05:39):
we go through RMA reform and figuring out what functions
properly lie with an a regional council structure, what functions
should be with the territorial authorities or your local councils,
and what kinds of functions can we keep back to
either you as the landholder to be responsible for your
own water quality or your own environmental quality, or a
wider environmental regulator like if you're talking air pollution, whether
(06:02):
we kick that back to a national regulator. So all
of those conversations and discussions have to be had and
what it will mean for there will be some change
for the staffing and the regional council structures. But that
happens in private enterprise all the time. People have to
change and adapt and move with what the demands of
their customer are. And in this case, the customer is
the voting public. And I think the voting public has
(06:23):
seen enough of regional councils that haven't been as enabling
and as proactive around resource management as what they could
have done.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
So the government at the moment, they're hoping to implement
changes towards us over the next couple of years, is
that right? Or start making movements toward this.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The plan is to first to prioritize RMA reform, so
the first tranche of those or the major tranche of
those changes will be coming out the side of Christmas
and off to Select committee. That'll be what fundamentally changes
the system. Then you'll need to have that local government
reorganization off the back of that, because it'll be hard
to determine exactly what the regional all the replacement functions
(07:02):
are until you know what RMA looks like. But we
can kind of do it at the same time. So
you're looking mid twenty six, which is next year, for
the RMA to go through and then legislation to start
making those changes around regional councils at about the same time.
So there is a bit of a sequence in challenging
to get this all lined up, but we think we
can do it, and we think we can get change
(07:23):
that is probably long overdue for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Now putting your hunting and fishing cap on now, James,
the stouts that were seen in the past between South
and Fishing Game and South Confederated Farmers has been pretty
quiet on that front over the past couple of months,
So perhaps they're finally on the same peace pipe.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Yeah, I hope. So, I hope it's not a seasonal
thing and that we're not just heading into a bit
of a winter lull where things have been all right.
But I think I think the two organizations are working
much more closely together. There has to be some change
and then around staffing and in around leadership, and I
think of of course, looking forward to reform of the
wider Fishing Game Organization has probably put it at the
(08:04):
front of regional council's mind that change is coming and
that if they want to continue to have sort of
that social support to operate as a regional Council. They
need to be able to be working more closely and
more proactively with the key stakeholders and whether that's sort
of your airports or local farmers or local environmental groups.
We want them to be the voice for anglers and
(08:27):
game boo hunters on the ground and to do that
key work that I think we all want them to
focus on. You, if you pay your license, we want
that money to go into maintaining the fisheries and increasing
the bird numbers and increasing the fish numbers so there's
good hunting opportunities and less of that airgro on that
back and forth. And I think we have seen that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Now your other hat you want to put on today,
the Associate Minister of Transport. Now, the roads down here
in the south, particularly between Goreon and Vicagle State Highway
one going up Edendale Hill, which is a very important
link going down inn Vercargo than the south of the
country as such, it's in diabolical need of an upgrade.
Now we're hearing about infrastructure happening up the country.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Which is great.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Well, can we expect anything meaningful regarding State Highway one
in the south.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, So there's a couple of things there for state
highways both one and across the board. There's the significant
amount of money we put into the pothole both maintenance
and prevention funding. Now every winter that turns into a
bit of a dog's breeface because it's hard to do
decent amount of work on the road but the weather conditions.
So you do a bit of INtime maintenance, a bit
of patching here and there, try and get things through
(09:33):
the summer, and then do a significant amount of work
over summer. So you'll see some large roading programs and
repair programs underway over the summer when the weather's a
bit good. I've always thought we could probably push a
bit harder and get a bit more done over the
Christmas period when traffic is a little bit lower, when
there are a fewer trucks on the road. So we'll
see if we can push unity to a bit harder
(09:53):
along there. But then you're right. You also mentioned some
recent announcements around State Highway sixth on the west coast.
It will help feed all the way through down Southend
as well. And there's a slipping amount of resource and
money going into a new road up near the EPTAF
slip and there's a series about six resilience projects coming
through a Targo and South and two. But ultimately we
(10:15):
all know what it comes down to, and it comes
down to a limited amount of resources and being able
to spread that across quite a significant amount of infrastructure needs.
So we need to think more carefully about how do
we raise the revenue that we need to invest in
the infrastructure that you ever run in demands and we'll
be thinking very carefully about that over the next few years,
including things like value catcher and transitioning light user vehicles
(10:37):
onto road user charges and tolls and all the things
that we can look at to try and get the
revenue to fix the roads.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Good on you, James, always appreciate your time on the Master.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Get on your thanks Andy.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Thanks to Sergeant Dan Stock Foods. It is time for
the Southern Farm around Up. We're away to Menapori, the
self appointed old Coast of a South Island and we're
catching up there with Eddie Dennis Kek.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Good afternoon and welcome once again.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
There were don't yeah, I might retract that statement I
make because it certainly hasn't been the Gold Coast of
New Zealand for a long time. There. Actually it's turning
into the puddle coast of just to be ready bewhere,
I think, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well you've got those sandy beaches.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
There's surely in a few weeks time it'll be blue
sky and people some bathing.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
Well, yeah, we've had a better run of weather. We're
sort of getting some fine days in a row, but
we're probably still getting thirty or forty miles a week,
which you just sort of get everything lined up ready
to go, and if you don't squeeze all that tract
to work in twenty four hours and gets up drilled,
you get another sort of fifty meals a each day
and you have to go back and start again. So
we are getting somewhere, but there's a battle. It's a
(11:46):
real battle.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It's interesting you say that because parts of Southend are
starting to brown.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Off on the likes, but it's a polar opposite. They're
in the basin.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yes, well it's still this just that weather flow. When
we're getting rain, I think everywhere else is getting the
wind pushed and in front of it. So yeah, no,
as long as it keeps raining we can get some
stuff on the ground, they'll be great. But yeah, we're
going to need sort of a few reasons of the
rains through the summer just to try and get these
(12:14):
crops to catch up if we even get them in
the ground, because if we go dry straight away, it's
not going to be pretty.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So how much of a trick to work would you say?
You've got done?
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Oh, we've sort of got everything lined up. Really, go,
we just need a week of good, good weather just
to get it all sort of ticked off. I've sort
of got I went hard on Saturday and got pretty
much most of the young grass and then rolled, so
that's a bit of a relief. And then yeah, hopefully
it's rained all yesterday today. We can just sort of
(12:45):
get some trail sorted by the end of the week
or the week after. And I've sort of sprayed out
all the sweet ground. It's all direct drilled, so they're
sitting there where to go. So yeah, once everything lines up,
it's the same old story. It'll happen. But you know,
the first of Decembers it's getting on there.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, So how much one to crop do you put
in Andy?
Speaker 5 (13:09):
About thirty five hecties of swedes and then yeah, thirty
five pigti of kales the second second crop second year,
and then it's usually be out there to coming out
of the young grass. There's sort of another ten heats
red clover. But yeah, it's all still underwater at the moment.
So but yeah, that's sort of me in a nutshell. Yeah, well,
I think, yeah, the fishing competition again the weekend have
(13:33):
been postponed from Labor weekend. I think plenty of people
made it up, and I think a lot of people
got a bit of a shock at how high the
lakes and all are, and the rivers and everywhere, And
they've probably dropped sort of a meter and a half
two meters since since it was really bad. So there's
still a lot of water coming out of the hills,
the ground. The ground so full of water it only
(13:54):
takes another teen to fifteen mills and everything. It's lying
all over the place, all in puddles and whole every again.
So yeah, we're certainly we're certainly full.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Yeah, So how are the stock doing in the weak conditions?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
They seem they seem pretty good. Yeah, Like the hinds,
they are all set stock obviously falling. They've really kicked
a gear in the last sort of week, so it'd
be nice to have a little bit more grass around there.
But as long as everything calves, okay, it sort of
doesn't create a lot of work later on to tidy
up stuff. So yeah, that'd be the only concern at
(14:29):
the moment. News look okay, and lambs look okay. So
I think we're taking away right, Yeah, as far as
sort of stock wise.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Goes, Yeah, you'll be coming up to waning shortly, i'd imagine, yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Middle of the month, and then I've pushed the Romney's
right back up until Christmas. We won't do a draft
out of them. Were sort of back back quite a
lot of lambs, so I'm just gonna wan them and
put them back out and go through and get replacements
out of everything before I start killing lambs.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, and of course fell and false thing at the moment,
but unfortunately, unfortunately the price isn't.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Yeah, so it's all sort of coming a bit able
to nowhere, which is a bit crazy because dinzer z
to sort of prepare farmers for this, and we've had
no comment from them, which is very disappointing. But we've
effectively have had a price drop this year. We don't
know it yet. The prices aren't even out and where
the valve and seasons effectively finished, there's just young stags
(15:27):
to go. But we've had a price drop and we've
also had another non traditional grading come in, so there's
two non traditional grades now, so a lot of what
used to be a well super as moved over into
a non traditional grade. And yeah, we don't even know
what the price is. But you get a bit of
a shock when you're going through the grading your velvet
(15:48):
and you're looking at a third and a third and
the third Now, I can can can can considering you know,
I used to have a lot of essay and a
So it's China wanting it back sort of more sectionally
round and smaller and lighter. Yeah, so they can do
more with it. But it certainly it's a bit of
a kick in the guts getting an expected price drop.
(16:10):
Like I said, we don't know that yet, but everyone's
saying it will be as well as a different grading system.
So yeah, velvets, velvet's really been spun on its bummer
weave it.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah, I knowed you said duns have pretty much been
ill and void lately.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
As far as commentary, what would that be?
Speaker 5 (16:28):
I have no idea, Like surely throughout the last twelve
months I would have been having these talks and stuff.
But yeah, I mean it all comes from buyers and
changing the way they do it. So yeah, we just
need some answers probably, But luckily there's been there's been
(16:49):
money talked, and it's that low that people are in shock,
and luckily people are just holding onto their velvet and
just saying, well, you're not getting anything until we get
a decent, firm amount. Because people started putting it onto
the market or dropping on the market, suddenly that becomes
the price, which that's it's miles off where where that
where it should be from what I've heard.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
So realistically, how long can you hang on to velvet?
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Well, it would depend too much Fraser space you've got, Yeah,
like if you've got plenty of phrases freeze space, you
can fit it all in and to store it. But
that creates a problem for next season as well, doesn't it.
But yeah, who knows? Who knows? China is very good
at doing business a whole lot bitter than that. So yeah,
we just need demandswers, probably before Christmas, which would be good.
(17:36):
But I've already heard of a lot of guys selling
velving steaks or cutting the heads off veiling steaks already.
So yeah, the problem is gonna get solved one way
or another. We're gonna go smaller or there'll be less
velvet captain New Zealand. So yeah, that's that's sort of
there it goes, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And the big thing is to remember only Korea as
self area that is in China to New Zealand velvet.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
Is that correct effectively? Yep? And probably eighty percent of
it goes through China, is processed there and then on
sold of Korea. So yeah, that's they sort of control
a little wee bit, which is a bit of a shame,
but I mean, I mean New Zealand's as always done
what New Zealand's done well and bread bred better. Staggs
cutting more velvet over the last sort of ten fifteen years,
(18:25):
and we probably are cutting a lot more velvet than
we used to definitely are, and we've also got bigger
and thicker, and that's probably not what the market ever wanted,
but it just goes to show how well New Zealand
farmers can sort of breed bread bread breed so well
and go forward so fast.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah, now you're a strong advocate for the deer industry.
Care here has this got you changing your opinion or
you still think.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You've got to keep the faith.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
Velvet and Staggs have a very good fit on this farm.
Like in the spring we've grown a lot of grass.
In the summer we can go dry, so that helping stags.
He's had his cut in the spring, and yet regrowth
taken on and over in the summer, and then through
that sort of dry period every March he's on nothing
and and that suits really well. But there's a price
(19:13):
that that Stags sort of got to still return you.
And they're just a small part of my business. Not
they're not. They're not, they're not everything. There's only one
hundred and twenty Staggs on the farm, so they certainly
had their fit. But yeah, we'll be we'll have to
be rethinking here. It looks at the prices what I've heard,
which that's hope not Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Hey, good on your KK.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
We've always appreciated your time on the must of Us afternoon.
You enjoy the festive season, and here's hoping the sun
comes out and you get a week of that blue
sky you're after. We always appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, Merry Christmas anyone, everyone, and that same you, Andy,
You enjoy your beast of season.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Jason Herrick as president of South and Fair Rate of Farmers,
and we catch up once again. Good afternoon, Jace. We
haven't spoken for a while. Hell's things.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Yeah, good afternoon and a yeah, living the dream, you
know that's this good old Southern weather's starting to deliver
some good results at the end of spring, beginning of summer.
But no, I've been galivanting around the country, to be honest,
and having a chat with a lot of people, so
I don't really enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I'll pull you up on that weather talk straight away.
People have fires that last night for Pete's sake.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
Really Yeah, oh well, I can't say I've had my
fire on, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
We've picked up our fire and we're already for center.
I'll just put that out there.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
Hey, look, we've had it in the past too, right
where we've liten the fires in the first week of
December before and don't forget some of our largest snow
dumps we've had has been in that November period as well.
The weather is the weather and you just take it
one day at a time and deal with it as
it comes.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
From a federative farmers perspective. Over the past three or
four weeks, Jase has been quite a bit going on.
We'll acknowledge the weather events of coming up six weeks
ago and trees still down a lot of places.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You see it every week, especially.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
When I went through to nudge Woodheads at South Totago
last week. It's unbelievable the scenes that were seeing. What's
the story from what you're hearing?
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Yeah, same deal. So I've been on a few farms
and talked to quite a few farmers and you know,
there's still a lot of trees down there and still
have a lot of issues, and people still don't know
where to start. But it's going to take a lot
a long time to clean a lot of it up
because you know, we're at that time of year where
landing is coming to an end for a lot of
the high country, Tailing still happening in other areas, and
(21:43):
you've got making going on for dairy farmers, and obviously
the arable boys are in full swing getting all the
spraying and stuff done. So cleaning up trees is secondary
job at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So people have menaged in the gate the last month. Okay,
all things considered, would you.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Say absolutely, like southernd resilience is pretty pretty high. Man Like, seriously,
Southern people they all get around one another and look
after one another. And to be honest that the confidence
is still pretty high out there.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah. You look at sold temperatures and like everything's above
twelve degrees as you'd expect for the first week of December.
But it's certainly been another tailling spring.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
I definitely like the difference between the spring and last
is last spring it was wet right across South and
where it's been quite sporadic this year in certain areas.
So northern South has been pretty good wet wise, whereas
the lower coast has been hit again, you know, with
a lot of wetness. So you know, at least it's
spread about and everyone has different different issues with the weather,
(22:43):
whereas last year it was right across the board and
you know, the whole community was affected. So you know,
that's the difference between one year to the next, and
again it'll be different again next year.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Now council changes the way that we do were local
democracy down here, you're all for this occurring. The government's
made noise is about this happening over the next couple
of years. Are you entirely happy of what they proposed?
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Not fully happy with what they're proposing. Definitely like the talk,
and to be honest, we've been leading it down here
in South and as well. Rob Scott put a proposal
on the table and you know it's not one hundred
percent you know, what we would like, but it's definitely
in the same realms in around the amalgamation of councils
and having two unitaries, one for the city, one for
(23:26):
the role. But I definitely didn't like what the government
announced of getting rid of our councilors around the regional
council table in the next eighteen months and replacing them
with the mayors. Not for that, because while we've still
got regional council operating, we need to make sure we've
got good representation around that table. And to be honest,
you know, not all the meyors are royally focused either,
so you know, it wasn't happy with that announcement and
(23:49):
I honestly think that the government jumped a gun on
that and they released it at the wrong time. They
probably should have put the changes out in the RMA first,
what they're proposing there before they went down this road,
so people had a little bit more clarity on what's
being proposed. And at the moment everyone's sitting in Limba
not knowing whose job is going to be what.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But remembering Jacen advocate for change as far as the
local councils, is it a case would be careful what
you wish for.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
No, No, definitely not. So we do need change because
we can't carry on in the same path right and
because the system is broken, extremely broken, and if we
carry it on the same trajectory, who will be able
to afford to pay rates by twenty thirty five, you know,
So things definitely need to change and if nothing changes,
nothing changes. So definitely for the change of of the councils.
(24:36):
But it needs to be done right. And I think
we've got the opportunity in Southland here to lead from
the front and you know, and make sure we do
it right.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Rates phrases well, this is all well and good in theory,
but they'll just be add ons anywhere and even we
are else unfortunately.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
Yeah, exactly, so, I mean you could almost use that
phrase be keeper what you wish for there, but all
for rates definitely decreasing, because to be honest, it's a
lot of the rate increases for unnecessary spending. And when
you see all these little like to have projects that
councils put out there, instead of concentrating on the core
(25:13):
core business and around infrastructure and doing what they're what
they're set up to do, they tend to spend money
on stupid stuff. So definitely it'll it'll put a big
spotlight on on those unnecessary expenditures because then the councils
are going to have to really rain down in their
spending and really and decide what's important.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Because James Meger on the show yesterday talking about changes
to the ARI may will become into fruition and then
we'll see things start to happen.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
But are you convinced, not fully convinced, like I mean yet,
we need definitely a new ROMA and we do need
changes in there, and we'll just wait to see where
that lands and then we can push back on what's
not good enough from there and then.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
We'll go we'll go through the consultation period. Like there
is a process to go through and it's going to take
some time to land and they reckon to implement the
whole arma, it could take two to three years.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Now as far as the Watoonal Lagoon, what's the latest there.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
So the decision landed on the Watturna where a consent
was granted, and to be honest, the farmers' voices we're
not listening to whatsoever. Nothing coming up in that. So
all fifty three conditions that landed in that consent, which
is owned by es DOC and EWE pretty much unworkable
and you'd get to the point where the lagoon will
(26:30):
never be opened because they wouldn't be able to meet
all conditions to open. So we have put an appeal
in and appealed the full consent, all fifty three conditions,
and we'll work forward with the three parties, hopefully go
into mediation first, but if we end up having to
go to court, then that's where we have to go.
We've got to get a good outcome for the locals
(26:51):
in the wat Turner Lagoon, because as it currently stands,
they haven't got any outcome whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
But realistically, how likely are you to get a positive
outcome I out of something like that?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
If you do happen to.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Go to court a lot that the dialogue within the
Council at the moment is pretty good with us and
they agreeing with our concerns, so they're very, very keen
to sit down at the table and talk about things
and go to mediation. So we'll start that process first
and then we'll move forward from there and we won't
(27:23):
be doing anything until after the second of February is
the date I've been given, and then we'll head into
next year and go through mediation. And as it currently stands,
while while it's all happening, we just carry on as
we are where environments south and we'll have the right
to open the lagoon under emergency powers of need dialogue.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
It's almost like the word of the year for Federated Farmers, Jason. Now,
we talk about this with other organizations, but then we
look at the situation with south of fishing game. We
go back twelve months and it was not a very
it wasn't a good situation. It will this be fair
regarding access to riverways and the likes.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
This year is a totally different situation.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
So obviously there's been some huge sarounds and huge games
there where fishing game is concerned and a lot of
personnel changes. So communication has been pretty good from fishing
game and fairly positive and sort of working in the
right direction. And we have got a meeting coming up
with them soon, just they haven't quite determined a time
(28:23):
and date for that yet, but we want to talk
about duck numbers coming into next year and how we
can get farmers issued permits for duck control, especially through
that crop establishment phase, and making sure that they have
the ability to cut off some ducks if need be.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So a lot of bridges have been mended.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
To coin a phrase, i'd say bridges have been put together. Okay,
I won't say they've been fully mended, but definitely we've
had a few band aids put on and like I said,
conversations and it's a work in progress, but we'll get there.
I'm positive of that. And because dialok is actually open
(29:01):
now and the discussions are going both ways, and we'll
never agree to We'll agree to disagree all the way through.
There's no toys about that. We won't agree on everything.
But at least we're we're talking and they are listening
to us as well.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So the runners are on the bridge as sleepers are
on their way, and that means it's time for us
to go.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Jason Herrick out of South con Federated Farmers always appreciate
your time.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
You're welcome.
Speaker 8 (29:22):
Have a good afternoon, Eddy, who doesn't know what I'm
talking about, who's a never left home, who's never strung now.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Steve Henderson of Varroa joins us this afternoon on the muster.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Good afternoon, Steve. The checks they were once upon a
time the Dixie Checks.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
But everybody goes and changes their names like Andy's right, yeah, all.
Speaker 9 (29:45):
Of but PC they still with the Dixie Checks to
ask down here?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Still still good chains.
Speaker 9 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, there's to tapping and.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
How old are you? Seventy?
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Sometimes I feel like it.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Down there where you are. Anyway, how's it been.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
Of Blake.
Speaker 9 (30:04):
We've been pretty good. We've got to we splash a
rain like most other people on Sunday, and yeah, we're
we're probably.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
We haven't had a disc like in early December or
late in November like this in a long time.
Speaker 9 (30:15):
It's usually one extreme or the other. So here we're
still fled out top and trying to limit the seed head,
and we're still getting some pretty good growth rates at
the back of it. So yeah, we're pulled a few
bit of feed out of the shed and obviously no
someplement's going to build pet it, so yeah, it'ditially making
cheat milk, which is good for a change.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So you're actually coping pretty well down there, because depending
on who you speak to them, which you're a part
of Southland, it's a different scenario here.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
We are well, it's all in perspective. We've only pulled
out the just once today, so in perspective we are
actually going pretty good computer the other years. So noun
conditions are good for getting most of the seed in
the ground. You still get the odd patch that you've
got to work around and then they'll dry up. But yeah,
as a whole we're going pretty.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Good grass covers.
Speaker 9 (30:58):
Then they're looking okay, yeah, there's crazy in a pastoride
right now actually, so I think they would have buttoned back.
We might be visiged for Probena twenty one fifty maybe
average cover and kels are leaving really good residuals at
the moment. So we've already done one left of topping
and we're the selective of what we top now because
(31:18):
you know, if the said not warranting topping. You can
burn a lot of diesel just for aesthetics, so they
need a weave of the seed then there for us
top them now and near the kells are cleaning them
ups really good and milk flies a shine that too.
The grass sort of platowed, whereas last year we started
to fall off the grass pretty quickly. From now on
and it's just ready grass quality.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Yeah, it's an interesting how every season though it is
such a variance and what you're going to get.
Speaker 9 (31:42):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
It is.
Speaker 9 (31:43):
You can do as many budgets and be prepared for
as much as you can, but yeah, it's just on
the day or on the week, you've got to adapt
to it and you sort of you know, they say
have your things on the poulson and you probably do
to a degree. You do need to know what kills
are leaving behind them, how much beads going into the
shed and the response, so we don't want to leave
too much in the pedicat food. So yeah, we've made
(32:06):
a couple of calls in the last ten days to
pull them to the feeding back to sort of match
what they're leaving in the peddics. So yeah, it's good
and it's it's good to be farming again. As in
you know, August, September, September, October, we weren't really farming.
We were just reacting to what we had to do.
Now you can make those calls and see the results
and we're not getting made of by stuck in peddocks,
(32:27):
and here it's enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Like so the GDT result overnight.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I've talked about this with Darn Moore and Dave Frame
just before, but you're pretty much you're putting everything in
perspective at the moment.
Speaker 9 (32:38):
Here we are, you know, we're obviously open country suppliers.
And at the supply of meetings they were they were
talking about the increase of milk coming on TIFF and
it's just respective I think of what's happening. But like
everything out there, there's ways to huge beats, so to speak.
So we've got a bit bit of milk with milk
futures locked in.
Speaker 8 (33:00):
It.
Speaker 9 (33:00):
We've got teen dollars so that it's no different to
fixing the interest rates or you know, taking a contract
on the imported feeds. So you just look at your
top top maybe three expenses in your top income, which
is obviously milk. So yeah, we always heard your bets
enough to pay invoices and keep the bank happy.
Speaker 10 (33:18):
That's what we do.
Speaker 9 (33:18):
And then we're about half fifty percent of their milk.
We'll usually heat each year. So yeah, it's just all
part and parcel. And it's obviously, you know, four or
five year game, not just the one year game.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
During I particularly enjoy the birds chirping in the background
while you're talking positive about the situation. It's a thing
of beauty, it is, And I don't know what happens
in hour.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
I had a comment yesterday now there's only about too
bloody chirping and there's a trick riding in the background,
which all the thoughts would cover that. But anyway, it
was a happy place.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Must be a good time at the hand of some fun.
This afternoon got to be.
Speaker 9 (33:52):
I look forward to it.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
How you want to touch.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
On this as well, regarding fires and the likes fire
permit season, it's what we all know what's been happening
over the past couple of months down here in the
south trees down everywhere are still branches, and the likes
and just a message you want to share.
Speaker 9 (34:06):
Yeah, so we we've actually had two different types of fires.
We had a trip to go on fire about two
weeks ago and yeah, that was very close to a
dock block which we've order. So yep, big sense declends
all they got out and an professionally well time and
got that fire out so it didn't quite get in
the dock block. I mean, yeah, obviously everybody's got a
(34:28):
lot of tree trimmings and branches they've got to be burnt,
and some are a bit more critical than others. So
we've got a couple that we're burning right now. Any
young grass head that we're trying to get in so
ye was looking them up and we're in a zone
I think the zone seed down here, so we we
we need permits all the time when we're light a fire.
But it's just being aware of what you're what you're doing,
(34:49):
what you don't do, like obviously today at the calm day,
so yep, they're pick the box and keeping the heads
of well away from the hu directory lighting was It's
been two or three incidents down here where it's been
while being burned and then the winds got up and
they've been team meters to the headline that been pulled
from and the fire crew has been out to put
(35:10):
their heads out where. It's just that it's almost just
a waste of their bloody time when they could be
saving something more critical. So it's just been mindful around that,
and if you need to light it, light it, if
you don't need to light it, just like for the
weathers in the right situation and flying in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Regetting your tractor. Was it due to bird beasts?
Speaker 9 (35:30):
No, it wasn't. No, it'd have been just thing all
day and then have our four in the afternoon. The
tractor stopped on poor old killerm and there must have
been electrical to stop the tractor. And then ye, within
a couple of minutes there was a flame and the
tractor's being tractors, you know, but have always a due
here and classics they just light up. So yeah, he
was pretty good. He rang me and then here we
(35:51):
got on the case and he helped the old fires
to roll out some hoses and get it out because
it's just the unknown of what ken heaven. It could
just be an end, but it goes up a bit
high and jumps into the dock block and then yeah,
we're always reasonably renowned for the old peat fires. So
we didn't want to be one of those fellows. It's
not just what happens on the day, cuss.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah, exactly, they can.
Speaker 9 (36:09):
They can last forever, and most of those peat bogs
they just continue underground and pop up, you know, four
hundred meters for a k away and in some months
time and he continue to burn. So hopefully we stomped
out as.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Quick as we did.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
So that's your version of the Great Tire Fire and Springfield, right.
Speaker 9 (36:25):
Yeah, it was yet yet there's plenty of off colored
smoke and we didn't bring any sausages and they have time.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
For that, but you know, it was good and just
finally as well, you want to give a shout out
to the IHC calf scheme.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Yep.
Speaker 9 (36:37):
So he's getting picked up this afternoon, no doubt, along
with probably hundreds of others them Zeppelin. So yeah, they're
going out to Lawnville. And you've also got Algambray Friday
and hospice going on in the same day, which is
a sol day tomorrow. So I know the calfs are
last week week was pretty hot, and let's make this
one just as hot with you know, they're all gifted
calves and they all go to a good course because
(37:00):
between those three charities idea say, everybody will know someone
that's been involved in them, and it's a it's a quick,
easy way for you know, afters cockies to give back
to those organizations. But no doubt we'll see in in
the future.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Absolutely, Steve.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Hey, we'll leave you to it with some toe tapping
the checks and yet those little birdies chirp in the
background as a thing of beauty.
Speaker 9 (37:20):
We will know why. Thanks Andy.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
We're away to Neverdale at Balfer this afternoon, catching up
with David Stevens.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Of course his signature tune.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
If he were, if he was a wrestler back in
the day with the w W Weaver, would have been
a little bit of academic.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Good afternoon, David, That.
Speaker 10 (37:44):
Good afternoon, Andy, Yes, I might have the sneak oversies.
You go and watch something actually.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Now out there at Balfer on the farm of course.
At nether Dale Health things been pretty good.
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Yeah, we've just uh, well we've just taken a lot
of silid of actually, so we've had a reasonable growth
things probably a weaver a slow than in other years.
But I know we're taking you along and we don't
have a lot of deer here now, so all the
deer farmers out there that are doing valving will be
(38:16):
into their two year olds involving them at the moment.
So and also probably trying to move a bit of
velvet too, which has been a bit weaver bit of
a challenge this year. That's been I think buyers are
picking it up, but a lot of them haven't put
a price on it yet and they've sort of given
(38:38):
them a deposit to just pick it up. So it's
been a wee bit of a challenge for the hear
of the deer farmers that have major velvet producers.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Yeah, the velveting situation, it's not a flash onund Edie
Dennis was talking about it on Monday's show.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
But certainly with South Korea.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
And China being the two markets and or almost dictating
what's happening, it hasn't been a very good situation.
Speaker 10 (39:06):
No, But that's I mean we've been We've had some
good years actually, Andy, and that's when China's started buying direct.
I know they do re export in Korea after they
process because obviously their processing is a lot cheaper than
what we can do it. But with China and direct
(39:26):
purchasing from here. It certainly helped the market over the
probably the last six to eight years, so you know,
we've done well with that, and of course what's happened
is that the velvet Herdi has grown, so we've gone
from what we used to talk about back in my
day and way back four hundred ton was sort of
(39:47):
the max of what we could produce and actually keep
a reasonable price. Now we're looking at a thousand ton,
so you know, things have grown a lot, and the
market's going also, So you know, we've been doing reasonably well,
but last year things pulled back a bit. Obviously COVID
(40:10):
and China hasn't helped. There's sort of a lag there
with products sort of sitting in the market, so they're
in a position where typical commodity, you know, the strength
of the power i should say, has shifted from the
producer to to the market those in the marketplace, so
(40:34):
it's only affected things just out there at the moment.
They're probably talking around about that for the top end,
which is the traditional velvet, around about the eighty dollars,
and there's probably not a lot of that in the market. Really,
it's probably only about fifteen percent, and then you're looking
at probably around the fifty to sixty might even be
(40:54):
slightly lower than that for the non traditional So you know,
that big heavy rough stuff not paying a lot for it.
So but to be fair, you know, we've always realized
that the marketplace there's always wanted that tidy velvet. It's
much easier to process. The big rough stuff's hard to
(41:14):
process and it's a bit of a challenge. So you know,
the industry has changed a lot over those years. We'll
end up with a lot of super a velvet, which
is the big heavy stuff in the market now, and
it's you know, we're sort of paying the price for
it now. So I would imagine most people will be
cutting quite early this year, cutting the velvet early, and
(41:37):
you know, in the next couple of years, I can
see the product volumes actually reducing because you know, people
will be getting rid of the big rough stags, the
ones who grow the big rough heads, and I'll probably
send them to the processor and then cut early on
their good velvet. So I would imagine the volume for
(41:59):
the next a couple of years will drop back, and
we may even see it drop back to about eight
hundred Ton.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
This sounds like one of the industries that are still
being affected by COVID, given that was five and a
half nearly five and three quarter years ago.
Speaker 10 (42:13):
Yeah, it hungover in China though for some time after
everybody else, So you know, it's probably not the you know,
it's just part of what's happened really to the velvet price.
It's only part of it. I think the volume has
just got out of kilter with the market, and you know,
(42:34):
we need to either drop back or grow that market.
So that's had quite a huge effect really on the
prices this year.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
So how long do you see it, David, until supply
demand meets equel base.
Speaker 10 (42:47):
I think if we start dropping back, you know, we
could be a couple of years out. I think depends
This year is going to be very interesting just to
see where the volume ends up, just a total volume
with with those changes. I know there's a number of
people that actually have sent old mixt day stags to
(43:07):
the works that are rougher. I think I made a
comment to you back sort of early winter that if
I was if I was still volving large numbers, I
would probably go through and color out all those big
old stags with the rougher heads. And I mean at
that stage, you know, the schedule was very good. You
(43:29):
can get space. I don't think that's the case now
it's space is tightened right up, So it could be
a challenge because really with those older stags you've got
a situation unless they're booked in that you know, the
rut comes around and you can't actually shift them. So
that'll be a bit of a challenge as well. But
it'll depend ap on just it'll be interesting this year
(43:51):
just to see what the volume is at the end
of the year, and that I would think a couple
of years out anyhow, I.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Suppose I'm positive. Is the fath the Venison schedules remaining
pretty buoyant.
Speaker 10 (44:04):
Yes, yeah, no, it is, and yeah I think And
also that elk market into the States, it's very good
and it looks as though it's going to hold up
right through sort of around that eleven dollars the case.
So that's pretty good going. It's a good market and
we need to look after it.
Speaker 5 (44:24):
So it's no.
Speaker 10 (44:26):
It's been interesting in the sense that there's been a
fair bit of grumbling take place in the process of
this year with the changes of the grading system. Looking
at the grading myself, personally, I think it's it's correct,
but I think the whole process is it hasn't been great.
Speaker 5 (44:47):
You know.
Speaker 10 (44:48):
Really, if you're going to look at changing the grades,
you need to take that needs to take place really
in May so people are actually aware of things, where
the changes are and where things are going. So it
wasn't the process wasn't great. Personally, I think that it
was hijacked a bit by some of the buyers. I
(45:11):
wouldn't blame DINS for the outcome. I think that they
were hijacked a bit on the way through, and I
think it's a lesson to be learned that the processes
need to work with the producers in any changes and
it's something that we need to do in the future actually,
(45:32):
So I think the case of sitting down really DINS
is really only a facilitator and the producers and the
buyers should actually be making those decisions together if they're
changing the grades. So it's something we need to look
at really in the future.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Just finally, the New Zealand Velvet Awards. They're happening December
the eleventh at Escott Park. This is always a great time.
Speaker 10 (46:00):
Yes, CNN a. This is the forty third Velvet and
Hard Antler Awards, so it's a good Christmas du really,
I suppose for anybody who wants to come along. We've
got a guest speaker this year, Amy Scott, and I
didn't know much about her, but they say she's very good.
(46:21):
I think she brings along and tells me on a
buyer that energy, honesty and zero fluff. So I'm not
quite sure. Subject subjects are less friction, more fun, so
it could be an interesting night.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
David Stevens here death farming about for wrapping up the
best of a muster.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Enjoy the weekend no matter what you're up to. My
name's Andy Mure. Catch on Monday, one o'clock in the
plan As
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