June 12, 2026 • 46 mins
Andy Muir talks to Ben Dooley, Greg Erickson, Grant McMaster, James Edgar and Don Morrison.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
A very good morning, and welcome into the best of
the Muster, a collaboration of interviews that took our attention
during a busy week here at Hockeluy HQ. My name's
Andy Muer. Thanks for your company. We're starting for the hour,
but going down to Windham and catching up with Sheep
Beef and YouTube farmer Ben Dooley, who's had a pretty
good start to the winter cycle. But Diels has asked
the question are you a social media influencer? Greg Erickson
(00:29):
formerly a boy Moomy these days residing in Millet, Canada,
talking about all issues facing Canada at the moment, especially
his state where he's based, Alberta, wanting to break away
from Canada. As such, he tells us why this is
a concerning thing or it's a bizarre more than anything
to say the least grant disaster McMaster once again we're international,
(00:52):
formerly of Closper and Station where he is from Closper
in Station. Let's be honest, but he's on holiday and
we caught him this week over in San Francisco in California.
James Egga farms at Mala Flats and talks about the
new Zealand beef industry and something that's happened over in
the States, actually in Texas. James sinks this could have
possible good signs for New Zealand beef. Looking ahead, America's
(01:15):
most fortune could be to New Zealand's advantage. And Don
Howie Morrison, former Alliance Board director, farming at Willow Bang,
just talking about the positives that he's seeing in the
rural sector at the moment. Normally looking at spring price
is how he's reserved, but he's seeking. Look, this is
as good as what we've seen for a while, and
all pointers are looking at that. So without further ado,
(01:36):
we'll start the hour and next with Ben Dooley. You're
listening to the best of the Muster. Welcome back to
the Muster. Sheep and beef farmer, youtub farmer. You can
almost put social influencer in there as well, Ben Dooley,
(01:57):
good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
No, please don't put that in there, Andy, but get
here's a gown.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, good mate. What you're not an influencer?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
No, we don't. We don't like that term.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So what do you call yourself?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I don't know. I'm just a farmer that does a
bit of filming.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I guess a social media man of the people.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
We'll try it. We'll try and downplay it as much
as possible.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Okay, we'll leave it at that. Anyway, Down near Windham,
how are things going.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, first, first real wintery feeling day today, I got
all met it's it's weird, it's cold, it's blowing, had
to put the jacket on, couldn't get the truck round
everywhere this morning. So a bit of a shock to
the system, but it was always going to come right,
and she's been a pretty good lead in so far.
So yeah, very very hard to complain. We do kind
of want to get winter in winter. It'd be nice
if we just didn't get winter at all, but that's
not going to be the case. So yeah, yeah, no,
(02:45):
we'll We're just looking at that forecast thinking, shit, we've
we've had a bloody good run and it looks like
the US are going to get a few more breaks
on crop before it really gets overly yet, so she's
all promising.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So everything's on the crops underway.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Pretty much everything Now, I've just gotten a two year
old kid or we're just going to have a sort
up and we will get them, get the remainder of
them up in the feedbad and the hoggits have just
gone on for the last time. They've just had their
three or four days of transition, and the early mobs
stay on grass for one day.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The stock could be looking a pretty reasonable to what
imagine iodels.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Yeah, no, no, we're pretty happy with here. Everything's looking
this year. There's always the odd light one around you
alas seem to get them. It's just a matter of
pulling them off. But in general everything's looking very good.
You lands are probably on par with some of the
best overheads, So got a bit of a job ahead
of me this year just with hoggots and swedes. I
want to keep them that way. But like I say,
we've got plenty of feet around, so we'll just keep
(03:37):
pumping it into them. And yeah, keeping eye on those
feed budgets, make sure they're still stacking up. But yeah,
enough things are. Things are looking really good.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You say that hoggets are as good as what you've
seen them. What live weight would you anticipate?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
What we We took everything under thirty eight out I
want to say mid March, late March maybe, so they
probably well. We drenched them to sixty five k. They're
probably setting at about fifty fifty two before they went
on crop as an average for them all, but with
(04:10):
a bit of a spread through there. So no for
Romney you lambs that they've done pretty really well. But
then I mean our average kill wait for the season,
we'd finished just on twenty kilos again, so yeah, they've Yeah,
the lambs have done well this year.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, talking about talking about that kill, wait, twenty kg.
You'll be really happy with that, considering as you keep
telling about telling us that your lambs mature later in
the season.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, absolutely, and just just bearing in mind with that lot,
we killed half of our lambs. Our works lambs went
the last week of April in the second week of May,
so that just fits with that. We sort of struggle
the whole way through summer and then we get to
autumn and they really start growing. That said, we were
ahead on average kill the whole way through with a
higher than average early kill wasite. But we did change
(04:58):
a few things around this year. We left the terminal
lambs on mum for an extra three weeks, which the
last season anyway definitely made a big difference. Got a
few more away off mum that way at bigger weights
and didn't manage to sort of hold that the whole
way through. But yeah, it's just the Romney thing. They
they are never an early killing animal in the sort
of climate. But like I've always said, we have shit
springs and horse and moortums. I hope you don't want
(05:19):
me saying that word on here.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You've already seen the East word twice in the last
five minutes, so I'll let you out. There we go, there,
we go to continue.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
But yeah, so that's what we always say about here,
So to capitalize on that, that's how we do it.
We just we just run the lambs later and make
use of that autumn feed and as long as we've
got penny to get through winter, we just push things
as far as we're game.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Been winter grazing plans is that time of year? Give
us a bit of an update, how have you found it?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Just just the winter grazing plans that we have to
that we we do just to get through winter, you mean,
or yeah, yep, yep. So hopefully everyone's got one done
if they're grazing on crop. Just just a general layout
of your intent of what you're planning to do grazing directions,
buffer zones, all that sort of stuff. We have one.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
We just have it.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
There's one on resolution, but we have it just drawn
up on paper and then uploaded into there. Yeah, so
just just a general idea of what you meant to
what you're intending to be doing with grazing. I don't
like the idea of people trying to pencil one out
and lock everything in because obviously the weather plays a
big ball, a big part in how long breaks last
and how much you feed stuff and everything like that.
(06:29):
But yeah, it is a good tool just to have there,
just to refer back to when you're getting through you
into grazing and just see how things are going, and
just to have those I guess environmental protections lader in
front of you more so so that if something goes
wrong and the council do come in, you can show
that you've, you know, you've had an intent here to
do the right thing and obviously understanding things do happen,
(06:50):
breakouts happen, things can go wrong. But no, they are
a good tool just to just to cover yourself. I
guess a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I guess would you say that everybody's on board with
adding them.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, I think so. And I think when you see
the I don't want to say behavior, when you see
the practice has been taken out with wonder grazing around
the province these days, I think most people are pretty
understanding of what's expected and the vast majority of actions
taken seem to be the right ones. Bear in mind,
we've still got to make this a profitable venture and
we've still got to make it work to get through winter.
(07:25):
But yeah, I think the vast majority of people are
doing a pretty good job when it comes to the
environmental aspect of winder grazing.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
And Brenton Hounden made a really relevant point on this
show about ten to twelve days ago, saying that don't
you know, just don't give these groups anti farming groups anymo.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
No, don't give them any ammo. And that's a double
edged thing. On one side, just do your best. We
understand sometimes it doesn't look the best when the weather
turns to crap, and that's just the way it is.
Just do your best to do the best, boy Stock.
But yeah, the other side to it is, I'm quite
big on this. When you see those posts up on
social media, don't interact with him. Don't take the bait.
(08:04):
Don't go in and start an argument with that certain person,
because that pushes his post to more people. And you'll
quite often see the posts that he doesn't get interaction with.
They don't get a lot of likes, they don't get
a lot of views, and that's what we want. We
want that all to be suppressed. Whereas if we all
go in and he gets one hundred comments from one
hundred farmers arguing with him about hell is wrong, which
(08:25):
I do agree he is wrong, you'll all of a
sudden see a lot of other people from around the
world that have no clue what we're doing, all of
a sudden commenting in favor of him. So just be
mindful of that. Just one other thing I wanted to touch
on is drones. If you do happen to see a
drone flying over at your farm, please don't shoot it down.
(08:46):
That is a criminal offense under the Civil Aviational Authority,
and you do not want to piss them off. They're
very strict with their rules and they don't tend to
listen to the other side very much. But if you
do happen to see flying around, if it's under four
hundred feet it is absolutely illegal. There is a special
license that you can obtain to do so, but to
(09:08):
my knowledge that only people that have those in New
Zealand are the military and the police, no one else does.
I forget what the license is called. Yeah, but if
you could find because generally speaking it'll be getting phone
from a roadside somewhere, if you could call the police
and find the person flying the drone and just obviously
within the rules, try and stop them from leaving till
(09:31):
the police get there, it would be great because the
CIA would really like to know about people flying drones
over private property under that four hundred foot ceiling and
if they go above four hundred foot there is a
gray area there in between. But if they go over
five hundred they're into proper airspace and they are definitely
not allowed to be there, edith, because then you're a
(09:52):
collision risk for bigger aircraft. So yeah, just if you
do have someone flying over, try and get the least
to actually find a person who's flying the drunk and
they'll take the rest of it from there.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Good on you, ben do We always appreciate your time.
And if I start seeing your ads coming up on
my insacram feed. I'm gonna start charging you.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
I know you are not.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Kill this.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Welcome back to the Muster. We're away over to Mellicon, Canada,
where we catch up with Greg Ericsson, formerly of Boy Moomy.
Good afternoon, Greg. I was explaining the rest now behind
Celean Dean today and of course herek Croy requested it.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Eric used to be your neighbor up at Way Moomy.
You told me a pretty cool story about him going
for a run.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Yeah, good Andy. Yeah, Eric was there a neighbor and
when I was growing up, and he used to run
down the road with a backpack on full of twenty
kilograms of cement and like nothing, just run along.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
That's just the old school mentality I suppose, isn't it.
You know what I mean? Eric's felt like a bullet
to be fit.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yeah, he's he was a brick back then. And I
mentioned he's still a big guy now, but yeah, he
was just a different breed, just absolute strong man.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
You're based over there in Canada. Last time we spoke
to you, it was starting to warm up. It was
in the negatives. But you'll be right, well technically you're
starting summer.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Yeah, some of the summer's just kicked off, and all
the seeding was all finished up a week ago or so,
but all just in time for all the rain to come,
because we were pretty dry during seeding and well all
spring really, and then we got one hundred meals of
rain or one hundred and ten meals of rain in
about seventy hours.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
What would be your average rainfall there.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
It's about four hundred and fifty ish mills.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
There's not a lot of rain. It's very much central
a targo.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Yeah, that doesn't include the snow melt, so the snows
we get. Yeah, so that's all just just rainfall over summer.
If we get I do know, say three feet of snow,
that works out to be another however much rain. I
think it's nine nine nine mills of snowfall equals one
mill of rain.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So snowfall is such so because we get we do
a good fall and south and that's just the law
layer of the land and the law of averages. But
what do you work on for snowfall over there?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Well, it varies yet year. We get most of our
snowfall in the spring, so during the winter it's we'll
get the odd storm and then it just sort of
settles in and doesn't go anywhere. But average snowfall can
be it might be two feet, I guess, but some
some springs we might get three feet, and some spring
springs it might get six It's just it just varies.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Are frosts pretty prevalent.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Well they are, So we get we get frost, the
frost saws start coming in September, the weather stations will
still put out frost warnings for the crops and whatnot,
and then once the once in November by the time
the frost comes and then doesn't leave.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So how's the growing conditions been? Yes, you said you
had a bit of rain recently, but it was required
all the crops in the ground. So how's the feel
around there considering the growing conditions.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Well, all the crops were in the ground and they
were most of them were up before we got the rain,
and the ones that were up were looking quite stressed,
they were getting a bit yellow. But this rain has
really pracked things up. And now you look at the
canal that's coming out of the ground, it's looking just lovely.
So it's starting to get that there's extra big leaves
on the bottom there, so we're looking pretty So.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
How are the prices for arable holding up over there?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Greg, Well, Barley's come up slightly. So it's it's sorry
to talking bushels again, but we're used to that. It's
around it's around the five to fifty mark Canadian but
the wheats dropped and then the canoal is sitting probably
where it was over the last ten years average around
(13:55):
the thirteen dollars, maybe fourteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
How did it take you to figure out the spilaki
around bushels and imperial versus metric. We talked about it again,
but it's still confusing when you hear it.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
It confuses me.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Still, I just give up and I just sort of
just got beaten a submission and now I just deal
with bushels basically.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
But you do deal in cents, dollars and kilometers.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Yes, absolutely. Now, also, if you buy a contract with
one of the big companies, you are probably buying in
tons or selling in tons.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Right, gotcha? Makes no sense? What It's as clear as maud.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
So in general, though you're based in the province of Alberta,
how's the feeling around there?
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Feeling Alberta is a little bit mixed at the moment.
So I think I told you last time that Alberta's
thinking about doing the separation thing. That's right from yeah,
and well we now have a date for so we're
having a referendum in Alberta to one option is to
(14:57):
stay in Canada and the other option is to if
the referendum gets over fifty percent, the province of Alberta
will officially look into having a referendum to separate from Canada.
So to to clarify, we're having a referendum on a referendum.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
It's as clear as a bushel, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
It's it's confusing, and it's it's it's silly, and I
think all signs lead to us, well Alberta, staying in
Canada and everything going smoothly and just status quo. But
the option is there for Alberton's to vote to have
a referendum to put pressure on Ottawa that we might leave,
(15:45):
just to threaten we might leave. I think that's a
bad idea because it's threatening business won't invest in Alberta
while it's unclear what our future is.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Scotland had a referendum a couple of years ago about
trying to break away from the UK. What's what's a
reason for Alberta wanting to go alone?
Speaker 5 (16:03):
So, well, it's to do with taxes, basically, a lot
of people and Alberta think, we pay a lot of
taxes and then it gets sent to Ottawa and then
that gets redistributed around the country and Alberton's think we
get a unfaired deal out of that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a very resourceful county, I suppose of province.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Oh yes, Alberta is the is the most wealthiest province,
well so wealthiest, the most resource rich of all the provinces,
and we may Alberta makes a absolute fortune off the
oil and that because of that, the oil companies pay
a lot of money to have Alberton's work for them,
(16:47):
and so they pay more taxes because of it. And
we don't get the services that say eastern provinces get
because they don't have as much. So they the Ottawa
gives money to the have not profit before they give
it to the have provinces.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So in that case, would Alberta to be an independent
state to such? How would it work?
Speaker 5 (17:09):
That is the great question? Andy, No one knows.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
So what does a rural community make of all this?
I dare say they want to stay as this and
the status quo.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
You would think so, but no, the rural community is
the is where the bulk of these separatists are. So
the folk in Edmonton and Calgary read deer. They are
typically more left leaning and so they want to stay
(17:38):
in Canada, whereas the very far right I'm more prone
to want to leave.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
It's interesting, Hey, it's coming up to springtime. This is
very much New Zealand thing to say. But is there
a concern around rental snakes coming out at this time
of year? I mean when you first went over there,
was it a concern? Were you just like, oh, you
just did with them because they they are scared of you,
then you're scared of them.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
So when I first came over here, I was down
the States. I mean I went straight down to the
States to do the harvest, and I was very ignorant
to them and we were running around through cornfields and
bare feet and didn't think much of it. And yeah,
up here in Canada there's only rattlesnakes in this in
southern parts like sort of southeast and east of Calgary
(18:26):
and up where I am, just towards Edmonton, there is
nothing but the odd garter snake, though harmless and you
don't see them. Yeah, there's the rattlesnakes and those hazardous
creatures aren't really here unless you're talking bears and moose.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Right and the rest of you. See how that's going
to pan out as well, as well as this referendum
on our birder. Hey, Greg, thanks for your time once again,
and next time we chant, we'll see if we can
decipher this bushel talk around your government.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
Sounds good mate, Thanks Eddie.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Welcome back to the muster. A very cliche song for
our next guest, who is anything but cliche. The song
is born in the USA, but it's for Grant Disaster McMaster,
who's in San Francisco this afternoon. Of course he's brought
to us by the team at RB Rural Going International
once again. Good afternoon, Grant, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Good afternoon, Andy, Good afternoon everybody. And go from San
Flens Disco.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
As we used to say, how would you compare San
Francisco to Los Angeles for people who had never been
over there.
Speaker 8 (19:37):
Well, it's a bit like I'm probably going to win
the cargo where it's dead flat and then going to
Dunedin where it's like it's quite hilly. So you know,
San Francisco is forty nine miles square and it's it's
got eight hundred and eighty thousand people in that and
that was in that for forty eight or forty nine miles,
so it's actually, I mean it's a lot bigger than that.
(20:00):
When you take out of the city, there's there's a
there's you know, a lot more people in the in
the outskirts. But it's so a lot of other a
lot of cities have got the same population but spread
over big area. So the inner city of San Francisco
a lot of people in a small area has opposed
(20:21):
to you know, other other places with that like Alais,
which has got a big population, but it's over a big,
big aeria.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
So you see.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
Everything when you're driving through the city or walking, you
see absolutely everything.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
That's going on.
Speaker 8 (20:32):
So it's yeah, it's a pretty it's a pretty cool,
pretty cool place really with certainly opens our eyes, so
you know, it's it's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Now, comparing San Francisco and Los Angeles to and the
Cargo and Dunedan is one of life's great correlations.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Well, it is a programs.
Speaker 8 (20:47):
Perhaps I should have said the Netherlands and and compare
that to Switzerland, so it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I wasn't downing your judgment and what you say makes
a lot of sense. And coincidentally, forty nine square miles
I'm staying off the top of my head to the
San Francisco forty nine ers. That's where they got their name.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
Exactly back in the eighteen eighties when the gold has
and after the gold came the forty nine ers. So
he's got a lot of history San Francisco back, big
Chinese influence here. Yesterday we went down and down in Chinatown,
so just to sort of paint the picture where on
what what they call knob Hell, and a lot of
my listeners and people who know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
That will have made some correlation for.
Speaker 8 (21:29):
Me in a knob But anyway, it's nob Hill was
the very top of San Francisco, and like in nineteen
o six, San Francisco was by the biggest earthquakes that
killed three thousand people and the city burnt for six weeks.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
So it was rebuilt half that and nob Hill is
right at the top.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
So we're our department wherein we look at and see
the Golden gate Bridge. Now all the rich people, the
railway barons and the Vanderbilts and whoever they built up
and hell, but it wasn't easy to get to. So
they've got the famous San Francisco cable cars that go
up and down coming going since the nineteen hundred or before,
(22:10):
so you hear them rattling up and down. So once
they got was easy for people to get to knob Help,
that's when all the big they built the bigger, bigger hotels.
And it's just still carried on like that now.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
So yeah, it's a pretty vibrant city. But as I said,
with the Chinese, they came and we.
Speaker 8 (22:27):
Were down in Chinatown, which is just just down a
little bit as everything heads down towards the wharf and
the flatter areas that and I spend to a guy there.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
He owned, he owned the I was looking around in
the restaurant, just a lot of old photos of the
old Chinese people.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
And this guy was very exuberant, and he came down
and Dann he got history lesson and you know, basically
said there was a thousand people here for the gold
hit in forty nine, and then the Chinese came in
and basically like they like they did you know, they
start the or their business.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
But one of the one of the.
Speaker 8 (23:02):
Biggest things they did was because they were they were
the medicine men of the past with their acupuncture and
herb herbal remedies. You know, there was nothing in San
Francisco when they arrived, so they called all that with them,
and you saw those families here all those generations later
and like interesting as we all know history, you know
that the gold fields went from here to the Ballarat
(23:25):
in New c wh I wasn't the Ballarat to Mighty
Lawrence and the central of Tago and you know a
lot of San Francisco, the area around here in Napa
Valley very similar to to the Gibson Valley where both
big wine growing regions do.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
They like road cones like New Zealand.
Speaker 8 (23:44):
I can tell you now I've seen about three road
cones and it is just so refreshing and I just.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
You know, a lot of people think the Americans aren't
onto it.
Speaker 8 (23:54):
But I'll tell you what, when it comes to roadworks
and having no road cones and actually things being done,
we could take another leaf out of their book.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Honestly, seen about four road cones.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Well that's what happened when you were in Europe exactly
the same thing. Disasters zero road cones.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Might have something to do with made you think I
should try and.
Speaker 8 (24:12):
Implement that back and well, i'd have a full time
job in Queen's Down trying to get rid of the
bloody things, so we can start a transport business up
to get rid of them. I tell you what, you
make a lot of money, whether it was legal or not,
as far as.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
The agricultural scene. So she spoke to your last on
your travels. When you're on that train, what have you seen?
Speaker 4 (24:30):
I like that train.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
I've always been a fan of trained since I went
around Europe and one when I was about eighteen or
nineteen when I.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Spent those few years overseas, and they haven't changed.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
While they have changed it a bit more comfortable now,
but it was a really good from Santa Barbara to
San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
We're on the train for nine hours now.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
It had a few stops in that time, but didn't
you know, probably went a bit faster than the Southern
I used to do, and send you a bit.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Faster than the Canst Flyer.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
But a great way to come, you know, got out
of the city and then followed the Pacific coast for
a start, and then went inland and saw quite a
lot of quite a lot of land there with that
was that were grazing beef cows, and I think it
appears to me as though, I think they have really
good growth in the spring.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
And obviously now we're out of the spring into the early.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Summer and it's started to drive a bit, and you
know that the paddocks aren't actually they look as though
they do with a lot more stock, and they've gone
sort of rank and dry, but a lot of big
blocks undulating easy hill country with barbed wire fences seven
wire barb and a lot of them look pretty rusty,
(25:42):
especially when you're near near the sea. But you're basically
cows and calves of what we've seen, No sheep or
anything like that, but you know, sort of extensive, extensive
hill country that you know, you get around on a
motorbike no trouble.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Because barbed wire seems to be the fencing and choice
for a lot of states. Well what you say in
certain areas of suppose.
Speaker 8 (26:04):
Well it was invented in Texas, and I don't think
you know, they obviously haven't got onto the electric side
of things. But in saying that, all the fences you
see that there's no stock pressure on them because they're
such big blocks.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
And so you.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
Know, we saying, I just said, we've saw a lot
of cattle, but for the for the area we traveled,
you know, it was pretty minimal really, but it's yeah,
they and once we got out of that that that
cattle area, you're back into the big planes that are
just the most beautiful sore you can come across. And
(26:39):
the you know, I thought I'd seen a few crops
of strawberries and and all and kale and cabbages last
week when we spoke, but the other day on the train,
it just that just carried on and on and on.
And I think one of the big things that really
took took my attention was.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
They are now big corporate farms.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Because you were everywhere and again you're you'd get to
this great, big farmyard and and it's just you know,
there'd be thirty or forty tractors just with with thirty
tractors with little.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Spray units on them, and bigger, bigger.
Speaker 8 (27:11):
Machinery and cars and big cool houses or warehouses and
just obviously really quite labor intensive, but it's just shows
the importance of what you know, the food they grow here.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Hey, Grant, we'll leave it there. Appreciate your time, enjoy
your travels, and wear their batman inspired aby rural hat
with pride over there.
Speaker 8 (27:35):
You could wear anything in Francis going to tell you
what you wouldn't look out of place. It's not like,
you know, going into Queenstown with your mail boats.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
On Shu me losing James Eggers farming at Mala Flat
and joins us once again on the good afternoon. James.
Unfortunately the tea pain song you request and wasn't there,
(28:05):
so Blake shouting was your backup choice.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Yeah, no, I have recording it clectic sort of music taste,
but yeah, apparently fund my stuffs on the more extreme
ji of pokanoy, so we can take from that what
you will.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Welcome to my playlist, Jeepers, I can't judge.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
No, absolutely, you've got to. It's actually been beautiful weather
this year, but some of the years, especially when you're
in the second or third day of wet, wet weather
gear and muddy, muddy boots, you know you don't want
to be listening to something too slow do you? Sometimes
you're just going to put a bit of dance music
on or something with a bit of pep and just
(28:45):
rip into it, don't you. But I mean, you can't,
can't argue this year. And yeah, well I don't even
know what to say about the autumn. And now we're
of course heading into middle or June, and we haven't
even had a snowfall with mile Flat and and and
that's quite incredible. And to be frank, we're actually still
growing grass which is currently six weeks longer than what
(29:07):
i'd budget, you know, on any sort of conservative estimate.
So yeah, yeah, can't can't complain at all.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Are you concerned about the lack of snowfall or is
it a case of it is what it is?
Speaker 6 (29:19):
No, Lo, Honestly, I don't waste a single second worrying
about the weather. We just play with what we can
do because I know there's absolutely zero I can do
to adjust it. So we went through a feed budget.
I think I touched it last time. So we've now
fed out about well, feeding out about ten tons of
grain at one of the farms. The other two the
feed budgets looking really nice, which is great, and the
(29:43):
stock are looking really good.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
They'd loving it.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
So, yeah, we'll just enjoy it. What happens. And look,
we know it's going to get wet and cold, that's
what's going to happen, and it's just a matter of when.
So we'll just enjoy the good times.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Well, you can go two or three weeks about taking
the leakings off and that's when it gets That is
when it gets frustrating.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
Oh absolutely, And there's more more than likely that it's
going to happen again. But at least when you get
a nice start right at the start of the winter,
and you get that stock condition right at the start
of the winter and you have enough crop, and yeah,
just work through from there and the rest of the winter.
The beef you can throw a lot at you and
you can handle it.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So what's a planned attack at the moment. Then if
the weather's like this, you just continue doing what you're doing.
But you've got shorts on.
Speaker 10 (30:31):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, No, we just keep feeding, the feeding
the animals, and yeah, just keep working through about every
week or so, we just keep looking at the feed budget,
double check it, see how we're tracking.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
Yeah, and try and get those jobs out of the road.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
It's always nice.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
I've always found, especially with the fodder beat and the cattle,
if you can get you know, if you can get
a third of the way through the paddock before you're
make any mud, seems to make the whole season easy.
But if you have money up those first all three breaks,
sometimes it's a long winter. You just you know, the
(31:09):
animals are just just don't really get on top and
they don't have that back break that's nice and dry.
And yeah, look, honestly, the it's just gone really well,
so you can't argue.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Andy, it's speaking of kettle over in Texas, some outbreaks
of screw worm. It sounds as this is back on
the horizon, which is bad news for the Texas kettle industry.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
Yeah, no, fascinating, we're talking about off the air there.
It's one thing that I picked up. So the screw worm,
it must be a fly, which is larvae, which it
lays its eggs on either wounds or mucous membranes, so
like the nose and stuff of kettle. And then the
larvae they burrow into the skin and then basically eat
(31:52):
you know, eat them until they're pupa and then hatch
themselves out of flies so I've come over the Mexican
border from South America, so that's quite interesting, so that
it can actually kill a cattle beast. But what they've
got there, and I've had two or three cases now
in Texas, and it's interesting, Like I'm sure on farm
has got some ramifications, but there's a bit of I
(32:14):
see Canada and the other states in America have blocked
the cattle going anywhere going out of Texas and then
round the site where the screw where it was found.
They've got a twelve mile zone and every single animal
that goes in now that zone has to get checked
for screw where them, So even your dogs and cats
and like any livestocks. I thought that was interesting, but
(32:37):
they have Actually they thought they'd made it go extinct
in America, and what they did there was basically released
a heap of flies that were infertile, and then they
bred with the fertile flies, and basically then the offspring
became infertile. So right as we speak, right now, if
you look it up, the US government is flying planes
(33:01):
over with teens and teens and millions of infertile flies,
screw wearing flies, and they're dumping them out of the
back of a plane. That's just crazy, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Andy.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
It's a bit like getting fly striking the hoggers, but
one hundred times worse than what you'd imagine.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely, I didn't find it fascinating that that's the
way they do. Then apparently they have some sights on
ground where they're actually hatching infertile lava from these flies.
They're basically going to put, you know, hundreds of millions
of flies out that are infertile, and they're going to
put them out into the Texas environment because to try
(33:38):
and breed with the wee few flies that are actually
fertile at the moment causing all the trouble. And then, yeah, absolutely,
absolutely fascinating. But I think it's certainly going to be
we watch in terms of kettle kettle price maybe I know. So,
Texas has got twelve point five million head of breeding cows,
which is the most of any state in America, and interestingly,
(34:01):
the next state, which is ikin saw it's got about
one point nine two million breeding cows. So yeah, Texas
has probably got a third of the breeding cows in
the whole United States.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
If you go and google it online, it's got the
makings of a horror movie. It's hideous.
Speaker 6 (34:18):
Yeah, absolutely, no, this could be quite quite major. And
what they actually do a lot of the feeder cattle
in America because they have the industrial scale feed lots,
and a lot of the kettle actually come from Mexico
and Canada, so they bring them over and then put
them into the big feed lots. So they've actually had
the border closed in America with Mexico, so they're big
feed lots over there are actually struggling to get carves
(34:41):
to put on the feed. So it's made their Yeah. Yeah,
the price of feeder stairs and heifers basically go ballistic.
But this could be quite interesting going forward.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Now, a bit a good news story that came out
from via the National Party this week or the government
they are as the playing of the Q two National
Trust allocated baseline funding from four point two to eight
point five million dollars, which is a real good news
story as well. This this needs to be celebrated.
Speaker 6 (35:12):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean the argument is the yere that
eight point two million dollars isn't all that much, and
but it needs to be celebrated. Absolutely. But I didn't
realize listening there I think the Key two Land Trust,
which is on private New Zealand farmland, it's something like
the second biggest estate outside dock I think of conservation
(35:36):
land because it's all been yeah to say one with
the TRUSTe you sign it through to the conservation estate
basically with the Kelly two Trust here. So yeah, it
sort of needs to be celebrated. And yeah, I guess
sometimes when farmers are getting a bit of a hard time,
probably does need to be noted that just how much
of the conservation estate and how much farm land's now
(35:58):
been conserved by the farmers in New Zealand. So get
congratulations to everyone involved with that.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The money's going towards surveying, legal work and fencing, amongst
other things. So like we say, we've got to celebrate
the good stuff when it happens.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
I absolutely, and yeah, i'd argue I've seen I think
as a generalization, and the stuff in the KWY two
National Trust would be of a lot higher standards than
some of the medium dockland that I've seen in my opinion.
Being careful around those words, of course, Andy, but I
(36:33):
have seen a lot of dockland, and I've seen a
lot of I've seen a lot of gorse and broom
would be more.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
One comment, can only James you enjoy this afternoon and
our Longmader's will price keep continuing?
Speaker 6 (36:44):
I think Andy, I.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Knew you had to get a wee.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Pop from there.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Absolutely good, only Javes, we'll see we hear the scene.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
Of us.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
This is the muster ond Hakanui just for Hollie Morrison,
Don Morrison through the barricades by Spendal Ballet. A very
popular group. But how are you telling me it's the
most popular song, And truth be known, it's not one
that you hear every day, good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Oh it you look you don't hear it on main
media too much. But it was their last number one
Hurt and it was their biggest selling single, so you
know that big killer voice to Tony Hedley. So yeah,
thank you for that as a leader and appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Well, here we go, it's getting grunty. That's a good
power ballad. Power ballad.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Yes, I just played a bit more on that radio station.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Andy Rodia Julie noted, I'll put there through to Aaron
Gardner if he's listening. Look, you're based at willow Beg,
not far from God. Truth be known, you've been pretty
spoilt with this weather though.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Helly, Andy, this is just been an outstanding, an outstanding
lead into the winter. You know, great great Finns to
the autumn in terms of just you condition for mating
and HOBt mating, things like that, just getting those last
lambs off the place. And now the last week in
fact today the last five of us are going on
(38:17):
the fodder beat. I just find it quite a certifying season.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You've tidied up.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
The whole the whole rest of your year activities and
it's now really the settling down and the setup for
next year, and to be able to go into the
winter with us in really good condition and got the
final yields back and all the crops, feed budgets done
and things are looking positive. We've got a surplus which
is always important to our tea budgets here, so you've
(38:44):
got to bid up your sleeves at the at the
end of the winter. And yeah, I just feeling pretty good, Andy.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
So as far as those crops, you've got plenty of
eating by the sounds of it.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Heere the some of the yields surprised me, but the
swedes are back of course they've planted it, laid in
the season, then the fire to beat, but they were
more fit around that fourteen ton, which is a sort
of an average crop of swedes, where some of the
other years we've had some pretty high yields up to
twenty but we've had fire beat yields back in you know,
high high twenty twenty seven, twenty eight ton, and that
(39:17):
gives you a lot of eating come the winter time.
So we sit with the swedes then the fider beat
because because while we've recent years have had some pretty big,
sweet yields, it just shows you're having the combination of
the twos. A bit of insurance and our you know,
one of our biggest insurances here is having that feed
for the one heavily reliant on that winter feed for
(39:39):
three months for all the animals. So yeah, a bit
of peace of mind when you get there and the
yields are pretty good.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
A good way to look at this time of year.
It's not just the transitioning of the animals onto the
winter crops, but like you alluded to, Howie, it's a
transitioning into winter moat on farm just full stop.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, you get up in the morning each day, and
you know what your routine is. It takes us about
two hours to get everything feed here. So after smoke, oh,
we've actually got some time we can devote to tidening
things up. Still got a lot of strength all work
and fixing and fencing to do after that storm. But
we're just you know, we're getting some good afternoons and
days on that, and the place is just starting to
(40:18):
look a bit tidy. It looked to you know, I
don't like things, and they look a bit scruffy and
trees are down, but there just hasn't been the time
to clean it up till now. But I'm certainly enjoying that.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
A lot of people have talked about that. How we
the fact that they're getting the opportunity finally to go
and stop proof a few of these fences, fence lines
as such, because the number of trees that came down
has just been something you've had to put off.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yeah, it has been, and you know, we've actually, you know,
to be fair, endy, we've had to spend a lot
of money already on the excavators and the bigger diggers
that came in also felled a few more trees, and
then the fencing, So you know, there was a big
sort of I don't say that there's been a nice
explice and they had operating costs this year which are
(41:04):
hopefully not reoccurring, but the realities of farming you're always
going to get something thrown at you. So probably been
a good, good financial year to be able to you know,
just sort of where that that extra cost or with it.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
So how far above budget did your lamb see end up?
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Everything's above about like I think I budgeted one hundred
and fifty dollars the lambs and y where I've basically
mean two hundred and two hundred plus. While I budgeted
what I got last year and I doubled what we got.
We got up to high sixes for so for the
you know six six sixty six seventy clean for U
fleece and lamb fleece. That was outstanding. RAM sales were great,
(41:46):
Crop yields came in bang on ever read and this
is the barley and slightly higher than I budgeted. So
you know, all in all, it was just a really
good season. I'd say my first really good season and
probably thirty odd years of farming.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Endy, we'll use yesterday at lawnvill crack three hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, pretty stunning. And you know what I'm hearing from
you know, both the meat and the milk companies, is
that the world just looking for that quality, safe protein.
And you know, there seems to be you know, a
little bit of a confidence around those prices. Certainly when
you see those winter contracts help the lamb, there's obviously
(42:25):
some confidence going forward. You know, I've been farming probably
thirty years on head to Loka years.
Speaker 6 (42:32):
I've some pretty crap.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Years, and this is the been the one really good
year and we just fingers crossed we can get another one.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Now, this is interesting coming from you, Howie, because you're
always just a little bit cynical about the lamb schedel
heading into spring. But you're pretty well healed in the industry.
You'll have a bit of an idea of what's going on.
What are you hearing.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
I'm just I'm just having confidence, confidence tempered worth. Don't
make promises because you just look at that look just
go back to volatility world. You know, who knows what's
going to happen. We're looking at that want of you know,
eat must on the stock market and from what I'm
hearing the S and P everything's back because a lot
(43:15):
of a lot of other stocks are selling out because
people want to having a steak in that. So we're
actually seeing a bit of a quite a downturn in
the market in the last few days, which people Beams
wouldn't have expected. You know, seeing anything like.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
That impacts the US market's an underesting one, given all
these people are on these diets that required them to
eat a lot of lamb and beef and the likes.
Considering that any of these hamburgers put themselves into this
situation in the first place.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Yeah, look at me. They love their burgers and in
the States, there's no doubt about that, and certainly even
for the lamb meat outside of the beef, a really
really strong market. So I've actually been surprised with the
economic you know, hardship they've been facing in the stakes
that that demand has held up so well. So I
guess you'd actually argue that this is actually quite a
(44:03):
good point, the fact that demand and pricing has still
been strong despite the uncertainty and the volatility. That one
can only hope if things settle down a little bit,
you know, That's why we're going to sustain those prices.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
How do you see Wall going?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Look, well, I hope the trend would continue. I've actually
said for quite a long time, Andy, it's the one
thing that I have been optimistic about that and I've
said in the not necessarily in their future, but medium
to long term, I think Wall is going to be
a very viable product with a lot of end uses.
So I see I see Wall only getting better.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
So it's fair to say the positives are outweighing the
negatives at the moment. I mean just throughout the sector.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Oh look, I think when you come off a season
like this, Andy, you can't help but be positive. And
that's right through the dairy and the red meat sector.
You know, if you're a great grower or a hops
growing telling a little bit of a difference story. But certainly,
certainly for our sector and primary industry, it's been a
good year, so we have to celebrate it. And I
(45:08):
guess you've got to be optimistic and hope things are
going to carry on. But the philosophy is, you know,
I'm not going to spend any money until I've got it,
So you know, you look at the budgets next year,
there's a lot of things we'd like to do that
you know, we're still going to have to wait till
we get there.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Tony Brown's been resigned by the indsedbor Not for two
years time. This is a very positive thing for New
Zealand and Rugby moving forward.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
But it's really good four sight and the year lockcome.
Every time there's been a change, his name pops up
as how good he would be in the mix or
who he could be in the max with. So no
I think that's that's great foresight. And you know, I
think the you know, the invied I refuse just probably
doing a little bit of a bit of job. You know,
they've got some new people in there and I like
(45:54):
a lot of what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
What don how Morrison de You're wrapping up the best
of the Muster. We'll leave it there now. If you
want to go and catch any interviews online, they are
available of course. The Muster on Hockin Nelly courtesy of iHeartRadio.
My name is Andy Muir. Thanks to your company. I'm
away for a few days now. We're going on a
little bit of a holiday. So Olivia Weatherburn's going to
(46:18):
be hosting the Muster while I'm away having a bit
of leave. I suppose Radio. Let's mate see in a
few days.
Last night.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
A very good morning, and welcome into the best of
the Muster, a collaboration of interviews that took our attention
during a busy week here at Hockeluy HQ. My name's
Andy Muer. Thanks for your company. We're starting for the hour,
but going down to Windham and catching up with Sheep
Beef and YouTube farmer Ben Dooley, who's had a pretty
good start to the winter cycle. But Diels has asked
the question are you a social media influencer? Greg Erickson
(00:29):
formerly a boy Moomy these days residing in Millet, Canada,
talking about all issues facing Canada at the moment, especially
his state where he's based, Alberta, wanting to break away
from Canada. As such, he tells us why this is
a concerning thing or it's a bizarre more than anything
to say the least grant disaster McMaster once again we're international,
(00:52):
formerly of Closper and Station where he is from Closper
in Station. Let's be honest, but he's on holiday and
we caught him this week over in San Francisco in California.
James Egga farms at Mala Flats and talks about the
new Zealand beef industry and something that's happened over in
the States, actually in Texas. James sinks this could have
possible good signs for New Zealand beef. Looking ahead, America's
(01:15):
most fortune could be to New Zealand's advantage. And Don
Howie Morrison, former Alliance Board director, farming at Willow Bang,
just talking about the positives that he's seeing in the
rural sector at the moment. Normally looking at spring price
is how he's reserved, but he's seeking. Look, this is
as good as what we've seen for a while, and
all pointers are looking at that. So without further ado,
(01:36):
we'll start the hour and next with Ben Dooley. You're
listening to the best of the Muster. Welcome back to
the Muster. Sheep and beef farmer, youtub farmer. You can
almost put social influencer in there as well, Ben Dooley,
(01:57):
good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
No, please don't put that in there, Andy, but get
here's a gown.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, good mate. What you're not an influencer?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
No, we don't. We don't like that term.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So what do you call yourself?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I don't know. I'm just a farmer that does a
bit of filming.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I guess a social media man of the people.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
We'll try it. We'll try and downplay it as much
as possible.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Okay, we'll leave it at that. Anyway, Down near Windham,
how are things going.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, first, first real wintery feeling day today, I got
all met it's it's weird, it's cold, it's blowing, had
to put the jacket on, couldn't get the truck round
everywhere this morning. So a bit of a shock to
the system, but it was always going to come right,
and she's been a pretty good lead in so far.
So yeah, very very hard to complain. We do kind
of want to get winter in winter. It'd be nice
if we just didn't get winter at all, but that's
not going to be the case. So yeah, yeah, no,
(02:45):
we'll We're just looking at that forecast thinking, shit, we've
we've had a bloody good run and it looks like
the US are going to get a few more breaks
on crop before it really gets overly yet, so she's
all promising.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So everything's on the crops underway.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Pretty much everything Now, I've just gotten a two year
old kid or we're just going to have a sort
up and we will get them, get the remainder of
them up in the feedbad and the hoggits have just
gone on for the last time. They've just had their
three or four days of transition, and the early mobs
stay on grass for one day.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The stock could be looking a pretty reasonable to what
imagine iodels.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Yeah, no, no, we're pretty happy with here. Everything's looking
this year. There's always the odd light one around you
alas seem to get them. It's just a matter of
pulling them off. But in general everything's looking very good.
You lands are probably on par with some of the
best overheads, So got a bit of a job ahead
of me this year just with hoggots and swedes. I
want to keep them that way. But like I say,
we've got plenty of feet around, so we'll just keep
(03:37):
pumping it into them. And yeah, keeping eye on those
feed budgets, make sure they're still stacking up. But yeah,
enough things are. Things are looking really good.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You say that hoggets are as good as what you've
seen them. What live weight would you anticipate?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
What we We took everything under thirty eight out I
want to say mid March, late March maybe, so they
probably well. We drenched them to sixty five k. They're
probably setting at about fifty fifty two before they went
on crop as an average for them all, but with
(04:10):
a bit of a spread through there. So no for
Romney you lambs that they've done pretty really well. But
then I mean our average kill wait for the season,
we'd finished just on twenty kilos again, so yeah, they've Yeah,
the lambs have done well this year.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, talking about talking about that kill, wait, twenty kg.
You'll be really happy with that, considering as you keep
telling about telling us that your lambs mature later in
the season.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, absolutely, and just just bearing in mind with that lot,
we killed half of our lambs. Our works lambs went
the last week of April in the second week of May,
so that just fits with that. We sort of struggle
the whole way through summer and then we get to
autumn and they really start growing. That said, we were
ahead on average kill the whole way through with a
higher than average early kill wasite. But we did change
(04:58):
a few things around this year. We left the terminal
lambs on mum for an extra three weeks, which the
last season anyway definitely made a big difference. Got a
few more away off mum that way at bigger weights
and didn't manage to sort of hold that the whole
way through. But yeah, it's just the Romney thing. They
they are never an early killing animal in the sort
of climate. But like I've always said, we have shit
springs and horse and moortums. I hope you don't want
(05:19):
me saying that word on here.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You've already seen the East word twice in the last
five minutes, so I'll let you out. There we go, there,
we go to continue.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
But yeah, so that's what we always say about here,
So to capitalize on that, that's how we do it.
We just we just run the lambs later and make
use of that autumn feed and as long as we've
got penny to get through winter, we just push things
as far as we're game.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Been winter grazing plans is that time of year? Give
us a bit of an update, how have you found it?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Just just the winter grazing plans that we have to
that we we do just to get through winter, you mean,
or yeah, yep, yep. So hopefully everyone's got one done
if they're grazing on crop. Just just a general layout
of your intent of what you're planning to do grazing directions,
buffer zones, all that sort of stuff. We have one.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
We just have it.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
There's one on resolution, but we have it just drawn
up on paper and then uploaded into there. Yeah, so
just just a general idea of what you meant to
what you're intending to be doing with grazing. I don't
like the idea of people trying to pencil one out
and lock everything in because obviously the weather plays a
big ball, a big part in how long breaks last
and how much you feed stuff and everything like that.
(06:29):
But yeah, it is a good tool just to have there,
just to refer back to when you're getting through you
into grazing and just see how things are going, and
just to have those I guess environmental protections lader in
front of you more so so that if something goes
wrong and the council do come in, you can show
that you've, you know, you've had an intent here to
do the right thing and obviously understanding things do happen,
(06:50):
breakouts happen, things can go wrong. But no, they are
a good tool just to just to cover yourself. I
guess a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I guess would you say that everybody's on board with
adding them.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, I think so. And I think when you see
the I don't want to say behavior, when you see
the practice has been taken out with wonder grazing around
the province these days, I think most people are pretty
understanding of what's expected and the vast majority of actions
taken seem to be the right ones. Bear in mind,
we've still got to make this a profitable venture and
we've still got to make it work to get through winter.
(07:25):
But yeah, I think the vast majority of people are
doing a pretty good job when it comes to the
environmental aspect of winder grazing.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
And Brenton Hounden made a really relevant point on this
show about ten to twelve days ago, saying that don't
you know, just don't give these groups anti farming groups anymo.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
No, don't give them any ammo. And that's a double
edged thing. On one side, just do your best. We
understand sometimes it doesn't look the best when the weather
turns to crap, and that's just the way it is.
Just do your best to do the best, boy Stock.
But yeah, the other side to it is, I'm quite
big on this. When you see those posts up on
social media, don't interact with him. Don't take the bait.
(08:04):
Don't go in and start an argument with that certain person,
because that pushes his post to more people. And you'll
quite often see the posts that he doesn't get interaction with.
They don't get a lot of likes, they don't get
a lot of views, and that's what we want. We
want that all to be suppressed. Whereas if we all
go in and he gets one hundred comments from one
hundred farmers arguing with him about hell is wrong, which
(08:25):
I do agree he is wrong, you'll all of a
sudden see a lot of other people from around the
world that have no clue what we're doing, all of
a sudden commenting in favor of him. So just be
mindful of that. Just one other thing I wanted to touch
on is drones. If you do happen to see a
drone flying over at your farm, please don't shoot it down.
(08:46):
That is a criminal offense under the Civil Aviational Authority,
and you do not want to piss them off. They're
very strict with their rules and they don't tend to
listen to the other side very much. But if you
do happen to see flying around, if it's under four
hundred feet it is absolutely illegal. There is a special
license that you can obtain to do so, but to
(09:08):
my knowledge that only people that have those in New
Zealand are the military and the police, no one else does.
I forget what the license is called. Yeah, but if
you could find because generally speaking it'll be getting phone
from a roadside somewhere, if you could call the police
and find the person flying the drone and just obviously
within the rules, try and stop them from leaving till
(09:31):
the police get there, it would be great because the
CIA would really like to know about people flying drones
over private property under that four hundred foot ceiling and
if they go above four hundred foot there is a
gray area there in between. But if they go over
five hundred they're into proper airspace and they are definitely
not allowed to be there, edith, because then you're a
(09:52):
collision risk for bigger aircraft. So yeah, just if you
do have someone flying over, try and get the least
to actually find a person who's flying the drunk and
they'll take the rest of it from there.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Good on you, ben do We always appreciate your time.
And if I start seeing your ads coming up on
my insacram feed. I'm gonna start charging you.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
I know you are not.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Kill this.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Welcome back to the Muster. We're away over to Mellicon, Canada,
where we catch up with Greg Ericsson, formerly of Boy Moomy.
Good afternoon, Greg. I was explaining the rest now behind
Celean Dean today and of course herek Croy requested it.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Eric used to be your neighbor up at Way Moomy.
You told me a pretty cool story about him going
for a run.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Yeah, good Andy. Yeah, Eric was there a neighbor and
when I was growing up, and he used to run
down the road with a backpack on full of twenty
kilograms of cement and like nothing, just run along.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
That's just the old school mentality I suppose, isn't it.
You know what I mean? Eric's felt like a bullet
to be fit.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yeah, he's he was a brick back then. And I
mentioned he's still a big guy now, but yeah, he
was just a different breed, just absolute strong man.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
You're based over there in Canada. Last time we spoke
to you, it was starting to warm up. It was
in the negatives. But you'll be right, well technically you're
starting summer.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Yeah, some of the summer's just kicked off, and all
the seeding was all finished up a week ago or so,
but all just in time for all the rain to come,
because we were pretty dry during seeding and well all
spring really, and then we got one hundred meals of
rain or one hundred and ten meals of rain in
about seventy hours.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
What would be your average rainfall there.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
It's about four hundred and fifty ish mills.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
There's not a lot of rain. It's very much central
a targo.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
Yeah, that doesn't include the snow melt, so the snows
we get. Yeah, so that's all just just rainfall over summer.
If we get I do know, say three feet of snow,
that works out to be another however much rain. I
think it's nine nine nine mills of snowfall equals one
mill of rain.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So snowfall is such so because we get we do
a good fall and south and that's just the law
layer of the land and the law of averages. But
what do you work on for snowfall over there?
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Well, it varies yet year. We get most of our
snowfall in the spring, so during the winter it's we'll
get the odd storm and then it just sort of
settles in and doesn't go anywhere. But average snowfall can
be it might be two feet, I guess, but some
some springs we might get three feet, and some spring
springs it might get six It's just it just varies.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Are frosts pretty prevalent.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Well they are, So we get we get frost, the
frost saws start coming in September, the weather stations will
still put out frost warnings for the crops and whatnot,
and then once the once in November by the time
the frost comes and then doesn't leave.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So how's the growing conditions been? Yes, you said you
had a bit of rain recently, but it was required
all the crops in the ground. So how's the feel
around there considering the growing conditions.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Well, all the crops were in the ground and they
were most of them were up before we got the rain,
and the ones that were up were looking quite stressed,
they were getting a bit yellow. But this rain has
really pracked things up. And now you look at the
canal that's coming out of the ground, it's looking just lovely.
So it's starting to get that there's extra big leaves
on the bottom there, so we're looking pretty So.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
How are the prices for arable holding up over there?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Greg, Well, Barley's come up slightly. So it's it's sorry
to talking bushels again, but we're used to that. It's
around it's around the five to fifty mark Canadian but
the wheats dropped and then the canoal is sitting probably
where it was over the last ten years average around
(13:55):
the thirteen dollars, maybe fourteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
How did it take you to figure out the spilaki
around bushels and imperial versus metric. We talked about it again,
but it's still confusing when you hear it.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
It confuses me.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
Still, I just give up and I just sort of
just got beaten a submission and now I just deal
with bushels basically.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
But you do deal in cents, dollars and kilometers.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Yes, absolutely. Now, also, if you buy a contract with
one of the big companies, you are probably buying in
tons or selling in tons.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Right, gotcha? Makes no sense? What It's as clear as maud.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
So in general, though you're based in the province of Alberta,
how's the feeling around there?
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Feeling Alberta is a little bit mixed at the moment.
So I think I told you last time that Alberta's
thinking about doing the separation thing. That's right from yeah,
and well we now have a date for so we're
having a referendum in Alberta to one option is to
(14:57):
stay in Canada and the other option is to if
the referendum gets over fifty percent, the province of Alberta
will officially look into having a referendum to separate from Canada.
So to to clarify, we're having a referendum on a referendum.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
It's as clear as a bushel, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
It's it's confusing, and it's it's it's silly, and I
think all signs lead to us, well Alberta, staying in
Canada and everything going smoothly and just status quo. But
the option is there for Alberton's to vote to have
a referendum to put pressure on Ottawa that we might leave,
(15:45):
just to threaten we might leave. I think that's a
bad idea because it's threatening business won't invest in Alberta
while it's unclear what our future is.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Scotland had a referendum a couple of years ago about
trying to break away from the UK. What's what's a
reason for Alberta wanting to go alone?
Speaker 5 (16:03):
So, well, it's to do with taxes, basically, a lot
of people and Alberta think, we pay a lot of
taxes and then it gets sent to Ottawa and then
that gets redistributed around the country and Alberton's think we
get a unfaired deal out of that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a very resourceful county, I suppose of province.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Oh yes, Alberta is the is the most wealthiest province,
well so wealthiest, the most resource rich of all the provinces,
and we may Alberta makes a absolute fortune off the
oil and that because of that, the oil companies pay
a lot of money to have Alberton's work for them,
(16:47):
and so they pay more taxes because of it. And
we don't get the services that say eastern provinces get
because they don't have as much. So they the Ottawa
gives money to the have not profit before they give
it to the have provinces.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So in that case, would Alberta to be an independent
state to such? How would it work?
Speaker 5 (17:09):
That is the great question? Andy, No one knows.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
So what does a rural community make of all this?
I dare say they want to stay as this and
the status quo.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
You would think so, but no, the rural community is
the is where the bulk of these separatists are. So
the folk in Edmonton and Calgary read deer. They are
typically more left leaning and so they want to stay
(17:38):
in Canada, whereas the very far right I'm more prone
to want to leave.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
It's interesting, Hey, it's coming up to springtime. This is
very much New Zealand thing to say. But is there
a concern around rental snakes coming out at this time
of year? I mean when you first went over there,
was it a concern? Were you just like, oh, you
just did with them because they they are scared of you,
then you're scared of them.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
So when I first came over here, I was down
the States. I mean I went straight down to the
States to do the harvest, and I was very ignorant
to them and we were running around through cornfields and
bare feet and didn't think much of it. And yeah,
up here in Canada there's only rattlesnakes in this in
southern parts like sort of southeast and east of Calgary
(18:26):
and up where I am, just towards Edmonton, there is
nothing but the odd garter snake, though harmless and you
don't see them. Yeah, there's the rattlesnakes and those hazardous
creatures aren't really here unless you're talking bears and moose.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Right and the rest of you. See how that's going
to pan out as well, as well as this referendum
on our birder. Hey, Greg, thanks for your time once again,
and next time we chant, we'll see if we can
decipher this bushel talk around your government.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
Sounds good mate, Thanks Eddie.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Welcome back to the muster. A very cliche song for
our next guest, who is anything but cliche. The song
is born in the USA, but it's for Grant Disaster McMaster,
who's in San Francisco this afternoon. Of course he's brought
to us by the team at RB Rural Going International
once again. Good afternoon, Grant, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Good afternoon, Andy, Good afternoon everybody. And go from San
Flens Disco.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
As we used to say, how would you compare San
Francisco to Los Angeles for people who had never been
over there.
Speaker 8 (19:37):
Well, it's a bit like I'm probably going to win
the cargo where it's dead flat and then going to
Dunedin where it's like it's quite hilly. So you know,
San Francisco is forty nine miles square and it's it's
got eight hundred and eighty thousand people in that and
that was in that for forty eight or forty nine miles,
so it's actually, I mean it's a lot bigger than that.
(20:00):
When you take out of the city, there's there's a
there's you know, a lot more people in the in
the outskirts. But it's so a lot of other a
lot of cities have got the same population but spread
over big area. So the inner city of San Francisco
a lot of people in a small area has opposed
(20:21):
to you know, other other places with that like Alais,
which has got a big population, but it's over a big,
big aeria.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
So you see.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
Everything when you're driving through the city or walking, you
see absolutely everything.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
That's going on.
Speaker 8 (20:32):
So it's yeah, it's a pretty it's a pretty cool,
pretty cool place really with certainly opens our eyes, so
you know, it's it's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Now, comparing San Francisco and Los Angeles to and the
Cargo and Dunedan is one of life's great correlations.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Well, it is a programs.
Speaker 8 (20:47):
Perhaps I should have said the Netherlands and and compare
that to Switzerland, so it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I wasn't downing your judgment and what you say makes
a lot of sense. And coincidentally, forty nine square miles
I'm staying off the top of my head to the
San Francisco forty nine ers. That's where they got their name.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
Exactly back in the eighteen eighties when the gold has
and after the gold came the forty nine ers. So
he's got a lot of history San Francisco back, big
Chinese influence here. Yesterday we went down and down in Chinatown,
so just to sort of paint the picture where on
what what they call knob Hell, and a lot of
my listeners and people who know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
That will have made some correlation for.
Speaker 8 (21:29):
Me in a knob But anyway, it's nob Hill was
the very top of San Francisco, and like in nineteen
o six, San Francisco was by the biggest earthquakes that
killed three thousand people and the city burnt for six weeks.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
So it was rebuilt half that and nob Hill is
right at the top.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
So we're our department wherein we look at and see
the Golden gate Bridge. Now all the rich people, the
railway barons and the Vanderbilts and whoever they built up
and hell, but it wasn't easy to get to. So
they've got the famous San Francisco cable cars that go
up and down coming going since the nineteen hundred or before,
(22:10):
so you hear them rattling up and down. So once
they got was easy for people to get to knob Help,
that's when all the big they built the bigger, bigger hotels.
And it's just still carried on like that now.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
So yeah, it's a pretty vibrant city. But as I said,
with the Chinese, they came and we.
Speaker 8 (22:27):
Were down in Chinatown, which is just just down a
little bit as everything heads down towards the wharf and
the flatter areas that and I spend to a guy there.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
He owned, he owned the I was looking around in
the restaurant, just a lot of old photos of the
old Chinese people.
Speaker 8 (22:42):
And this guy was very exuberant, and he came down
and Dann he got history lesson and you know, basically
said there was a thousand people here for the gold
hit in forty nine, and then the Chinese came in
and basically like they like they did you know, they
start the or their business.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
But one of the one of the.
Speaker 8 (23:02):
Biggest things they did was because they were they were
the medicine men of the past with their acupuncture and
herb herbal remedies. You know, there was nothing in San
Francisco when they arrived, so they called all that with them,
and you saw those families here all those generations later
and like interesting as we all know history, you know
that the gold fields went from here to the Ballarat
(23:25):
in New c wh I wasn't the Ballarat to Mighty
Lawrence and the central of Tago and you know a
lot of San Francisco, the area around here in Napa
Valley very similar to to the Gibson Valley where both
big wine growing regions do.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
They like road cones like New Zealand.
Speaker 8 (23:44):
I can tell you now I've seen about three road
cones and it is just so refreshing and I just.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
You know, a lot of people think the Americans aren't
onto it.
Speaker 8 (23:54):
But I'll tell you what, when it comes to roadworks
and having no road cones and actually things being done,
we could take another leaf out of their book.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Honestly, seen about four road cones.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Well that's what happened when you were in Europe exactly
the same thing. Disasters zero road cones.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Might have something to do with made you think I
should try and.
Speaker 8 (24:12):
Implement that back and well, i'd have a full time
job in Queen's Down trying to get rid of the
bloody things, so we can start a transport business up
to get rid of them. I tell you what, you
make a lot of money, whether it was legal or not,
as far as.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
The agricultural scene. So she spoke to your last on
your travels. When you're on that train, what have you seen?
Speaker 4 (24:30):
I like that train.
Speaker 8 (24:31):
I've always been a fan of trained since I went
around Europe and one when I was about eighteen or
nineteen when I.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Spent those few years overseas, and they haven't changed.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
While they have changed it a bit more comfortable now,
but it was a really good from Santa Barbara to
San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
We're on the train for nine hours now.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
It had a few stops in that time, but didn't
you know, probably went a bit faster than the Southern
I used to do, and send you a bit.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Faster than the Canst Flyer.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
But a great way to come, you know, got out
of the city and then followed the Pacific coast for
a start, and then went inland and saw quite a
lot of quite a lot of land there with that
was that were grazing beef cows, and I think it
appears to me as though, I think they have really
good growth in the spring.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
And obviously now we're out of the spring into the early.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
Summer and it's started to drive a bit, and you
know that the paddocks aren't actually they look as though
they do with a lot more stock, and they've gone
sort of rank and dry, but a lot of big
blocks undulating easy hill country with barbed wire fences seven
wire barb and a lot of them look pretty rusty,
(25:42):
especially when you're near near the sea. But you're basically
cows and calves of what we've seen, No sheep or
anything like that, but you know, sort of extensive, extensive
hill country that you know, you get around on a
motorbike no trouble.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Because barbed wire seems to be the fencing and choice
for a lot of states. Well what you say in
certain areas of suppose.
Speaker 8 (26:04):
Well it was invented in Texas, and I don't think
you know, they obviously haven't got onto the electric side
of things. But in saying that, all the fences you
see that there's no stock pressure on them because they're
such big blocks.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
And so you.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
Know, we saying, I just said, we've saw a lot
of cattle, but for the for the area we traveled,
you know, it was pretty minimal really, but it's yeah,
they and once we got out of that that that
cattle area, you're back into the big planes that are
just the most beautiful sore you can come across. And
(26:39):
the you know, I thought I'd seen a few crops
of strawberries and and all and kale and cabbages last
week when we spoke, but the other day on the train,
it just that just carried on and on and on.
And I think one of the big things that really
took took my attention was.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
They are now big corporate farms.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Because you were everywhere and again you're you'd get to
this great, big farmyard and and it's just you know,
there'd be thirty or forty tractors just with with thirty
tractors with little.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Spray units on them, and bigger, bigger.
Speaker 8 (27:11):
Machinery and cars and big cool houses or warehouses and
just obviously really quite labor intensive, but it's just shows
the importance of what you know, the food they grow here.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Hey, Grant, we'll leave it there. Appreciate your time, enjoy
your travels, and wear their batman inspired aby rural hat
with pride over there.
Speaker 8 (27:35):
You could wear anything in Francis going to tell you
what you wouldn't look out of place. It's not like,
you know, going into Queenstown with your mail boats.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
On Shu me losing James Eggers farming at Mala Flat
and joins us once again on the good afternoon. James.
Unfortunately the tea pain song you request and wasn't there,
(28:05):
so Blake shouting was your backup choice.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Yeah, no, I have recording it clectic sort of music taste,
but yeah, apparently fund my stuffs on the more extreme
ji of pokanoy, so we can take from that what
you will.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Welcome to my playlist, Jeepers, I can't judge.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
No, absolutely, you've got to. It's actually been beautiful weather
this year, but some of the years, especially when you're
in the second or third day of wet, wet weather
gear and muddy, muddy boots, you know you don't want
to be listening to something too slow do you? Sometimes
you're just going to put a bit of dance music
on or something with a bit of pep and just
(28:45):
rip into it, don't you. But I mean, you can't,
can't argue this year. And yeah, well I don't even
know what to say about the autumn. And now we're
of course heading into middle or June, and we haven't
even had a snowfall with mile Flat and and and
that's quite incredible. And to be frank, we're actually still
growing grass which is currently six weeks longer than what
(29:07):
i'd budget, you know, on any sort of conservative estimate.
So yeah, yeah, can't can't complain at all.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Are you concerned about the lack of snowfall or is
it a case of it is what it is?
Speaker 6 (29:19):
No, Lo, Honestly, I don't waste a single second worrying
about the weather. We just play with what we can
do because I know there's absolutely zero I can do
to adjust it. So we went through a feed budget.
I think I touched it last time. So we've now
fed out about well, feeding out about ten tons of
grain at one of the farms. The other two the
feed budgets looking really nice, which is great, and the
(29:43):
stock are looking really good.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
They'd loving it.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
So, yeah, we'll just enjoy it. What happens. And look,
we know it's going to get wet and cold, that's
what's going to happen, and it's just a matter of when.
So we'll just enjoy the good times.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Well, you can go two or three weeks about taking
the leakings off and that's when it gets That is
when it gets frustrating.
Speaker 6 (30:04):
Oh absolutely, And there's more more than likely that it's
going to happen again. But at least when you get
a nice start right at the start of the winter,
and you get that stock condition right at the start
of the winter and you have enough crop, and yeah,
just work through from there and the rest of the winter.
The beef you can throw a lot at you and
you can handle it.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So what's a planned attack at the moment. Then if
the weather's like this, you just continue doing what you're doing.
But you've got shorts on.
Speaker 10 (30:31):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, No, we just keep feeding, the feeding
the animals, and yeah, just keep working through about every
week or so, we just keep looking at the feed budget,
double check it, see how we're tracking.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
Yeah, and try and get those jobs out of the road.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
It's always nice.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
I've always found, especially with the fodder beat and the cattle,
if you can get you know, if you can get
a third of the way through the paddock before you're
make any mud, seems to make the whole season easy.
But if you have money up those first all three breaks,
sometimes it's a long winter. You just you know, the
(31:09):
animals are just just don't really get on top and
they don't have that back break that's nice and dry.
And yeah, look, honestly, the it's just gone really well,
so you can't argue.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Andy, it's speaking of kettle over in Texas, some outbreaks
of screw worm. It sounds as this is back on
the horizon, which is bad news for the Texas kettle industry.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
Yeah, no, fascinating, we're talking about off the air there.
It's one thing that I picked up. So the screw worm,
it must be a fly, which is larvae, which it
lays its eggs on either wounds or mucous membranes, so
like the nose and stuff of kettle. And then the
larvae they burrow into the skin and then basically eat
(31:52):
you know, eat them until they're pupa and then hatch
themselves out of flies so I've come over the Mexican
border from South America, so that's quite interesting, so that
it can actually kill a cattle beast. But what they've
got there, and I've had two or three cases now
in Texas, and it's interesting, Like I'm sure on farm
has got some ramifications, but there's a bit of I
(32:14):
see Canada and the other states in America have blocked
the cattle going anywhere going out of Texas and then
round the site where the screw where it was found.
They've got a twelve mile zone and every single animal
that goes in now that zone has to get checked
for screw where them, So even your dogs and cats
and like any livestocks. I thought that was interesting, but
(32:37):
they have Actually they thought they'd made it go extinct
in America, and what they did there was basically released
a heap of flies that were infertile, and then they
bred with the fertile flies, and basically then the offspring
became infertile. So right as we speak, right now, if
you look it up, the US government is flying planes
(33:01):
over with teens and teens and millions of infertile flies,
screw wearing flies, and they're dumping them out of the
back of a plane. That's just crazy, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Andy.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
It's a bit like getting fly striking the hoggers, but
one hundred times worse than what you'd imagine.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
Yeah, absolutely, I didn't find it fascinating that that's the
way they do. Then apparently they have some sights on
ground where they're actually hatching infertile lava from these flies.
They're basically going to put, you know, hundreds of millions
of flies out that are infertile, and they're going to
put them out into the Texas environment because to try
(33:38):
and breed with the wee few flies that are actually
fertile at the moment causing all the trouble. And then, yeah, absolutely,
absolutely fascinating. But I think it's certainly going to be
we watch in terms of kettle kettle price maybe I know. So,
Texas has got twelve point five million head of breeding cows,
which is the most of any state in America, and interestingly,
(34:01):
the next state, which is ikin saw it's got about
one point nine two million breeding cows. So yeah, Texas
has probably got a third of the breeding cows in
the whole United States.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
If you go and google it online, it's got the
makings of a horror movie. It's hideous.
Speaker 6 (34:18):
Yeah, absolutely, no, this could be quite quite major. And
what they actually do a lot of the feeder cattle
in America because they have the industrial scale feed lots,
and a lot of the kettle actually come from Mexico
and Canada, so they bring them over and then put
them into the big feed lots. So they've actually had
the border closed in America with Mexico, so they're big
feed lots over there are actually struggling to get carves
(34:41):
to put on the feed. So it's made their Yeah. Yeah,
the price of feeder stairs and heifers basically go ballistic.
But this could be quite interesting going forward.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Now, a bit a good news story that came out
from via the National Party this week or the government
they are as the playing of the Q two National
Trust allocated baseline funding from four point two to eight
point five million dollars, which is a real good news
story as well. This this needs to be celebrated.
Speaker 6 (35:12):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean the argument is the yere that
eight point two million dollars isn't all that much, and
but it needs to be celebrated. Absolutely. But I didn't
realize listening there I think the Key two Land Trust,
which is on private New Zealand farmland, it's something like
the second biggest estate outside dock I think of conservation
(35:36):
land because it's all been yeah to say one with
the TRUSTe you sign it through to the conservation estate
basically with the Kelly two Trust here. So yeah, it
sort of needs to be celebrated. And yeah, I guess
sometimes when farmers are getting a bit of a hard time,
probably does need to be noted that just how much
of the conservation estate and how much farm land's now
(35:58):
been conserved by the farmers in New Zealand. So get
congratulations to everyone involved with that.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The money's going towards surveying, legal work and fencing, amongst
other things. So like we say, we've got to celebrate
the good stuff when it happens.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
I absolutely, and yeah, i'd argue I've seen I think
as a generalization, and the stuff in the KWY two
National Trust would be of a lot higher standards than
some of the medium dockland that I've seen in my opinion.
Being careful around those words, of course, Andy, but I
(36:33):
have seen a lot of dockland, and I've seen a
lot of I've seen a lot of gorse and broom
would be more.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
One comment, can only James you enjoy this afternoon and
our Longmader's will price keep continuing?
Speaker 6 (36:44):
I think Andy, I.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Knew you had to get a wee.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Pop from there.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Absolutely good, only Javes, we'll see we hear the scene.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
Of us.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
This is the muster ond Hakanui just for Hollie Morrison,
Don Morrison through the barricades by Spendal Ballet. A very
popular group. But how are you telling me it's the
most popular song, And truth be known, it's not one
that you hear every day, good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Oh it you look you don't hear it on main
media too much. But it was their last number one
Hurt and it was their biggest selling single, so you
know that big killer voice to Tony Hedley. So yeah,
thank you for that as a leader and appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Well, here we go, it's getting grunty. That's a good
power ballad. Power ballad.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Yes, I just played a bit more on that radio station.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Andy Rodia Julie noted, I'll put there through to Aaron
Gardner if he's listening. Look, you're based at willow Beg,
not far from God. Truth be known, you've been pretty
spoilt with this weather though.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Helly, Andy, this is just been an outstanding, an outstanding
lead into the winter. You know, great great Finns to
the autumn in terms of just you condition for mating
and HOBt mating, things like that, just getting those last
lambs off the place. And now the last week in
fact today the last five of us are going on
(38:17):
the fodder beat. I just find it quite a certifying season.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You've tidied up.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
The whole the whole rest of your year activities and
it's now really the settling down and the setup for
next year, and to be able to go into the
winter with us in really good condition and got the
final yields back and all the crops, feed budgets done
and things are looking positive. We've got a surplus which
is always important to our tea budgets here, so you've
(38:44):
got to bid up your sleeves at the at the
end of the winter. And yeah, I just feeling pretty good, Andy.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
So as far as those crops, you've got plenty of
eating by the sounds of it.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Heere the some of the yields surprised me, but the
swedes are back of course they've planted it, laid in
the season, then the fire to beat, but they were
more fit around that fourteen ton, which is a sort
of an average crop of swedes, where some of the
other years we've had some pretty high yields up to
twenty but we've had fire beat yields back in you know,
high high twenty twenty seven, twenty eight ton, and that
(39:17):
gives you a lot of eating come the winter time.
So we sit with the swedes then the fider beat
because because while we've recent years have had some pretty big,
sweet yields, it just shows you're having the combination of
the twos. A bit of insurance and our you know,
one of our biggest insurances here is having that feed
for the one heavily reliant on that winter feed for
(39:39):
three months for all the animals. So yeah, a bit
of peace of mind when you get there and the
yields are pretty good.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
A good way to look at this time of year.
It's not just the transitioning of the animals onto the
winter crops, but like you alluded to, Howie, it's a
transitioning into winter moat on farm just full stop.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, you get up in the morning each day, and
you know what your routine is. It takes us about
two hours to get everything feed here. So after smoke, oh,
we've actually got some time we can devote to tidening
things up. Still got a lot of strength all work
and fixing and fencing to do after that storm. But
we're just you know, we're getting some good afternoons and
days on that, and the place is just starting to
(40:18):
look a bit tidy. It looked to you know, I
don't like things, and they look a bit scruffy and
trees are down, but there just hasn't been the time
to clean it up till now. But I'm certainly enjoying that.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
A lot of people have talked about that. How we
the fact that they're getting the opportunity finally to go
and stop proof a few of these fences, fence lines
as such, because the number of trees that came down
has just been something you've had to put off.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yeah, it has been, and you know, we've actually, you know,
to be fair, endy, we've had to spend a lot
of money already on the excavators and the bigger diggers
that came in also felled a few more trees, and
then the fencing, So you know, there was a big
sort of I don't say that there's been a nice
explice and they had operating costs this year which are
(41:04):
hopefully not reoccurring, but the realities of farming you're always
going to get something thrown at you. So probably been
a good, good financial year to be able to you know,
just sort of where that that extra cost or with it.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
So how far above budget did your lamb see end up?
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Everything's above about like I think I budgeted one hundred
and fifty dollars the lambs and y where I've basically
mean two hundred and two hundred plus. While I budgeted
what I got last year and I doubled what we got.
We got up to high sixes for so for the
you know six six sixty six seventy clean for U
fleece and lamb fleece. That was outstanding. RAM sales were great,
(41:46):
Crop yields came in bang on ever read and this
is the barley and slightly higher than I budgeted. So
you know, all in all, it was just a really
good season. I'd say my first really good season and
probably thirty odd years of farming.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Endy, we'll use yesterday at lawnvill crack three hundred dollars.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, pretty stunning. And you know what I'm hearing from
you know, both the meat and the milk companies, is
that the world just looking for that quality, safe protein.
And you know, there seems to be you know, a
little bit of a confidence around those prices. Certainly when
you see those winter contracts help the lamb, there's obviously
(42:25):
some confidence going forward. You know, I've been farming probably
thirty years on head to Loka years.
Speaker 6 (42:32):
I've some pretty crap.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Years, and this is the been the one really good
year and we just fingers crossed we can get another one.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Now, this is interesting coming from you, Howie, because you're
always just a little bit cynical about the lamb schedel
heading into spring. But you're pretty well healed in the industry.
You'll have a bit of an idea of what's going on.
What are you hearing.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
I'm just I'm just having confidence, confidence tempered worth. Don't
make promises because you just look at that look just
go back to volatility world. You know, who knows what's
going to happen. We're looking at that want of you know,
eat must on the stock market and from what I'm
hearing the S and P everything's back because a lot
(43:15):
of a lot of other stocks are selling out because
people want to having a steak in that. So we're
actually seeing a bit of a quite a downturn in
the market in the last few days, which people Beams
wouldn't have expected. You know, seeing anything like.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
That impacts the US market's an underesting one, given all
these people are on these diets that required them to
eat a lot of lamb and beef and the likes.
Considering that any of these hamburgers put themselves into this
situation in the first place.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Yeah, look at me. They love their burgers and in
the States, there's no doubt about that, and certainly even
for the lamb meat outside of the beef, a really
really strong market. So I've actually been surprised with the
economic you know, hardship they've been facing in the stakes
that that demand has held up so well. So I
guess you'd actually argue that this is actually quite a
(44:03):
good point, the fact that demand and pricing has still
been strong despite the uncertainty and the volatility. That one
can only hope if things settle down a little bit,
you know, That's why we're going to sustain those prices.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
How do you see Wall going?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Look, well, I hope the trend would continue. I've actually
said for quite a long time, Andy, it's the one
thing that I have been optimistic about that and I've
said in the not necessarily in their future, but medium
to long term, I think Wall is going to be
a very viable product with a lot of end uses.
So I see I see Wall only getting better.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
So it's fair to say the positives are outweighing the
negatives at the moment. I mean just throughout the sector.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Oh look, I think when you come off a season
like this, Andy, you can't help but be positive. And
that's right through the dairy and the red meat sector.
You know, if you're a great grower or a hops
growing telling a little bit of a difference story. But certainly,
certainly for our sector and primary industry, it's been a
good year, so we have to celebrate it. And I
(45:08):
guess you've got to be optimistic and hope things are
going to carry on. But the philosophy is, you know,
I'm not going to spend any money until I've got it,
So you know, you look at the budgets next year,
there's a lot of things we'd like to do that
you know, we're still going to have to wait till
we get there.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Tony Brown's been resigned by the indsedbor Not for two
years time. This is a very positive thing for New
Zealand and Rugby moving forward.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
But it's really good four sight and the year lockcome.
Every time there's been a change, his name pops up
as how good he would be in the mix or
who he could be in the max with. So no
I think that's that's great foresight. And you know, I
think the you know, the invied I refuse just probably
doing a little bit of a bit of job. You know,
they've got some new people in there and I like
(45:54):
a lot of what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
What don how Morrison de You're wrapping up the best
of the Muster. We'll leave it there now. If you
want to go and catch any interviews online, they are
available of course. The Muster on Hockin Nelly courtesy of iHeartRadio.
My name is Andy Muir. Thanks to your company. I'm
away for a few days now. We're going on a
little bit of a holiday. So Olivia Weatherburn's going to
(46:18):
be hosting the Muster while I'm away having a bit
of leave. I suppose Radio. Let's mate see in a
few days.
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