October 19, 2025 • 7 mins
Ben Dooley says tomorrow's Alliance Group announcement will go a long way to deciding the direction of the red meat sector in NZ.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Masters on the Farm brought to you by Southland
District Council working together for a better Southland. Ben Dowey
Farms just out of windhom Sheep Beef and YouTube farmer deals.
Good afternoon, Good Andy. Here's a gown not bad but
as a look outside, it's just a ted wet I'll
(00:24):
imagine the situations to say that your place.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
She's pretty miserable there at the moment, and to be
fear of the forecast for the next nine or teen
days does not look much better, but it's worse for
some of them. But we're reasonably I wouldn't say we're
up to date, but we're reasonably. Yeah, we've got a
fear of the stuff done the last few weeks. So
weather's going to do what it's going to do. It's
going to work with it. But yeah, I think we're
sort of sitting Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You managed to get the tailing done last week.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah, it was a bit earlier than I'd like
to go. Who specially if there's two flaming a bit
late like they always do. But in hindsight on bloody
grad we got it done because it was a nice day.
We've got one week share right at the end of it,
managed to say to the contractors just before lunchtill just
before twelve, Oh, that rain stayed away for the day,
hasn't it. And we all just looked at her and went,
what did you say? And sure enough the last pen
we've got rain. But that was it. So yeah, got
(01:13):
that job done, All done by sort of three thirty,
and numbers are looking reasonable. We're up on last year.
We got absolutely ammad last year. Everyone got a bit
of a hiding this year. But yeah, at least we're
up a wee bit. We should have another three or
four hundred more lambs to kill, so yeah, positives there
and yeah, now.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It's a hot topic at the moment, being we find
out tomorrow morning. This alliance proposal regarding Dawn meets Jamie
McKay on the Country previously, speaking to Pete Turner and Mosbourne.
Are you cautiously optimistic about what way this is going
to go?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I don't even know if I'm cautiously optimistic. Obviously I
want the deal to go through. I think it's going
to be pretty close. One thing we've heard, I think
that that here was what Riley says, there's eighty four
or eighty four percent of shares already voted, so at
least we've had a good turnout that bodes on favor
of giving that fifty percent line, that fifty percent marker across.
(02:04):
But yeah, it's just whether we get that seventy five
percent in favor of I'd like to think we will,
but yeah, there certainly won't. We won't be making any calls.
I wouldn't be making any placing any bets on it
until we actually know tomorrow. It's yeah, too close for
comfort for me.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
So the farmers you speak to, what are their thoughts
around it? I mean it's very varied. I've heard that
as well. What are you hearing?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I'm the same, very varied. Once again, don't really
know of anyone who's changed their minds since the whole
thing started. People are either forward or against it. Yeah,
it sounds to me a little bit like the bigger
farmers are against it. But then by the sounds of it,
the third party guys as a general rule, tend to
be in favor of it, and some of them we've
(02:49):
got some pretty big shareholdings too. So yeah, people are
either and I'm the people that I speak to that
are against that aren't in favor of the deal of
the Big five either. They're not in favor of a
whold of money, and they seem to talk about wanting
to see it sold up. Just just go to other
companies and see what happens there, which I mean there's
potentially some benefits there. But I will say if that happens,
(03:11):
my personal viewers that launs all close an Alliance won't
get any money out of it when it closes. I
don't think I could be wrong there. But if we
lose that, I mean, what is it the largest sheep
processing plant in the Southern hemisphere or in the world.
Possibly even we need to reduce capacity within our industry,
but I don't think closing the biggest one is the
(03:32):
right place to start. So wee a bit scared about that.
But yeah, we'll just see what happens.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It'll be interesting what does unfold. But you can't tell me.
There has been countered talks going on behind the scenes.
If it is a no vote as well regarding Alliance,
and perhaps I don't know, somebody the government and one
way shape or formers perhaps is what the next option
would be, because that would be pretty blase on their behalf.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, well we did hear Winston the other day talking
about how he's den set against it and that maybe
the company should have come to the government. I don't
personally believe the government has any space any place in
these negotiations, and I'm not sure that I'm a fan
of the idea of corporate bailouts too. As much as
it would short term work in our favor this time,
it would open the floodgates for all sorts of things
to happen. If we look back to the Hubard finance thing,
(04:15):
I was pretty against that being backed by the government. Yeah,
it's the way New Zealand works. It's not really a
place we should be going. But I'm sure there's conversations
with other processes as well. I'm sure like if if
Alliance closes, obviously the other some of the other processes
are going to be looking to snap up those plants
because they're going to have an influx of people looking
to kill lambs. The lambs have got to be killed somewhere,
(04:37):
heaven't they end Kettle. So something will definitely happen. It's
just what shape that takes we don't know. But yes,
I'm sure conversations are being hit behind closed doors.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
But regardless what happens tomorrow, over capacity as a concern being.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
One hundred percent agree, Yeah, we definitely have too much capacity.
But I guess from my point of view, like just
listening to the previous generation talk about the way things
have been in the past, will we need to address
that over capacity? Like I say, I'm not sure. Shutting
the largest sheep meat processing plant in the Southern Hemisphere
is a great place to start. We probably need to
(05:11):
be looking at closing down some smaller plants for us.
But then the problem you run into there is those
smaller plants are running very profitably at the moment. Then
I do wonder two how much of their over capacity
does get sold to third party traders and gets put
through Lawnville. Anyway, we know a bit of that happens.
And if we lose Lawnville, like I say, I just
(05:31):
get scared. You don't just want to go all in
and say right, let square says down to absolute minimum
capacity required, because then we're going to be having our
allocated space every year. You won't be able to change it.
You'll have to kill when you've got space, as opposed
to having that flexibility to shift your kill according to
grass growth. And while I understand that costs the industry
(05:52):
a lot of money, it also makes it a lot
of money and we need to find a happy medium
in between there not go from one polar extreme to
the other.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
It's interesting they're speaking at individuals over the weekend who
kill third party and you know, maybe about three thousand
lambs or something like that, there's their lamb kill for
the season. But you totally get it. You can do
it if you're getting above seed or of course you've
got to.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Do that, oh, one hundred percent. I've got nothing against
the third party guys.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
The nature of the game, right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The argument is that of Lawnville disappears, then a lot
of the third party guys will have very little area
to go. But by all means, we always used to
get quite upset about the third party thing, and I
didn't realize that they were all shared up, and a
few years ago when I found out they were shared up,
it's like, well, if they're shared up and they're supplying,
you can't really be against that. They've got their money
(06:39):
and the thing, they're entitled to their space and they're working.
How they're working. They're just they're just using the systems
they're vantage. So absolutely nothing against those guys.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Just finally, your YouTube, your YouTube channel, Deep South Sheep
and Beef. Anything been happening there lately? You're just too busy.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, No, I've got three or four videos yet since
I was talking to you last time. One get a
bit of grass and might have been shedding out, I think,
and something else. And there's another one. It'll just be
a week instrumental one on tailing. It's pretty hard to
do much recording when you're tailing, So when you.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Say instrumental, what are you playing the guitar in the
backery on what's ago?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Instrumental might not be the best read to use this.
It'll just be a whole lot of clips put together.
There'll be no talking or anything in it. It'll just
be a bit of noise from the lambs and a
bit of music over the top and I don't know,
four or five minutes long maybe and just yeah. As
opposed to my usual type of videos, it'll just be
I don't even know what the right word is, but
a cinematic experience, you might.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Say, cinematic experience. You heard it here from Ben Dowley. First,
always appreciate your time. Will you wait tomorrow? No good
on you, emmy, Ben Dooley. Sheep farming and be farming
for that matter. Down the windom, you're listening to the
Master before the end of the Hour and news Talk
ZIB's Nick Bewley. But up next Craig Wiggy Wiggins.
The Masters on the Farm brought to you by Southland
District Council working together for a better Southland. Ben Dowey
Farms just out of windhom Sheep Beef and YouTube farmer deals.
Good afternoon, Good Andy. Here's a gown not bad but
as a look outside, it's just a ted wet I'll
(00:24):
imagine the situations to say that your place.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
She's pretty miserable there at the moment, and to be
fear of the forecast for the next nine or teen
days does not look much better, but it's worse for
some of them. But we're reasonably I wouldn't say we're
up to date, but we're reasonably. Yeah, we've got a
fear of the stuff done the last few weeks. So
weather's going to do what it's going to do. It's
going to work with it. But yeah, I think we're
sort of sitting Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You managed to get the tailing done last week.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah, it was a bit earlier than I'd like
to go. Who specially if there's two flaming a bit
late like they always do. But in hindsight on bloody
grad we got it done because it was a nice day.
We've got one week share right at the end of it,
managed to say to the contractors just before lunchtill just
before twelve, Oh, that rain stayed away for the day,
hasn't it. And we all just looked at her and went,
what did you say? And sure enough the last pen
we've got rain. But that was it. So yeah, got
(01:13):
that job done, All done by sort of three thirty,
and numbers are looking reasonable. We're up on last year.
We got absolutely ammad last year. Everyone got a bit
of a hiding this year. But yeah, at least we're
up a wee bit. We should have another three or
four hundred more lambs to kill, so yeah, positives there
and yeah, now.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It's a hot topic at the moment, being we find
out tomorrow morning. This alliance proposal regarding Dawn meets Jamie
McKay on the Country previously, speaking to Pete Turner and Mosbourne.
Are you cautiously optimistic about what way this is going
to go?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I don't even know if I'm cautiously optimistic. Obviously I
want the deal to go through. I think it's going
to be pretty close. One thing we've heard, I think
that that here was what Riley says, there's eighty four
or eighty four percent of shares already voted, so at
least we've had a good turnout that bodes on favor
of giving that fifty percent line, that fifty percent marker across.
(02:04):
But yeah, it's just whether we get that seventy five
percent in favor of I'd like to think we will,
but yeah, there certainly won't. We won't be making any calls.
I wouldn't be making any placing any bets on it
until we actually know tomorrow. It's yeah, too close for
comfort for me.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
So the farmers you speak to, what are their thoughts
around it? I mean it's very varied. I've heard that
as well. What are you hearing?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I'm the same, very varied. Once again, don't really
know of anyone who's changed their minds since the whole
thing started. People are either forward or against it. Yeah,
it sounds to me a little bit like the bigger
farmers are against it. But then by the sounds of it,
the third party guys as a general rule, tend to
be in favor of it, and some of them we've
(02:49):
got some pretty big shareholdings too. So yeah, people are
either and I'm the people that I speak to that
are against that aren't in favor of the deal of
the Big five either. They're not in favor of a
whold of money, and they seem to talk about wanting
to see it sold up. Just just go to other
companies and see what happens there, which I mean there's
potentially some benefits there. But I will say if that happens,
(03:11):
my personal viewers that launs all close an Alliance won't
get any money out of it when it closes. I
don't think I could be wrong there. But if we
lose that, I mean, what is it the largest sheep
processing plant in the Southern hemisphere or in the world.
Possibly even we need to reduce capacity within our industry,
but I don't think closing the biggest one is the
(03:32):
right place to start. So wee a bit scared about that.
But yeah, we'll just see what happens.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It'll be interesting what does unfold. But you can't tell me.
There has been countered talks going on behind the scenes.
If it is a no vote as well regarding Alliance,
and perhaps I don't know, somebody the government and one
way shape or formers perhaps is what the next option
would be, because that would be pretty blase on their behalf.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, well we did hear Winston the other day talking
about how he's den set against it and that maybe
the company should have come to the government. I don't
personally believe the government has any space any place in
these negotiations, and I'm not sure that I'm a fan
of the idea of corporate bailouts too. As much as
it would short term work in our favor this time,
it would open the floodgates for all sorts of things
to happen. If we look back to the Hubard finance thing,
(04:15):
I was pretty against that being backed by the government. Yeah,
it's the way New Zealand works. It's not really a
place we should be going. But I'm sure there's conversations
with other processes as well. I'm sure like if if
Alliance closes, obviously the other some of the other processes
are going to be looking to snap up those plants
because they're going to have an influx of people looking
to kill lambs. The lambs have got to be killed somewhere,
(04:37):
heaven't they end Kettle. So something will definitely happen. It's
just what shape that takes we don't know. But yes,
I'm sure conversations are being hit behind closed doors.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
But regardless what happens tomorrow, over capacity as a concern being.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
One hundred percent agree, Yeah, we definitely have too much capacity.
But I guess from my point of view, like just
listening to the previous generation talk about the way things
have been in the past, will we need to address
that over capacity? Like I say, I'm not sure. Shutting
the largest sheep meat processing plant in the Southern Hemisphere
is a great place to start. We probably need to
(05:11):
be looking at closing down some smaller plants for us.
But then the problem you run into there is those
smaller plants are running very profitably at the moment. Then
I do wonder two how much of their over capacity
does get sold to third party traders and gets put
through Lawnville. Anyway, we know a bit of that happens.
And if we lose Lawnville, like I say, I just
(05:31):
get scared. You don't just want to go all in
and say right, let square says down to absolute minimum
capacity required, because then we're going to be having our
allocated space every year. You won't be able to change it.
You'll have to kill when you've got space, as opposed
to having that flexibility to shift your kill according to
grass growth. And while I understand that costs the industry
(05:52):
a lot of money, it also makes it a lot
of money and we need to find a happy medium
in between there not go from one polar extreme to
the other.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
It's interesting they're speaking at individuals over the weekend who
kill third party and you know, maybe about three thousand
lambs or something like that, there's their lamb kill for
the season. But you totally get it. You can do
it if you're getting above seed or of course you've
got to.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Do that, oh, one hundred percent. I've got nothing against
the third party guys.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
The nature of the game, right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The argument is that of Lawnville disappears, then a lot
of the third party guys will have very little area
to go. But by all means, we always used to
get quite upset about the third party thing, and I
didn't realize that they were all shared up, and a
few years ago when I found out they were shared up,
it's like, well, if they're shared up and they're supplying,
you can't really be against that. They've got their money
(06:39):
and the thing, they're entitled to their space and they're working.
How they're working. They're just they're just using the systems
they're vantage. So absolutely nothing against those guys.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Just finally, your YouTube, your YouTube channel, Deep South Sheep
and Beef. Anything been happening there lately? You're just too busy.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, No, I've got three or four videos yet since
I was talking to you last time. One get a
bit of grass and might have been shedding out, I think,
and something else. And there's another one. It'll just be
a week instrumental one on tailing. It's pretty hard to
do much recording when you're tailing, So when you.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Say instrumental, what are you playing the guitar in the
backery on what's ago?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Instrumental might not be the best read to use this.
It'll just be a whole lot of clips put together.
There'll be no talking or anything in it. It'll just
be a bit of noise from the lambs and a
bit of music over the top and I don't know,
four or five minutes long maybe and just yeah. As
opposed to my usual type of videos, it'll just be
I don't even know what the right word is, but
a cinematic experience, you might.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Say, cinematic experience. You heard it here from Ben Dowley. First,
always appreciate your time. Will you wait tomorrow? No good
on you, emmy, Ben Dooley. Sheep farming and be farming
for that matter. Down the windom, you're listening to the
Master before the end of the Hour and news Talk
ZIB's Nick Bewley. But up next Craig Wiggy Wiggins.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.