September 9, 2026 • 8 mins
Don Moore farms at Kennington and says that the season ahead has him excited as calving season rolls on.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Don Moore gets us underway this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
He's dairy farming down at Kennington. He is part of
the Fonterra Shareholders Council and he's out in the trenches.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Don, good afternoon. How's everything?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh, just a box of fluffies, yeah. Yeah, no, the
rain obviously came back in for everyone last night at
some stage and... Made us, just reminded us again that
don't enjoy that sunshine too much. Yeah, it was a
beautiful couple of days. But yeah, I think we're back
into a few days of rain anyway.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was just a tease. 48 hours. It was just bliss.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And today we've had all these nasty showers coming through
here in Gore anyway. I mean, down there, how wet
are ground conditions?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, it's just pretty wet out. Yeah, you wouldn't get
it too wet around here. around much of the paddocks
these days. But, yeah, the cows had a bit of
a reprieve in the people for a couple of days,
and this is springtime, so we'll get some more good
weather at some stage.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
It'll happen, I think, next week.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
There's a few nor'westers in there, but temperatures will be up,
so perhaps start drying this ground out, which it needs to.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, hopefully, hopefully. Yeah, we'll sort of keep moving cows
on and things, but, yeah, that's the way it goes.
We're still... Well, we're still enjoying things, so that's good.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
That's a good way to be. You've just moved down there,
so that's always a bonus.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, I do get mentioned to me occasionally, you know, well,
you wanted to move down here.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That'll grow pretty good grass there when the season's humming,
I'd imagine.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh, yeah, it doesn't stop. Yeah, no, it's fantastic. That's
one of the reasons I wanted to move here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Fair enough. So carving, you're getting through? Yeah, we are.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, we're probably about 80%, 85%. If we're not 85%,
we're not far off it. And so, yeah, no, second along,
we had a big day yesterday, which was good because
when you have a big day, when you don't have
many to go, it takes a big chunk out. So, yeah,
we're looking forward to the end of the carving season
(02:19):
and get ready for the next bit. But usually, you know,
by the time you get to the end of the
carving season, you free up your days and the sun
shines out a bit more and and you can probably
have a day off. It would be nice.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
You say it was a big day. How many calves
would you be talking?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Oh, look, I think we had about 16, 17 yesterday. Yeah.
So that's a pretty big day for this time of
the year. It's not a big day early on in
the calving season, but that's a big day for now
when you're sort of, that's over 10% of your numbers
to go.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Weather aside, and obviously the weather's a big driver in August, September. Um,
calving though, it's gone to plan?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, pretty good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Um, I've, uh, bitten off a bit more than I
can chew. I think I've said that before with Wunder projects, but, um, but, uh, yeah, no, it's, uh,
I mean, every day we're making some difference and, uh,
and making changes that, that improve the farm. So, uh, that's,
that's quite, you know, that's rewarding. That's what helps you
get up every day when you're, when you can go
(03:22):
out there and notice the thing that you changed yesterday
is helping what you're doing today. So that's bloody awesome, actually.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, you've got these projects on the go.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
When are you hoping to have everything up and running properly?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Because it's a marathon, not a sprint with what you're doing. Hey,
this is a farm, man.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It'll take years. It's never done.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
No, no, this is when you say you bought something
at a clearing sale 20 years ago, or your old
man did, and you're finally going to get around to
using that bolt that's.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
A real odd size. It's imperial.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, come in handies, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Just the nature of the game. Right, as far as
the season, though, you get through August, you get through September.
Do you enjoy this time of year? Is it enjoyable, busy,
or is it pretty hectic?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Oh, I love it. Absolutely love it. Yeah, it's that
opportunity to reset and give it another crack and see
if you can do better. Every year you get that opportunity. So, no,
it's bloody awesome. And we're making so many changes and
improvements on the farm that it's hard not to sort
of be invigorated by that. even if you have the
hard days and bits and pieces you're making all these
(04:25):
changes it's just enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Moving farms, is that part of the reason you're so
invigorated as such?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah definitely, I mean it's all the things that we
wanted to do on this farm that's invigorating and we're
certainly missing people up in Gore old mates and bits
and pieces and that's a bit harder but Look, we
didn't see that much at this time of the year
usually anyway. So, no, it's great fun and I've got,
(04:54):
you know, we've got farm projects, we've got house projects,
I've got shed projects and all sorts of things to do.
So there's not going to be any shortage of things
to do for the next wee while and a bit
of motivation.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That's a good way to be. What about the staff?
How are they finding this time of year?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, look, they're doing really well. We've got a new
guy came on this season, started dairy farming, and he's
absolutely thriving. And our manager too. We've got one guy, unfortunately,
off at the moment with an injury. So that's put
a bit of pressure on. But look, the systems and
(05:31):
things that we've got in place just allow us to
keep on ticking on. It probably just slows down, probably
more slows down the projects that I want to do
because I've sort of got to make sure that we're
getting all the day-to-day basics done. But, no, it's good. Yeah,
they're happy.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But at the same time, you've got a vision as
to where you, Jess, and the family want the farm
to be. And so, what, as far as goal setting,
I suppose this comes into it, you just try and
realign what you want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, you've just got to sort of say to yourself, well, actually,
everything's operational. And this time of the year when things
crop up, you've just got to do the basics and
do the basics well, and that's fine. And you've got
to be OK with that. You know, sometimes you get
frustrated and you've just got to sort of recheck yourself,
(06:22):
and that's probably where I've.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Been this week.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
As far as the payout, are you pretty optimistic it's
going to stay where it is?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Oh, yeah, I'm optimistic, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think,
you know, we've got a long way to play out, but... No,
I think if I was to think back on my
comments and thoughts, you know, over last season, I could
see a lot more downside than upside risk. But I
(06:54):
think it's probably a bit more balanced this season, actually.
So if that's a real positive, then if that's a positive,
then that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
When you say there's a bit more balance, what do
you mean by that exactly?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Well, I just think we've seen some of that volatility
play out over the last 12 to 24 months. It's
been a pretty hectic world and we're still seeing relatively,
you know, very good commodity prices. And I think if
this has sort of become the norm, this volatility, then
(07:26):
if you look at the other drivers around, supply, demand
and all those sort of stories around global supply and
bits and pieces, I'm feeling quite optimistic.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Just food supply in general, something New Zealand does really
well and we talk about the figures of what Southland
does for the GDP, we don't need to go there
because we know we're more than holding our own weight.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, that's right. And look, I think ultimately I'll be wrong.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
No, you've got to back yourself in your judgement though,
you can only play what's in front of you and Jeez.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, like I say, I'm optimistic.
Hopefully that plays out.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Hopefully it does, Don. Hey, we'll let you carry on.
All the best for the rest of the carving. We'll
catch up again, eh?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yeah, very good. Cheers, Andy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Don Moore, Positivity Plus. It's what you want at the moment.
No need for energy drinks. A lot of good stuff
going on. Great to see that positivity in the sector.
You're listening to The Muster. Just down from Kennington is Riverton,
the River Era of the South.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Geordie Yee, we catch up.
Don Moore gets us underway this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
He's dairy farming down at Kennington. He is part of
the Fonterra Shareholders Council and he's out in the trenches.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Don, good afternoon. How's everything?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh, just a box of fluffies, yeah. Yeah, no, the
rain obviously came back in for everyone last night at
some stage and... Made us, just reminded us again that
don't enjoy that sunshine too much. Yeah, it was a
beautiful couple of days. But yeah, I think we're back
into a few days of rain anyway.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was just a tease. 48 hours. It was just bliss.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And today we've had all these nasty showers coming through
here in Gore anyway. I mean, down there, how wet
are ground conditions?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, it's just pretty wet out. Yeah, you wouldn't get
it too wet around here. around much of the paddocks
these days. But, yeah, the cows had a bit of
a reprieve in the people for a couple of days,
and this is springtime, so we'll get some more good
weather at some stage.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
It'll happen, I think, next week.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
There's a few nor'westers in there, but temperatures will be up,
so perhaps start drying this ground out, which it needs to.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, hopefully, hopefully. Yeah, we'll sort of keep moving cows
on and things, but, yeah, that's the way it goes.
We're still... Well, we're still enjoying things, so that's good.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
That's a good way to be. You've just moved down there,
so that's always a bonus.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, I do get mentioned to me occasionally, you know, well,
you wanted to move down here.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That'll grow pretty good grass there when the season's humming,
I'd imagine.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh, yeah, it doesn't stop. Yeah, no, it's fantastic. That's
one of the reasons I wanted to move here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Fair enough. So carving, you're getting through? Yeah, we are.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, we're probably about 80%, 85%. If we're not 85%,
we're not far off it. And so, yeah, no, second along,
we had a big day yesterday, which was good because
when you have a big day, when you don't have
many to go, it takes a big chunk out. So, yeah,
we're looking forward to the end of the carving season
(02:19):
and get ready for the next bit. But usually, you know,
by the time you get to the end of the
carving season, you free up your days and the sun
shines out a bit more and and you can probably
have a day off. It would be nice.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
You say it was a big day. How many calves
would you be talking?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Oh, look, I think we had about 16, 17 yesterday. Yeah.
So that's a pretty big day for this time of
the year. It's not a big day early on in
the calving season, but that's a big day for now
when you're sort of, that's over 10% of your numbers
to go.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Weather aside, and obviously the weather's a big driver in August, September. Um,
calving though, it's gone to plan?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, pretty good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Um, I've, uh, bitten off a bit more than I
can chew. I think I've said that before with Wunder projects, but, um, but, uh, yeah, no, it's, uh,
I mean, every day we're making some difference and, uh,
and making changes that, that improve the farm. So, uh, that's,
that's quite, you know, that's rewarding. That's what helps you
get up every day when you're, when you can go
(03:22):
out there and notice the thing that you changed yesterday
is helping what you're doing today. So that's bloody awesome, actually.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, you've got these projects on the go.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
When are you hoping to have everything up and running properly?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Because it's a marathon, not a sprint with what you're doing. Hey,
this is a farm, man.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It'll take years. It's never done.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
No, no, this is when you say you bought something
at a clearing sale 20 years ago, or your old
man did, and you're finally going to get around to
using that bolt that's.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
A real odd size. It's imperial.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, come in handies, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Just the nature of the game. Right, as far as
the season, though, you get through August, you get through September.
Do you enjoy this time of year? Is it enjoyable, busy,
or is it pretty hectic?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Oh, I love it. Absolutely love it. Yeah, it's that
opportunity to reset and give it another crack and see
if you can do better. Every year you get that opportunity. So, no,
it's bloody awesome. And we're making so many changes and
improvements on the farm that it's hard not to sort
of be invigorated by that. even if you have the
hard days and bits and pieces you're making all these
(04:25):
changes it's just enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Moving farms, is that part of the reason you're so
invigorated as such?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah definitely, I mean it's all the things that we
wanted to do on this farm that's invigorating and we're
certainly missing people up in Gore old mates and bits
and pieces and that's a bit harder but Look, we
didn't see that much at this time of the year
usually anyway. So, no, it's great fun and I've got,
(04:54):
you know, we've got farm projects, we've got house projects,
I've got shed projects and all sorts of things to do.
So there's not going to be any shortage of things
to do for the next wee while and a bit
of motivation.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That's a good way to be. What about the staff?
How are they finding this time of year?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, look, they're doing really well. We've got a new
guy came on this season, started dairy farming, and he's
absolutely thriving. And our manager too. We've got one guy, unfortunately,
off at the moment with an injury. So that's put
a bit of pressure on. But look, the systems and
(05:31):
things that we've got in place just allow us to
keep on ticking on. It probably just slows down, probably
more slows down the projects that I want to do
because I've sort of got to make sure that we're
getting all the day-to-day basics done. But, no, it's good. Yeah,
they're happy.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But at the same time, you've got a vision as
to where you, Jess, and the family want the farm
to be. And so, what, as far as goal setting,
I suppose this comes into it, you just try and
realign what you want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, you've just got to sort of say to yourself, well, actually,
everything's operational. And this time of the year when things
crop up, you've just got to do the basics and
do the basics well, and that's fine. And you've got
to be OK with that. You know, sometimes you get
frustrated and you've just got to sort of recheck yourself,
(06:22):
and that's probably where I've.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Been this week.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
As far as the payout, are you pretty optimistic it's
going to stay where it is?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Oh, yeah, I'm optimistic, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think,
you know, we've got a long way to play out, but... No,
I think if I was to think back on my
comments and thoughts, you know, over last season, I could
see a lot more downside than upside risk. But I
(06:54):
think it's probably a bit more balanced this season, actually.
So if that's a real positive, then if that's a positive,
then that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
When you say there's a bit more balance, what do
you mean by that exactly?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Well, I just think we've seen some of that volatility
play out over the last 12 to 24 months. It's
been a pretty hectic world and we're still seeing relatively,
you know, very good commodity prices. And I think if
this has sort of become the norm, this volatility, then
(07:26):
if you look at the other drivers around, supply, demand
and all those sort of stories around global supply and
bits and pieces, I'm feeling quite optimistic.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Just food supply in general, something New Zealand does really
well and we talk about the figures of what Southland
does for the GDP, we don't need to go there
because we know we're more than holding our own weight.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, that's right. And look, I think ultimately I'll be wrong.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
No, you've got to back yourself in your judgement though,
you can only play what's in front of you and Jeez.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, like I say, I'm optimistic.
Hopefully that plays out.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Hopefully it does, Don. Hey, we'll let you carry on.
All the best for the rest of the carving. We'll
catch up again, eh?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yeah, very good. Cheers, Andy.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Don Moore, Positivity Plus. It's what you want at the moment.
No need for energy drinks. A lot of good stuff
going on. Great to see that positivity in the sector.
You're listening to The Muster. Just down from Kennington is Riverton,
the River Era of the South.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Geordie Yee, we catch up.
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