September 10, 2026 • 45 mins
Andy Muir talks to Jamie Mackay, Phil Duncan, Nigel Woodhead, Mark Kelly and James McNamee.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good afternoon and welcome to the muster. Andy Muir here
and the show is brought to you by Peters Genetics
on a Friday. Welcome along. An overcast sky greets us
here in Gore. We'll look at the weather shortly in
detail with Phil Duncan of Weather Watch. But before we
go any further as well, shout out to Abans Agriculture.
They're already 25 years in the game today, so... Everybody involved,
(00:30):
Chris Janine and everyone. Yeah, well done. Congratulations. Awesome to
see these businesses continue through in the capacity that they are.
But anyway, a bit to get through for the hour.
Crank straight into it. This song here, Sweet Home Alabama.
Bit of an institution in pub anthem circles, I suppose.
Leonard Skinner.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sing about it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
This afternoon, rain with breezy westerlies in 10.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Saturday, morning showers with breezy westerlies 7 and 10. Sunday,
showers with westerlies 5 and 12. Monday, cloudy with west-north
westerlies 5 and 16. And Tuesday, partly cloudy with west-north
westerlies 7 and 17. Soil temperatures... Clinton 5.7, Heri at 7.3,
(01:21):
Northern Southland 7.4, Winton 9, Te Anau 6.9, Titarao 7.7,
Winton 6 and Woodland 7.4. What are we? Currently in Gorse,
sitting on 12 degrees. Double digits is good. Jamie Mackay
joins us in the country crossover for a Friday, followed
up by Phil Duncan of Weatherwatch, looking at the forecast
(01:41):
for the next seven days down here in the Deep South.
Nigel Whitehead farming in South Otago between Balclutha and Milton,
getting organised for lambing. We'll see how the feed covers
and life in general is with Nige. Mark Kelly, Newstalk
ZB producer and Bay of Plenty steamers rugby diehard. Has
a chat ahead of the Stags playing the Bay of
Plenty on Sunday, but as well the Warriors playing the Dolphins.
(02:05):
in their first game of the finals tomorrow at Mount
Smart Stadium. And James McNamee, all going to plan. He's
joining us from over in New York where he's just
landed as he's going to watch the All Blacks in
Baltimore play the Springboks on Sunday morning. So without further ado,
we'll crank straight into it with Jamie Mackay. This is
The Muster brought to you by Peters Genetics. The Country Crossover,
(02:31):
brought to you by Bioactive Soils. Growing together with healthy soils.
Become a proactive farmer with Bioactive Ag Fertiliser. Jamie Mackay
joins us for The Country Crossover, thanks to Bioactive Soils.
He's been absent for a while, but he's back in
the hot seat. Welcome back, Jamie.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Well, thank you. What do I call you? I am.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I am in the PM on the FM.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
It's good to be back. Three weeks of influenza A
for a man who famously never gets sick. It just
about bowled me over, Andy. I woke up in the
middle of the night one night and I was gasping
for air and I had this horrible thought, is this
how it ends?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Surely not.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
But it's really knocked me and I'm not 100% yet,
but I'm getting there. And I have to keep reminding
myself it's not cancer, so you just battle on. And
I'm just thankful, to be perfectly honest, Andy. I wasn't
or I'm not a farmer because I remember being a
young farmer, you might have a flu or be a
bit crook. But if it's lambing time, you just get
(03:35):
out there and do it and battle your way through it.
I physically couldn't have done that. And I feel very,
very sorry for any farmer or business person or anyone
for that matter who suffered through influenza A.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
It's quite brutal.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, well, good to have you back on deck, mate. Look,
the weather has been interesting. Well, not interesting, it's been concerning.
This El Nino flow that we're seeing is certainly kicking
into gear.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Yeah, it is, and this is playing exactly to script.
This is going to be the third, I think, terrible.
I hope I'm wrong here, Andy, but what are we now?
We're almost halfway through September, September the 11th, 9-11. We
might come back to that one. So this is playing
to script, isn't it? it's getting drier, although Canterbury got
(04:21):
a good rain and Marlborough got a good rain. They
were getting very dry recently. But for Southland, this is
just a shit of a spring. And I don't know,
my worry is that we're wet, wet, wet, wet, and
then we get to Labour weekend and it dries up,
especially in the drier parts of Southland, if you want,
(04:42):
northern Southland, and then we go dry. But September's obviously
an incredibly busy, important month. The dairy farmers are getting
into their second round. Sheep farmers are obviously lambing. If
you're not growing grass, some of that production you never
catch up on.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
On your show on Wednesday, Mark Delatour, boss of Open Country,
gave one of the more defining interviews that we're going
to hear on radio from a rural lens for a while.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
It was really interesting. He was saving this one up.
He was meant to do it a couple of weeks ago,
but I was off crook. He said, I'll wait till
you get back. So he was all fired up and
he's really created quite a stir. And for those who
didn't hear it, I mean, the basic synopsis of it, Andy,
for you blokes from Belfort, that means summary.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I shouldn't say that, should I?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You just did. You always do.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I just did. I always do.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
So it's friendly rivalry. But I mean, the guts of
it was he's saying, forget about Paris. forget about us
being blacklisted, if you want, by some of these markets.
He said there's plenty of demand. And he's talking, obviously,
wearing his dairy hat. I'm not sure the argument's quite
the same with the meat, but wearing his dairy hat,
(05:54):
he said there's plenty of markets that will take us
and we need to.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Be out of Paris.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
And the interesting thing about Paris, and I heard Bryce
McKenzie talking about this as well, it kind of, the
rural communities split on this. this is my take on
it anyhow, Andy, is split on Paris. Some people want
us in, some people want us out. And the other one, obviously,
Labour came out at the beginning of the week with
their ag emissions policy. They're not going to price ag emissions.
(06:22):
And I think almost everyone in agriculture is in unison
on that subject. So they are a couple of really
hot topics heading into the election. We've already seen the
likes of ACT and New Zealand First.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Don't want a.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Bar of Paris. National want to stay in, want us
to stay in. Labour want us to stay in. God
knows what Te Paati, or the Greens, I don't even
know what they think about ag farming. I don't think
they think much about it at all.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Okay, Luxembourg wants to stay in. Winnie and Seymour want
to get out. How's that going to work out in
a coalition agreement then? Because this has got, would it
become a bottom line perhaps?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I'd say no.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I mean, that's just it. I don't think it's going
to become a bottom line agreement. for either Seymour and Winston.
You want to talk about bottom lines? Bottom lines are
things like, for Winston, the age of eligibility for National Super.
He will die in the ditch on that one. And
that's a very important subject also for New Zealand, and
(07:23):
it's an issue that we've got to face going forward.
So those are bottom lines. Those are ones which would
make Winston switch camps.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Evan, help us.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, based on that, these polls are all over the show,
one coming out earlier in the week saying that Labour's
well down, another one coming out a couple of days
later saying they're a bit up on that poll that
was released earlier in the week. But I think all
these polls that are coming out, I mean, the one
thing you're seeing is that the uncertainty about November is
(07:53):
that votes are still up for grabs.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Yeah, well, I think what you're finding is because Labour's
been so useless and listless when it comes to policy announcement.
They've had their capital gains and that's about it. And
I felt sorry for Jo Luxton in that Q &
A rural leaders debate. They should have fed her their
ag emissions pricing announcement because I think they released that
(08:17):
on the Monday or the Tuesday following that show which
was broadcast on a Sunday. She was hung out to
dry in that rural leaders debate.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
But look, I think Labour are paying the price.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
The Greens, whether you love them or loathe them, and
I loathe them, at least they're coming out with policy,
and they're picking up the slack, I'm sure, from the
Labour voters. For me, and this is rather simplistic, I
think that the Opportunity Party bubble has burst. People are
really starting to do some homework on this lot, and
(08:51):
they are flaky. But if they do manage, if they
do manage to get past that 5% threshold, and I
don't think they will, I hope they won't, a change
of government is on. But If they don't get past 5%,
I can't see a change of government happening.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, you're coming down to Invercargill this weekend. Murray Heath
on the show a couple of days ago. Great yarn
as well regarding the 1970s Southland rugby team. Having a
get-together this weekend, Dan. Southland be full-back from Riversdale's EMC.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, well, normally when it comes to EMCing, Andy.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
And I don't do that much these days, but I've
done a lot over the years, people phone you up
and say, would you like to emcee these awards or something?
How much do you want? In my case, it all
goes to the IHC Carfan Rural Scheme these days, so
I always put my hand out quite a way, and
no one's ever said no, which is wonderful. So normally,
someone rings you up and says, would you like to
(09:49):
emcee this event? You say yes, and you agree on
an amount.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
This was different.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I saw Murray Heath's Facebook post way back when he
first started talking about this and I just rang him
up and said, hey Murray, do you want an MC?
I'm very, very cheap. How much will it cost me
to MC this event? Because look, Andy, a lot of
these guys, and this is from 1970 to 1980, so
(10:16):
It spans me being at primary school, all through secondary school,
and then my final years in that decade at university. And,
you know, some of these guys were absolute heroes of mine.
And I do give Balfour a bit of stick occasionally.
I love Balfour, but my hero from era was Kenny Stewart,
(10:38):
who I was lucky enough to play against when he
was near the end of his rugby career. And then
He coached our northern senior sub-union rugby team for three
or four seasons, so I got to know him really well. But, gee,
he was a great player. And then you chuck in
Lester Rutledge, Brian McKechnie's another.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Hero of mine.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Who else was an All Black in that lot? Bob Barber,
Stephen Pokiri, and, of course, Ash McGregor, who coached us.
I played against Ash, Andy. I had one game for
the Riversdale Seniors when I was in the seventh form.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Ash McGregor smashed me.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Because I thought I was the bee's knees, but I
wasn't really. And then I played a wee bit against him,
and then he came back as the Riversdale coach. And
when I moved to Gore, he was my next-door neighbour,
and I used to use his woolshed to shear my sheep.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Great bloke, Ash McGregor. Really unlucky.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
He went on that 78 tour to the UK, only
got three games. May have been a wee bit small
to be an All Black No. 8, but my goodness.
when it came to Southland, he was a beast. And
when it came to club rugby, even though Ken Stewart
was a great All Black, I know who was the
better club rugby player, Ash McGregor, just dominated. And of course,
(11:56):
it would be remiss of me not to mention Lester
Rutledge and what a great player he was for Southland
and what a great servant he was.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, the Stacks could do with a bit of that
calibre on Sunday, logic suggests. Hey, 9-11 as well, what
are your memories?
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Well, I remember 9-11 quite well. Obviously, 2001, I was
down at Hokanui. For some reason, I'd scheduled to have
that day off. I was going to do, I think
I was going to get my sheep from the duck
pond up in Riversdale, bring them down and share them.
I was giving myself a day off. And then at
(12:34):
about one in the morning, one or two in the morning,
I got a phone call from from Nick Jeffrey, who
was working with us at Hokanui at the time. And
he said, hey, mate, you better get up and turn
your telly on because his grandmother had just phoned him
up and said something's happening. And I turned on the
television at about one or two in the morning, whatever
time it was, New Zealand time, and was just transfixed. Obviously,
(12:59):
the day off didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
It was surreal.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
And I was talking to to Winston Peters about this
on yesterday's show. Andy, it's the biggest event in world history,
in my mind, since the Second World War. You know,
it surpasses Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
and all the crap that we've had between 1945 and now.
(13:24):
I think it was a moment or two moments or
three moments, if you catch the plane that went into
the Pentagon, that absolutely changed the world. It changed the
way we live. It changed the way we travel. It
just changed the world full stop. You could not write
a script like that.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Good on you, Jamie. We'll leave it there. All the
best down at the big gig for the weekend and
up the stags.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Yeah, go the stags.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
And I know that they're going to be inspired by
some of those guys, some of those old Southland players
from the 70s are going to go in and give
them a bit of pep talk. And I think Southland could...
get their season, or reboot their season with a good
win over Bay of Plenty.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Jamie Mackay and the Country Crossover cheers to bioactive soils.
Phil Duncan's up next to give us a rundown on
the weather. Welcome back to the muster. Phil Duncan of
Weatherwatch joins us.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I'm here to remind you of the Good afternoon Phil.
Good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I got a message from a mate the other day
after we spoke last week. His first name is Nathan.
We'll leave it at that. And Nathan was saying, when
the hell are we going to get a decent forecast?
Tell your mate not to come back onto the radio
until we get it sorted. But also ask him, have
we genuinely seen a moving of the seasons in the south?
Speaker 6 (15:05):
That's a very good question. I think at the moment
we're still very much in the early phases of spring.
And for Southland, that means that you probably still have
more days that are colder than they are warmer. But
that usually changes over the next four weeks and it
switches the other way around. You end up with more
days that are warmer and fewer days that are colder.
(15:25):
So that's probably my advice. And as far as wanting
to look at some warm weather on the way, let's
just focus on Tuesday of next week and ignore every
other day of the week. And then we'll have a
a very positive forecast for you.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I suppose when you say cooler weather, are we going
to get the wind chill? You can handle 10 degrees
if you're not getting that westerly or that easterly.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
Yeah, the wind chill is in there at times over
the coming week. It's going to be particularly colder. We're
not talking about a major cold outbreak, but it will
be colder as we go into this afternoon. Temperatures are dropping.
In fact, in Gore today, the temperatures started to drop
From a forecasting point of view, you know, normally you
look at the graph and it usually goes up in
(16:08):
the afternoon and then drops down as you go closer
towards sunset. But today, that temperature starts to drop during
the middle of the afternoon, a sign of some colder weather.
So a little bit colder going into tomorrow. There's nothing
really major from a wind chill point of view. But
next week, around Wednesday p.m. through to Friday p.m., So
(16:30):
that 48-hour period at the end of next week, it
does look a bit cold there. And that's where the
wind chill is often between sort of zero and five
degrees any time of the day or night. So that's
a bit of a colder spell later next week.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Is that what we're just going to get for the
remainder of September? Everything's just uncertain because normally about this
time of year, we're starting to see a bit of
decent growth.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, it's been warmer in a number of areas, but
that doesn't necessarily translate to grass growth just yet. The
days also need to get longer, which they are rapidly
doing now. In fact, I think by the start of
next week, there is nowhere in New Zealand that has
sun setting before 6pm, unless you live on the Chatham Islands.
Speaker 7 (17:14):
So everyone will.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
The last part of New Zealand to get to.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
That point is Gisborne.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
And so I think they've reached that point in the
next couple of days. So that means you guys further southwards,
your days are already getting longer than they are up
in the North Island. So that's better for pasture growth,
but you just need that extra bit of warmth, and
we're just not quite there yet. That's why quite a
lot of farmers and growers don't really say that the
seasons have changed until we get to that astronomical date.
(17:42):
So that will be the spring equinox, and that is
not very far away from now. That's only just over
a week and a bit away. So once we get
to about the 22nd, 23rd of September, that is when
we are, you know, in all different ways of measuring it,
we're definitely into spring. But if you go with the
astronomical calendar, we're still technically in the very end of
winter at the moment. Hence why your grass is not
(18:05):
growing perfectly just yet.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
This weather cycle is going to continue then, although it
will be getting warmer, arguably.
Speaker 6 (18:12):
Yeah, we are seeing some warmer trends coming through, not
just around New Zealand, but over in Australia. And in fact,
the last couple of weeks around New Zealand have been
warmer than average in every region. And a lot of
people don't always understand that because it can feel cold.
So you, as a human being, feeling warm or cold
(18:32):
is irrelevant to whether or not it's warmer or cooler
than average. And so we've had a number of regions
across the country being up to two degrees above normal.
And to give you an idea of how much that
is over a two-week period... That is as far as
the key goes on the map. It goes to two
degrees above normal and beyond. So we've seen a lot
(18:53):
of the country sort of Canterbury up to Waikato in
that two degrees warmer than average category. You guys are
down around about a degree above normal. And if it
doesn't feel warm, quite often when you do have a
warmer than average period of time, that often is at nighttime.
So you might have noticed a reduction in frosty conditions,
perhaps more so than previous years. And that could be
(19:15):
all it is that boosts your temperatures up to be
above normal.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So no frosts or anything to worry about? Arguably, frosts
give you a warm day afterwards.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, I don't really see a lot of frost coming up,
but there is a little bit of a chance next
week when we see those temperatures drop. Thursday next week,
you're down to three degrees. You're down to four degrees tonight.
So that means some areas further inland or a little
bit higher up could be looking at getting close to
a frost. But I think any frosts that form this
week will be very, very light over the next 10 days.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Just to wrap up, 9-11, what are your memories?
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I've got strong memories of 9-11 because at the time
I had my fiancée was living, she had gone back
to Canada. She was Canadian and had been in New
Zealand for a year and she flew back one week
before 9-11 happened. And so it was a very scary
(20:10):
moment because the borders all around the world pretty much
shut down and you couldn't travel certainly into North America.
And so it was a little tough having the love
of my life living on another side.
Speaker 8 (20:23):
Of the world.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
And on top of that, her flight, you know, you
fly from Auckland to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles
to Toronto. And the flight from Los Angeles to Toronto
the very next week was escorted back to L.A. with
fighter jets because a man was in the toilet smoking
a cigarette and he wouldn't come out. And they assumed
(20:47):
that it was a terrorist. So they got the fighter
jet scrambled. So it was a really kind of weird
time for me back then.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Hey, good on you, Phil. Always appreciate your time on
the muster. You enjoy the weekend.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
You too, mate, and look forward to Tuesday next week
when it's 18 degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Phil Duncan of Weather Watch. Go and follow him on
his social channels. YouTube as well does a great job
looking at the seven-day forecast for us down here in
the Deep South. Nigel Wood heads up next based in
South Otago. You're listening to The Muster.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
So he creeps into this house and unlocks the door.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Welcome back to the muster, we're away to South Otago
now between Barclutha and Milton where we catch up with
Nigel Woodhead, 2017 FMG Young Farmer of the Year and
he's up on this hilltops this afternoon, g'day Nig.
Speaker 8 (21:41):
Yeah, afternoon Andy.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
You're battling the elements as well as the cold.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
Yeah, yeah, excuse my voice, I'm still coughing and sputtering
a bit, I'm on the up though, like I'm on
the way out of it, but yeah, and yeah, it's
a reasonable sort of day, we haven't had any moisture yet,
which is positive, and a bit of a breeze to
dry the place out, so yeah, we'll take it.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Overall then, you're not looking too back, because down in
Southland it's pretty wet.
Speaker 8 (22:11):
Ah, we're wet, yeah, no, no, we're wet. Like, it
just sort of seems like every time you get a
breezy day and it dries the surface out, there's another
four or five mils of rain to turn it back
to slop again, so Yeah, we have had more than
our fair share of rain and we're definitely wet. All
the puddles are still full and things. We sort of
(22:33):
shuffled some cattle around last week, took one wee mob
of bulls off their fodder beat and they've just been,
got them in a wee block, just feeding them baleage,
trying to keep them off paddocks as long as possible
and then Our bigger mob of bulls have just got
their last break of fodder beat today, and then tomorrow
(22:54):
we'll put them on their bull rotation blocks and that'll
be that. So that's because it was so wet. This
time last week, if we'd put bulls on paddocks, we
would have absolutely trashed those paddocks. Yeah, just trying to
sneak through, and I always want to... I try and.
(23:14):
Make sure we don't get, you know, we get through
until the sort of 1st of October before we start
on that second rotation of the bull block. So, you know,
bull block covers are all right, but they're probably not
quite where I wanted them. So we sort of just
try and hold cattle on crop paddocks as long as
possible until we can, yeah, so that we can, yeah,
(23:38):
I think we'll be able to, what are we now,
the 10th, 11th? Yeah, we'll be able to get, three
weeks out of the first rotation so we can get
to October before we start the second one, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
How did this August compare to the last two that
you've had?
Speaker 8 (23:52):
Oh, not even on the same scale. Like, the last
two Augusts have been not too bad. This year's one
was pretty tough, actually. Like, we usually get 10 nice
warm days in August somewhere, you know, sort of a week,
a week. It's usually a string of a week at some,
and we get quite a bit of growth and we're good,
but this year was quite tough, just cold and wet.
(24:15):
And like I say, we're doing all right for feed,
but if we'd had a half-by-reasonable August, we would have
had feed coming out of our ears. So managed to
sneak through all right.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Even though the season's been slow to date then, you
sound pretty confident that you can get through, likes of
into October then?
Speaker 8 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean, well, it's too late now. Look, everything's
spread out pretty much. We put a ram crane on
10 days into mating and try and sort of split
everything roughly in half. And I think I had 1,200
twins in the first cut, or 1,100 or something, and
150 in the next one. So, you know, the idea
(24:54):
of the ram crane is so that we can hold
a percentage of our ewes behind the wire for another
week and keep covers, but It's not much of a
percentage this year. It hasn't made much of a difference
at all. But, yeah, so they're still behind the wire. So, yeah,
pretty much everything apart from a couple of unusual stock now.
So we've just got to keep our fingers crossed, really.
(25:15):
And I've got Urea ordered, so just wait for a
nice fine day and wait for the helicopters to catch up,
and then we'll get some Urea on most of the farm, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
What about bearings? No different to other seasons, Nige?
Speaker 8 (25:31):
I think we've had two. So, yes, it's different, and
different in a good way. Actually, three, because a hogger
had a bearing out the other day, too. So, yeah,
we've had three bearings, and the two and the ewes
were quite early on, so I just dog-tuckered them, and
then this hogger, by the time I found her, she
(25:51):
was past it, so she went to the dogs, too. So, yeah,
usually I try and fix them and get a lamb
out of them and then kill the ewes, but... we're
on 0% survival, so that's not a very good stat,
but we've only had three of them, so it's not
too bad.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
How common is it to get Barrington hoggarts?
Speaker 8 (26:11):
I get the odd one. Just the odd one here
and there, but not big numbers. I really try and
stack feed in front of the hoggarts and keep the
feed up to them, and I reckon the worst thing
you can do for a hoggart is underfeed them, so
I just feed them as much as I can eat
and but it seems to look after them all right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
It's a kind of a damned if you do, damned
if you don't scenario when you're trying to put the
bearing back in. I mean, if it lives, when you
get a lamb, all well and good. But the flip
side is, if you get a chance, well, yeah, a
bit of tucker for the freezer for the dogs.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
Yeah, well, like I say, we try and put as
many bearings back in, or try and put all the
bearings back in, and we usually have a pretty good
survival rate. I always carry MediCam, it's a painkiller with
me now. pretty much all the bearings I'll do I'll
give them a painkiller and that I reckon makes a
big difference just help them feel a bit more comfortable
(27:11):
and yeah then those bearing use will just go to
the freezer use and keep an eye on them when
you're cruising around at lambing time and make sure they
lamb alright and then they'll get killed with the freezer
use in December so yeah Yeah, like, you know, usually
we have reasonable survival and, you know, every lamb's a
prisoner around here, so try and get as many lambs
(27:31):
alive on the ground as you can.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, every lamb's a prisoner because the money's pretty good
as well.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
Oh, yes.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
It's a no-brainer.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
No, no, no-brainer, you know, you're right. So, and, you know,
we've got a position to be in and talking about,
you know, we have to keep every lamb alive because
they're going to be worth hopefully 200 bucks instead of
it wasn't that long ago. We had to keep every
lamb alive because if we didn't, we're on the verge
of going broke.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, it's quite a pragmatic approach around it, but pretty
relevant for a lot of people as well. I mean,
you talk about on-farm inflation, which was pretty peak after COVID-19,
and it's something that's reared up again lately. But it's
good this year anyway. A lot of people paying tax.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Yeah, no, no.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
It's good. I've said it plenty of times. We needed
this past 12 months. We needed it. We had four
losses in a row, and we haven't actually sat down
with the accountant and had a decent nut out, but
he did some back-of-the-envelope numbers for us here a while
ago and said, oh, don't panic about your tax bill.
(28:35):
If you've got any to pay, it won't be much,
but there's some pretty big losses to carry forward from
the last few years. So we really needed last year's
profit just to get back on the even keel. And
if we don't pay any tax... which it sounds like
we won't pay much, then that essentially means the last
four or five years were broken even. So it is good,
(28:59):
you're right, but at the same time, we needed it
as a business because things were getting a bit tough. So,
you know, we said it last year, you know, one
year's great, you know, one good financial year's good, but
if you can stack two or three of them on
top of each other, you really make some progress and
it feels like it sounds like anyway that there's going
to be another reasonable one, so... Hopefully, like you say,
(29:24):
we can have another reasonable year. I don't like paying
tax any more than the next guy, but if you're
paying tax, you're making money, so we'll just pay tax
if we need to.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Good on you, Nige. Get that cold under control. We'll
catch up with you again. All the best over the
next couple of weeks.
Speaker 8 (29:39):
Good man. Thanks, Andy.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Nigel Woodhead in South Otago between Balclutha and Milton being
very pragmatic and positive as well as we head into
spring properly down here. Mark Kelly's up next out of
Newstalk ZB. Producer up that way talking a bit of sport.
The Waz. Big game tomorrow.
Speaker 9 (29:59):
This is the muster on Hokanui.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
We're away up to Auckland now to catch up with
Mark Kelly, Newstalk ZB producer, and Waz Tragic ahead of
this qualifying final tomorrow against the Dolphins. at Mount Smart Stadium. MK,
good afternoon. You must be fizzing at the bung.
Speaker 10 (30:31):
Yeah, g'day, Andy. Yeah, it's bloody exciting, mate. It's nice
to be in this position as a Warriors fan. And, yeah,
we'll see what happens tomorrow night. But, yeah, fingers and
toes are crossed.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Why do the Warriors win tomorrow?
Speaker 10 (30:45):
Well, I actually do think we're a better side. They've
got a couple of X-Factor players, the Dolphins, but our
four-pack has really shown that they are probably the premier
four-pack in the whole competition. At home, it's going to be, what, 27,000,
28,000 fans at Mount Smart just going absolutely bananas. And
they've got to be up for it, I think. The
(31:08):
last two weeks, we know they've had a bit of
issues on the defensive side, on the edge, but it's
a different sort of kettle of fish. And also, it's the.
Speaker 7 (31:15):
Dolphins' first ever playoff game. They've been in the competition for.
Speaker 10 (31:18):
About, what, four or five seasons, and this is the
first time they've made the top eight, so... I'm hoping
that Lady Luck's not on their side and the Warriors
can come out with the win because that means, yeah,
we continue and have a week off and then play
that prelim final. But not looking too far ahead, though, mate.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
The Warriors' defence has been a concern, averaging, what is it,
well over 20 points for the last two games. Do
you honestly think they can sort that out?
Speaker 7 (31:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (31:44):
If you look at the season as a whole, we've
been the second-best defensive team for the whole competition, leading in,
I think, just under... 17 points a game. We know
what's happened in the last two weeks, but players have
been out, important players at important.
Speaker 7 (31:57):
Positions, and maybe.
Speaker 10 (32:01):
Sort of took the eyes off the ball. I knew
they had a top two spot guaranteed, but we still
won those games.
Speaker 7 (32:08):
We did the job.
Speaker 10 (32:08):
It just wasn't overly convincing on the defensive side of
the ball, but.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
No, I have no issues.
Speaker 10 (32:15):
I'm not worried about it one bit.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Now, you're a Warriors diehard, absolute diehard. What would it
mean for you if they were to win the Premiership
this year?
Speaker 7 (32:22):
Oh, it'd be special.
Speaker 10 (32:24):
There's no two ways about it. It's been a long
time coming, season 31 in the competition. I don't really
know if it would feel real, and it would be
very Warriors to do what Canberra Raiders did last year
and sort of bow out in the first two rounds,
lose both games, but It's been a long time coming,
(32:44):
but this season does feel different. This team has a
lot more traits of winning teams. It's got a great
defensive side of the ball, good offensive air, a lot
of X-factor players. And those games where, say, we were
up and other teams came back scoring 14 unanswered points,
instead of sort of rolling over and taking the loss,
we would fight back and we'd come out.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
With the victory.
Speaker 10 (33:06):
And it's just a different side than we've ever had.
Andrew Webster's done a phenomenal job. I think it's about
season four. of him being coach of the Warriors. No,
it would be special. The only thing I would much
rather have than an NRL premiership for the Warriors would
be an NPC title for the mighty.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
Bay of Plenty Steamers.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, we'll talk your beloved Bay shortly. But the All Blacks,
you talked about this briefly before, being in Baltimore, this
effectively is a dead rubber test. I mean, we lost
in South Africa. This is all about trying to raise
inverted commas, a profile for the game over in the States.
Money talks.
Speaker 10 (33:41):
Yeah, definitely money talks, big sponsorship, all that sort of stuff,
playing at the home of the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
It'll be awesome to see them play there. A bit
easier as well on the alarm clock with a 9
o'clock kickoff rather than 3 a.m. Yeah, but it is disappointing.
But you've got to ask yourself, would you rather in
Baltimore or the other talks of that game was going
(34:01):
to be in Saudi Arabia and Qatar or something like that?
Speaker 7 (34:04):
So I think it is what it is.
Speaker 10 (34:07):
It's weird that it's a four-test series anyway. because you
can get that possibility of being a two-all draw, and
I know they've had this special trophy.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
Where it does split in half.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
It's ridiculous.
Speaker 10 (34:17):
If it does split, yeah, if it ends up being two-two,
but yeah, I've never understood a point of a series
where there is a possible outcome of not having a winner.
Speaker 7 (34:28):
That's why I love my American sports.
Speaker 10 (34:30):
It's always best of seven, best of five, whatever.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
It is, but you're always going to get a winner.
Speaker 10 (34:34):
I would have even much rather if it did end
up being Bill Blix winning um on sunday and it
was to all they just did an extra time golden
point or something two ten minute halves uh but like
they did in the consolation cup between the silver ferns
and the lz diamonds i believe it was last year
and it was to all and they just played an
extra 10 minutes extra time and and the diamonds won
so yeah so you do get a uh but you
(34:57):
know south african fans are going to come out if
we do uh win on sunday that they won the
south african series of it they did win two uh
two other three tests but Yeah, it's still an All
Blacks test, and it's still against our sort of greatest rivals,
but it is, yeah, it does feel a bit funny.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Right, well, talk the MPC. Bay are plenty against the
Stags on Sunday. You do realise the Stags are due.
Speaker 10 (35:20):
Yeah, well, and you got us last year as well.
One of, I believe, three or four losses that we had,
and we're not very good. It's been bitterly disappointing watching
the Steamers sort of hang out all year for this
sort of 11-week window of the MPC, and and we.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
Are pretty tough to watch. We've sort of, all.
Speaker 10 (35:38):
Our lady luck of the last couple of years, the
success we've had making a final, a couple of semis
here and there, and a lot of those players now
have gone offshore. We've had 11 club players make debuts
for the province this year, but.
Speaker 7 (35:52):
It's been all right.
Speaker 11 (35:53):
We had a really tough loss.
Speaker 10 (35:55):
Against Manawatu last week, our first game at the Tiding
of Domain for the season, and that's probably almost shot
us in the foot to make the top eight, but...
We win against you guys Sunday. I know we're playing
at your fortress, so we'll see. But, oh, jeez, I
hope we smoke you. I'll tell you that much, Andy.
Sorry to your listeners, but I hope we put 30
on you and the Warriors win and also the All Blacks.
(36:17):
It's the big three for me for the weekend.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Well, let's be honest. I wouldn't really call Rugby Park
a fortress at the moment with a win-loss ratio.
Speaker 10 (36:25):
No, no, but it does look good on TV with
the bums on the seats, so I'll give you that.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
But all in all, it's.
Speaker 10 (36:31):
Been quite an entertaining season of MPC. It's great to
have it back on on 3d on TV and said
but it does feel strange that it is free to
air But you could still watch it on sky. Mm-hmm
And it's still same commentaries except for that sort of
Saturday night commentary team, but now it's been great disappointed
to see my Probably most hated sports team on planet
(36:53):
Earth Hawke's Bay leading Don't you know if you hate
things right?
Speaker 7 (36:57):
I just did not debate.
Speaker 10 (36:58):
I hate how they think they have a shout to
be the bay and But, yeah, Tauranga is everything over Napier.
Speaker 7 (37:06):
Napier's in the air.
Speaker 11 (37:07):
I don't want to start that because we're going into
a beautiful Southland at the moment.
Speaker 10 (37:12):
But, yeah, I just hope their wheels fall off for
the season and there's no title heading to Napier Hastings.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Does it really irk you on the TV when Hawke's
Bay comes up as Bay because they won the game
the year before?
Speaker 7 (37:25):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (37:26):
And then they don't do it for the Volcanics when
we play the Tui in the Farapama Cup. Like, they
do it one way and not the other.
Speaker 7 (37:33):
So I believe that series is one. Also, we still
should be called the Bay.
Speaker 11 (37:37):
But, again, I'm not sure how much your listeners should
care about my hatred for Napier Hastings.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Let it go, Mark Kelly.
Speaker 7 (37:44):
I will never.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Always appreciate your time. Up the wars and go the stags.
Speaker 7 (37:49):
Up the wars, go the Bay, mate. Thanks for having me, Andy.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
This is the muster on Hakanui. Before we wrap up
for the week, we're away over to New York, catching
up with James McNamee, of course, of Garston Hops. He's
been following the All Blacks around on the Greatest Rivalry Tour.
He's been over at the UK for the past couple
of days, and this morning, New Zealand time, actually, just
landed in New York, making his way to Baltimore. James, firstly,
(38:21):
good afternoon, and Garston Hops, congratulations. You guys got an
accolade during the week.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Oh, we did, actually.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, that was really, really good. We've tried for that
one for a few years, and referee's law was we
won it when I was away. But it still means
we're very excited to have it, though.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Yeah, well done. So, firstly, before we talk about being
in New York on quite a poignant day, Soweto, the
big stadium there, Soccer City, whatever they call it, like
93,000 people. What was it like?
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Yeah, intimidating, exhilarating, and pretty good. Yeah, and it's just
literally in the middle of nowhere. And they bus you
in safely and get you out safely. But it was
pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
How would you explain the feeling in there as opposed
to Ellis Park? Yes, the All Blacks won that game,
but that many people in that ambitheatre must be terrific.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
I think they expected to win more. And the first
couple of games was probably a little bit nice. Everyone's
been nice to each other. And then we've had one
game each, so The third game was definitely the gloves
were off, so they definitely thought they were going to win,
and I actually thought we were going to win as well,
but the nice had faded a little bit, but it
(39:39):
was still a pretty good banter.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
So you're on your way to Baltimore. What do you
make of this game? A lot of people are saying
it's a dead rubber. Arguably, the series finished last week
in Soweto. Do you still think there's a lot on
stake on the line with this game? Just bragging rights, perhaps?
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Oh, absolutely. We might be clutching the straws a little
bit to go for a draw, but it is a
four-match series. They chose to have the fourth game here.
So Africa are taking it very, very seriously. I think
it's the first time for many years they've kept the
same team consistently through. They're definitely up.
Speaker 8 (40:16):
To win it.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
It's good for the public to try and America to
try and raise the profile of the game. I don't
know if it's working. We looked at the website before
and there's a lot of tickets still left for sale.
So hopefully it's the same fills, but it might not
be as full as I hoped it would be.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Okay, so are you in New York at the moment?
Is that correct?
Speaker 8 (40:41):
Correct, yep.
Speaker 7 (40:42):
No, landed.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
So this morning I got up and visited a couple
of breweries in London. So I dealt with London sharing
stations and tube station. I dealt with the M25. If
anyone listening understands what the M25 is.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
No, the M25, yep.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
It's a special treat in itself, dealing with the M25.
Got myself to Heathrow. Got the reverse ejection. and then
came over to New York, and then I dealt with
the New York system. So pretty close to Times Square
at the moment. Just had a couple of sharpeners to
revive after the trip, and about to go out and
(41:19):
have a look around Times Square in the town and.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Have something to eat. I love the way you talk
about going and visiting breweries on the way to the airport.
I mean, in your line of work, it's essential.
Speaker 8 (41:30):
Well, it is.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (41:32):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (41:33):
It's a....
Speaker 3 (41:36):
Yeah, I'm trying to think of a nice way to
explain that, but essential is a good word, Andy.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
9-11, it's in New Zealand at the moment. You guys there, obviously,
a little bit behind due to time zones, but quite
a poignant moment. Have you seen anything at all on
your journey to date to actually understand that the stay
is close over there?
Speaker 3 (41:53):
I haven't seen anything yet, but when I was boarding in.
Last time I was in New York, I went and
visited the World Trade Centre and the sites they've done,
and they've done a really good job, actually, of doing
that and, I guess.
Memorising the people and the first supporters and live people
that came and helped them in those days. It's a
(42:14):
pretty good set-up.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
It would be a very sobering moment, I'd imagine, too,
visiting that memorial.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
I was lucky enough to get up the towers while
they were still there, so that was pretty cool. And
then go there and realise they're not there anymore and
just understand where they were, how big they were, and
They had nowhere to fall, really, apart from causing a
lot of damage.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
So what's the plan? Watch the game in Baltimore a
couple of days over there, then back home, is it,
to do some work?
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah, work is definitely calling. Once I finish here, I
need to get back on a call back to the farm.
The hops have broken out of dormancy probably a little
bit earlier than we expected, so they're on their way,
so we need to sort some stuff there to get
ready for building a new garden. Yeah, the plan is tomorrow,
take the train from Penn Station down to Baltimore. We've
(43:10):
got a rental car. We'll go and see a couple
of breweries because, as you said, it's essential.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
It's your job.
Speaker 8 (43:15):
Tomorrow night.
Speaker 7 (43:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
It's a cool description. And then get ready for the game.
The game originally was lunchtime on Saturday, but they pushed
it back to 5 o'clock so you can have a
sleep in, Andy.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Oh, good to know. Hey, now you've got a mate
over there as well. He is 100th game watching the
All Blacks, and he had a special presentation by a
couple of AB legends.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, so all the group are over here. Steve and
I did our 100th game in 2019. We got AJ Whitten.
We were lucky enough for AJ to come and do
our jersey, so we were wondering what to do for Grant,
and lucky enough we managed to arrange.
Three Royal Cups can present his jersey for him in
(44:03):
Cape Town, Richie McCool and David Kirk. So they met
us in a hotel in Cape Town and gave Grant
his jersey. So it was pretty cool. And they're really
nice about it.
Speaker 7 (44:16):
Good talking to them.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
They had a busy schedule, so it's good that they
took their time to do it.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Good on you, James. Better leave it there. Go the
ABs on Sunday. Happy travels. Sounds like a hell of
a journey you're continuing with, and we'll catch up in
due course, mate.
Speaker 8 (44:30):
Perfect.
Speaker 7 (44:31):
Sounds good.
Speaker 6 (44:31):
Thanks, Andy.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Laugh out loud with Ag Proud. Because life on the
land can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by
Shearwell Data. Working to help the livestock farmer. RIP to
my neighbour. He told me his wife was going out
to get some sewing thread but spent the day in
the pub. Gone, but not forgotten. Right, that's us over
(44:57):
and done with. The podcast will be up shortly, thanks
to iHeartRadio. I'm Andy Muir. The show's brought to you
by Peter Genetics. Go the Stags. Go the ABs. Up
the Waz.
Good afternoon and welcome to the muster. Andy Muir here
and the show is brought to you by Peters Genetics
on a Friday. Welcome along. An overcast sky greets us
here in Gore. We'll look at the weather shortly in
detail with Phil Duncan of Weather Watch. But before we
go any further as well, shout out to Abans Agriculture.
They're already 25 years in the game today, so... Everybody involved,
(00:30):
Chris Janine and everyone. Yeah, well done. Congratulations. Awesome to
see these businesses continue through in the capacity that they are.
But anyway, a bit to get through for the hour.
Crank straight into it. This song here, Sweet Home Alabama.
Bit of an institution in pub anthem circles, I suppose.
Leonard Skinner.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Sing about it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
This afternoon, rain with breezy westerlies in 10.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Saturday, morning showers with breezy westerlies 7 and 10. Sunday,
showers with westerlies 5 and 12. Monday, cloudy with west-north
westerlies 5 and 16. And Tuesday, partly cloudy with west-north
westerlies 7 and 17. Soil temperatures... Clinton 5.7, Heri at 7.3,
(01:21):
Northern Southland 7.4, Winton 9, Te Anau 6.9, Titarao 7.7,
Winton 6 and Woodland 7.4. What are we? Currently in Gorse,
sitting on 12 degrees. Double digits is good. Jamie Mackay
joins us in the country crossover for a Friday, followed
up by Phil Duncan of Weatherwatch, looking at the forecast
(01:41):
for the next seven days down here in the Deep South.
Nigel Whitehead farming in South Otago between Balclutha and Milton,
getting organised for lambing. We'll see how the feed covers
and life in general is with Nige. Mark Kelly, Newstalk
ZB producer and Bay of Plenty steamers rugby diehard. Has
a chat ahead of the Stags playing the Bay of
Plenty on Sunday, but as well the Warriors playing the Dolphins.
(02:05):
in their first game of the finals tomorrow at Mount
Smart Stadium. And James McNamee, all going to plan. He's
joining us from over in New York where he's just
landed as he's going to watch the All Blacks in
Baltimore play the Springboks on Sunday morning. So without further ado,
we'll crank straight into it with Jamie Mackay. This is
The Muster brought to you by Peters Genetics. The Country Crossover,
(02:31):
brought to you by Bioactive Soils. Growing together with healthy soils.
Become a proactive farmer with Bioactive Ag Fertiliser. Jamie Mackay
joins us for The Country Crossover, thanks to Bioactive Soils.
He's been absent for a while, but he's back in
the hot seat. Welcome back, Jamie.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Well, thank you. What do I call you? I am.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I am in the PM on the FM.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
It's good to be back. Three weeks of influenza A
for a man who famously never gets sick. It just
about bowled me over, Andy. I woke up in the
middle of the night one night and I was gasping
for air and I had this horrible thought, is this
how it ends?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Surely not.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
But it's really knocked me and I'm not 100% yet,
but I'm getting there. And I have to keep reminding
myself it's not cancer, so you just battle on. And
I'm just thankful, to be perfectly honest, Andy. I wasn't
or I'm not a farmer because I remember being a
young farmer, you might have a flu or be a
bit crook. But if it's lambing time, you just get
(03:35):
out there and do it and battle your way through it.
I physically couldn't have done that. And I feel very,
very sorry for any farmer or business person or anyone
for that matter who suffered through influenza A.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
It's quite brutal.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, well, good to have you back on deck, mate. Look,
the weather has been interesting. Well, not interesting, it's been concerning.
This El Nino flow that we're seeing is certainly kicking
into gear.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Yeah, it is, and this is playing exactly to script.
This is going to be the third, I think, terrible.
I hope I'm wrong here, Andy, but what are we now?
We're almost halfway through September, September the 11th, 9-11. We
might come back to that one. So this is playing
to script, isn't it? it's getting drier, although Canterbury got
(04:21):
a good rain and Marlborough got a good rain. They
were getting very dry recently. But for Southland, this is
just a shit of a spring. And I don't know,
my worry is that we're wet, wet, wet, wet, and
then we get to Labour weekend and it dries up,
especially in the drier parts of Southland, if you want,
(04:42):
northern Southland, and then we go dry. But September's obviously
an incredibly busy, important month. The dairy farmers are getting
into their second round. Sheep farmers are obviously lambing. If
you're not growing grass, some of that production you never
catch up on.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
On your show on Wednesday, Mark Delatour, boss of Open Country,
gave one of the more defining interviews that we're going
to hear on radio from a rural lens for a while.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
It was really interesting. He was saving this one up.
He was meant to do it a couple of weeks ago,
but I was off crook. He said, I'll wait till
you get back. So he was all fired up and
he's really created quite a stir. And for those who
didn't hear it, I mean, the basic synopsis of it, Andy,
for you blokes from Belfort, that means summary.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I shouldn't say that, should I?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You just did. You always do.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I just did. I always do.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
So it's friendly rivalry. But I mean, the guts of
it was he's saying, forget about Paris. forget about us
being blacklisted, if you want, by some of these markets.
He said there's plenty of demand. And he's talking, obviously,
wearing his dairy hat. I'm not sure the argument's quite
the same with the meat, but wearing his dairy hat,
(05:54):
he said there's plenty of markets that will take us
and we need to.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Be out of Paris.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
And the interesting thing about Paris, and I heard Bryce
McKenzie talking about this as well, it kind of, the
rural communities split on this. this is my take on
it anyhow, Andy, is split on Paris. Some people want
us in, some people want us out. And the other one, obviously,
Labour came out at the beginning of the week with
their ag emissions policy. They're not going to price ag emissions.
(06:22):
And I think almost everyone in agriculture is in unison
on that subject. So they are a couple of really
hot topics heading into the election. We've already seen the
likes of ACT and New Zealand First.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Don't want a.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Bar of Paris. National want to stay in, want us
to stay in. Labour want us to stay in. God
knows what Te Paati, or the Greens, I don't even
know what they think about ag farming. I don't think
they think much about it at all.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Okay, Luxembourg wants to stay in. Winnie and Seymour want
to get out. How's that going to work out in
a coalition agreement then? Because this has got, would it
become a bottom line perhaps?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I'd say no.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I mean, that's just it. I don't think it's going
to become a bottom line agreement. for either Seymour and Winston.
You want to talk about bottom lines? Bottom lines are
things like, for Winston, the age of eligibility for National Super.
He will die in the ditch on that one. And
that's a very important subject also for New Zealand, and
(07:23):
it's an issue that we've got to face going forward.
So those are bottom lines. Those are ones which would
make Winston switch camps.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Evan, help us.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, based on that, these polls are all over the show,
one coming out earlier in the week saying that Labour's
well down, another one coming out a couple of days
later saying they're a bit up on that poll that
was released earlier in the week. But I think all
these polls that are coming out, I mean, the one
thing you're seeing is that the uncertainty about November is
(07:53):
that votes are still up for grabs.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Yeah, well, I think what you're finding is because Labour's
been so useless and listless when it comes to policy announcement.
They've had their capital gains and that's about it. And
I felt sorry for Jo Luxton in that Q &
A rural leaders debate. They should have fed her their
ag emissions pricing announcement because I think they released that
(08:17):
on the Monday or the Tuesday following that show which
was broadcast on a Sunday. She was hung out to
dry in that rural leaders debate.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
But look, I think Labour are paying the price.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
The Greens, whether you love them or loathe them, and
I loathe them, at least they're coming out with policy,
and they're picking up the slack, I'm sure, from the
Labour voters. For me, and this is rather simplistic, I
think that the Opportunity Party bubble has burst. People are
really starting to do some homework on this lot, and
(08:51):
they are flaky. But if they do manage, if they
do manage to get past that 5% threshold, and I
don't think they will, I hope they won't, a change
of government is on. But If they don't get past 5%,
I can't see a change of government happening.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, you're coming down to Invercargill this weekend. Murray Heath
on the show a couple of days ago. Great yarn
as well regarding the 1970s Southland rugby team. Having a
get-together this weekend, Dan. Southland be full-back from Riversdale's EMC.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, well, normally when it comes to EMCing, Andy.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
And I don't do that much these days, but I've
done a lot over the years, people phone you up
and say, would you like to emcee these awards or something?
How much do you want? In my case, it all
goes to the IHC Carfan Rural Scheme these days, so
I always put my hand out quite a way, and
no one's ever said no, which is wonderful. So normally,
someone rings you up and says, would you like to
(09:49):
emcee this event? You say yes, and you agree on
an amount.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
This was different.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I saw Murray Heath's Facebook post way back when he
first started talking about this and I just rang him
up and said, hey Murray, do you want an MC?
I'm very, very cheap. How much will it cost me
to MC this event? Because look, Andy, a lot of
these guys, and this is from 1970 to 1980, so
(10:16):
It spans me being at primary school, all through secondary school,
and then my final years in that decade at university. And,
you know, some of these guys were absolute heroes of mine.
And I do give Balfour a bit of stick occasionally.
I love Balfour, but my hero from era was Kenny Stewart,
(10:38):
who I was lucky enough to play against when he
was near the end of his rugby career. And then
He coached our northern senior sub-union rugby team for three
or four seasons, so I got to know him really well. But, gee,
he was a great player. And then you chuck in
Lester Rutledge, Brian McKechnie's another.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
Hero of mine.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Who else was an All Black in that lot? Bob Barber,
Stephen Pokiri, and, of course, Ash McGregor, who coached us.
I played against Ash, Andy. I had one game for
the Riversdale Seniors when I was in the seventh form.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Ash McGregor smashed me.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
Because I thought I was the bee's knees, but I
wasn't really. And then I played a wee bit against him,
and then he came back as the Riversdale coach. And
when I moved to Gore, he was my next-door neighbour,
and I used to use his woolshed to shear my sheep.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Great bloke, Ash McGregor. Really unlucky.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
He went on that 78 tour to the UK, only
got three games. May have been a wee bit small
to be an All Black No. 8, but my goodness.
when it came to Southland, he was a beast. And
when it came to club rugby, even though Ken Stewart
was a great All Black, I know who was the
better club rugby player, Ash McGregor, just dominated. And of course,
(11:56):
it would be remiss of me not to mention Lester
Rutledge and what a great player he was for Southland
and what a great servant he was.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, the Stacks could do with a bit of that
calibre on Sunday, logic suggests. Hey, 9-11 as well, what
are your memories?
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Well, I remember 9-11 quite well. Obviously, 2001, I was
down at Hokanui. For some reason, I'd scheduled to have
that day off. I was going to do, I think
I was going to get my sheep from the duck
pond up in Riversdale, bring them down and share them.
I was giving myself a day off. And then at
(12:34):
about one in the morning, one or two in the morning,
I got a phone call from from Nick Jeffrey, who
was working with us at Hokanui at the time. And
he said, hey, mate, you better get up and turn
your telly on because his grandmother had just phoned him
up and said something's happening. And I turned on the
television at about one or two in the morning, whatever
time it was, New Zealand time, and was just transfixed. Obviously,
(12:59):
the day off didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
It was surreal.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
And I was talking to to Winston Peters about this
on yesterday's show. Andy, it's the biggest event in world history,
in my mind, since the Second World War. You know,
it surpasses Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
and all the crap that we've had between 1945 and now.
(13:24):
I think it was a moment or two moments or
three moments, if you catch the plane that went into
the Pentagon, that absolutely changed the world. It changed the
way we live. It changed the way we travel. It
just changed the world full stop. You could not write
a script like that.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Good on you, Jamie. We'll leave it there. All the
best down at the big gig for the weekend and
up the stags.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Yeah, go the stags.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
And I know that they're going to be inspired by
some of those guys, some of those old Southland players
from the 70s are going to go in and give
them a bit of pep talk. And I think Southland could...
get their season, or reboot their season with a good
win over Bay of Plenty.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Jamie Mackay and the Country Crossover cheers to bioactive soils.
Phil Duncan's up next to give us a rundown on
the weather. Welcome back to the muster. Phil Duncan of
Weatherwatch joins us.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And I'm here to remind you of the Good afternoon Phil.
Good afternoon.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I got a message from a mate the other day
after we spoke last week. His first name is Nathan.
We'll leave it at that. And Nathan was saying, when
the hell are we going to get a decent forecast?
Tell your mate not to come back onto the radio
until we get it sorted. But also ask him, have
we genuinely seen a moving of the seasons in the south?
Speaker 6 (15:05):
That's a very good question. I think at the moment
we're still very much in the early phases of spring.
And for Southland, that means that you probably still have
more days that are colder than they are warmer. But
that usually changes over the next four weeks and it
switches the other way around. You end up with more
days that are warmer and fewer days that are colder.
(15:25):
So that's probably my advice. And as far as wanting
to look at some warm weather on the way, let's
just focus on Tuesday of next week and ignore every
other day of the week. And then we'll have a
a very positive forecast for you.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I suppose when you say cooler weather, are we going
to get the wind chill? You can handle 10 degrees
if you're not getting that westerly or that easterly.
Speaker 6 (15:46):
Yeah, the wind chill is in there at times over
the coming week. It's going to be particularly colder. We're
not talking about a major cold outbreak, but it will
be colder as we go into this afternoon. Temperatures are dropping.
In fact, in Gore today, the temperatures started to drop
From a forecasting point of view, you know, normally you
look at the graph and it usually goes up in
(16:08):
the afternoon and then drops down as you go closer
towards sunset. But today, that temperature starts to drop during
the middle of the afternoon, a sign of some colder weather.
So a little bit colder going into tomorrow. There's nothing
really major from a wind chill point of view. But
next week, around Wednesday p.m. through to Friday p.m., So
(16:30):
that 48-hour period at the end of next week, it
does look a bit cold there. And that's where the
wind chill is often between sort of zero and five
degrees any time of the day or night. So that's
a bit of a colder spell later next week.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Is that what we're just going to get for the
remainder of September? Everything's just uncertain because normally about this
time of year, we're starting to see a bit of
decent growth.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, it's been warmer in a number of areas, but
that doesn't necessarily translate to grass growth just yet. The
days also need to get longer, which they are rapidly
doing now. In fact, I think by the start of
next week, there is nowhere in New Zealand that has
sun setting before 6pm, unless you live on the Chatham Islands.
Speaker 7 (17:14):
So everyone will.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
The last part of New Zealand to get to.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
That point is Gisborne.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
And so I think they've reached that point in the
next couple of days. So that means you guys further southwards,
your days are already getting longer than they are up
in the North Island. So that's better for pasture growth,
but you just need that extra bit of warmth, and
we're just not quite there yet. That's why quite a
lot of farmers and growers don't really say that the
seasons have changed until we get to that astronomical date.
(17:42):
So that will be the spring equinox, and that is
not very far away from now. That's only just over
a week and a bit away. So once we get
to about the 22nd, 23rd of September, that is when
we are, you know, in all different ways of measuring it,
we're definitely into spring. But if you go with the
astronomical calendar, we're still technically in the very end of
winter at the moment. Hence why your grass is not
(18:05):
growing perfectly just yet.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
This weather cycle is going to continue then, although it
will be getting warmer, arguably.
Speaker 6 (18:12):
Yeah, we are seeing some warmer trends coming through, not
just around New Zealand, but over in Australia. And in fact,
the last couple of weeks around New Zealand have been
warmer than average in every region. And a lot of
people don't always understand that because it can feel cold.
So you, as a human being, feeling warm or cold
(18:32):
is irrelevant to whether or not it's warmer or cooler
than average. And so we've had a number of regions
across the country being up to two degrees above normal.
And to give you an idea of how much that
is over a two-week period... That is as far as
the key goes on the map. It goes to two
degrees above normal and beyond. So we've seen a lot
(18:53):
of the country sort of Canterbury up to Waikato in
that two degrees warmer than average category. You guys are
down around about a degree above normal. And if it
doesn't feel warm, quite often when you do have a
warmer than average period of time, that often is at nighttime.
So you might have noticed a reduction in frosty conditions,
perhaps more so than previous years. And that could be
(19:15):
all it is that boosts your temperatures up to be
above normal.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So no frosts or anything to worry about? Arguably, frosts
give you a warm day afterwards.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, I don't really see a lot of frost coming up,
but there is a little bit of a chance next
week when we see those temperatures drop. Thursday next week,
you're down to three degrees. You're down to four degrees tonight.
So that means some areas further inland or a little
bit higher up could be looking at getting close to
a frost. But I think any frosts that form this
week will be very, very light over the next 10 days.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Just to wrap up, 9-11, what are your memories?
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I've got strong memories of 9-11 because at the time
I had my fiancée was living, she had gone back
to Canada. She was Canadian and had been in New
Zealand for a year and she flew back one week
before 9-11 happened. And so it was a very scary
(20:10):
moment because the borders all around the world pretty much
shut down and you couldn't travel certainly into North America.
And so it was a little tough having the love
of my life living on another side.
Speaker 8 (20:23):
Of the world.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
And on top of that, her flight, you know, you
fly from Auckland to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles
to Toronto. And the flight from Los Angeles to Toronto
the very next week was escorted back to L.A. with
fighter jets because a man was in the toilet smoking
a cigarette and he wouldn't come out. And they assumed
(20:47):
that it was a terrorist. So they got the fighter
jet scrambled. So it was a really kind of weird
time for me back then.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Hey, good on you, Phil. Always appreciate your time on
the muster. You enjoy the weekend.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
You too, mate, and look forward to Tuesday next week
when it's 18 degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Phil Duncan of Weather Watch. Go and follow him on
his social channels. YouTube as well does a great job
looking at the seven-day forecast for us down here in
the Deep South. Nigel Wood heads up next based in
South Otago. You're listening to The Muster.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
So he creeps into this house and unlocks the door.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Welcome back to the muster, we're away to South Otago
now between Barclutha and Milton where we catch up with
Nigel Woodhead, 2017 FMG Young Farmer of the Year and
he's up on this hilltops this afternoon, g'day Nig.
Speaker 8 (21:41):
Yeah, afternoon Andy.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
You're battling the elements as well as the cold.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
Yeah, yeah, excuse my voice, I'm still coughing and sputtering
a bit, I'm on the up though, like I'm on
the way out of it, but yeah, and yeah, it's
a reasonable sort of day, we haven't had any moisture yet,
which is positive, and a bit of a breeze to
dry the place out, so yeah, we'll take it.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Overall then, you're not looking too back, because down in
Southland it's pretty wet.
Speaker 8 (22:11):
Ah, we're wet, yeah, no, no, we're wet. Like, it
just sort of seems like every time you get a
breezy day and it dries the surface out, there's another
four or five mils of rain to turn it back
to slop again, so Yeah, we have had more than
our fair share of rain and we're definitely wet. All
the puddles are still full and things. We sort of
(22:33):
shuffled some cattle around last week, took one wee mob
of bulls off their fodder beat and they've just been,
got them in a wee block, just feeding them baleage,
trying to keep them off paddocks as long as possible
and then Our bigger mob of bulls have just got
their last break of fodder beat today, and then tomorrow
(22:54):
we'll put them on their bull rotation blocks and that'll
be that. So that's because it was so wet. This
time last week, if we'd put bulls on paddocks, we
would have absolutely trashed those paddocks. Yeah, just trying to
sneak through, and I always want to... I try and.
(23:14):
Make sure we don't get, you know, we get through
until the sort of 1st of October before we start
on that second rotation of the bull block. So, you know,
bull block covers are all right, but they're probably not
quite where I wanted them. So we sort of just
try and hold cattle on crop paddocks as long as
possible until we can, yeah, so that we can, yeah,
(23:38):
I think we'll be able to, what are we now,
the 10th, 11th? Yeah, we'll be able to get, three
weeks out of the first rotation so we can get
to October before we start the second one, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
How did this August compare to the last two that
you've had?
Speaker 8 (23:52):
Oh, not even on the same scale. Like, the last
two Augusts have been not too bad. This year's one
was pretty tough, actually. Like, we usually get 10 nice
warm days in August somewhere, you know, sort of a week,
a week. It's usually a string of a week at some,
and we get quite a bit of growth and we're good,
but this year was quite tough, just cold and wet.
(24:15):
And like I say, we're doing all right for feed,
but if we'd had a half-by-reasonable August, we would have
had feed coming out of our ears. So managed to
sneak through all right.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Even though the season's been slow to date then, you
sound pretty confident that you can get through, likes of
into October then?
Speaker 8 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean, well, it's too late now. Look, everything's
spread out pretty much. We put a ram crane on
10 days into mating and try and sort of split
everything roughly in half. And I think I had 1,200
twins in the first cut, or 1,100 or something, and
150 in the next one. So, you know, the idea
(24:54):
of the ram crane is so that we can hold
a percentage of our ewes behind the wire for another
week and keep covers, but It's not much of a
percentage this year. It hasn't made much of a difference
at all. But, yeah, so they're still behind the wire. So, yeah,
pretty much everything apart from a couple of unusual stock now.
So we've just got to keep our fingers crossed, really.
(25:15):
And I've got Urea ordered, so just wait for a
nice fine day and wait for the helicopters to catch up,
and then we'll get some Urea on most of the farm, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
What about bearings? No different to other seasons, Nige?
Speaker 8 (25:31):
I think we've had two. So, yes, it's different, and
different in a good way. Actually, three, because a hogger
had a bearing out the other day, too. So, yeah,
we've had three bearings, and the two and the ewes
were quite early on, so I just dog-tuckered them, and
then this hogger, by the time I found her, she
(25:51):
was past it, so she went to the dogs, too. So, yeah,
usually I try and fix them and get a lamb
out of them and then kill the ewes, but... we're
on 0% survival, so that's not a very good stat,
but we've only had three of them, so it's not
too bad.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
How common is it to get Barrington hoggarts?
Speaker 8 (26:11):
I get the odd one. Just the odd one here
and there, but not big numbers. I really try and
stack feed in front of the hoggarts and keep the
feed up to them, and I reckon the worst thing
you can do for a hoggart is underfeed them, so
I just feed them as much as I can eat
and but it seems to look after them all right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
It's a kind of a damned if you do, damned
if you don't scenario when you're trying to put the
bearing back in. I mean, if it lives, when you
get a lamb, all well and good. But the flip
side is, if you get a chance, well, yeah, a
bit of tucker for the freezer for the dogs.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
Yeah, well, like I say, we try and put as
many bearings back in, or try and put all the
bearings back in, and we usually have a pretty good
survival rate. I always carry MediCam, it's a painkiller with
me now. pretty much all the bearings I'll do I'll
give them a painkiller and that I reckon makes a
big difference just help them feel a bit more comfortable
(27:11):
and yeah then those bearing use will just go to
the freezer use and keep an eye on them when
you're cruising around at lambing time and make sure they
lamb alright and then they'll get killed with the freezer
use in December so yeah Yeah, like, you know, usually
we have reasonable survival and, you know, every lamb's a
prisoner around here, so try and get as many lambs
(27:31):
alive on the ground as you can.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, every lamb's a prisoner because the money's pretty good
as well.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
Oh, yes.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
It's a no-brainer.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
No, no, no-brainer, you know, you're right. So, and, you know,
we've got a position to be in and talking about,
you know, we have to keep every lamb alive because
they're going to be worth hopefully 200 bucks instead of
it wasn't that long ago. We had to keep every
lamb alive because if we didn't, we're on the verge
of going broke.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, it's quite a pragmatic approach around it, but pretty
relevant for a lot of people as well. I mean,
you talk about on-farm inflation, which was pretty peak after COVID-19,
and it's something that's reared up again lately. But it's
good this year anyway. A lot of people paying tax.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Yeah, no, no.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
It's good. I've said it plenty of times. We needed
this past 12 months. We needed it. We had four
losses in a row, and we haven't actually sat down
with the accountant and had a decent nut out, but
he did some back-of-the-envelope numbers for us here a while
ago and said, oh, don't panic about your tax bill.
(28:35):
If you've got any to pay, it won't be much,
but there's some pretty big losses to carry forward from
the last few years. So we really needed last year's
profit just to get back on the even keel. And
if we don't pay any tax... which it sounds like
we won't pay much, then that essentially means the last
four or five years were broken even. So it is good,
(28:59):
you're right, but at the same time, we needed it
as a business because things were getting a bit tough. So,
you know, we said it last year, you know, one
year's great, you know, one good financial year's good, but
if you can stack two or three of them on
top of each other, you really make some progress and
it feels like it sounds like anyway that there's going
to be another reasonable one, so... Hopefully, like you say,
(29:24):
we can have another reasonable year. I don't like paying
tax any more than the next guy, but if you're
paying tax, you're making money, so we'll just pay tax
if we need to.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Good on you, Nige. Get that cold under control. We'll
catch up with you again. All the best over the
next couple of weeks.
Speaker 8 (29:39):
Good man. Thanks, Andy.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Nigel Woodhead in South Otago between Balclutha and Milton being
very pragmatic and positive as well as we head into
spring properly down here. Mark Kelly's up next out of
Newstalk ZB. Producer up that way talking a bit of sport.
The Waz. Big game tomorrow.
Speaker 9 (29:59):
This is the muster on Hokanui.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
We're away up to Auckland now to catch up with
Mark Kelly, Newstalk ZB producer, and Waz Tragic ahead of
this qualifying final tomorrow against the Dolphins. at Mount Smart Stadium. MK,
good afternoon. You must be fizzing at the bung.
Speaker 10 (30:31):
Yeah, g'day, Andy. Yeah, it's bloody exciting, mate. It's nice
to be in this position as a Warriors fan. And, yeah,
we'll see what happens tomorrow night. But, yeah, fingers and
toes are crossed.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Why do the Warriors win tomorrow?
Speaker 10 (30:45):
Well, I actually do think we're a better side. They've
got a couple of X-Factor players, the Dolphins, but our
four-pack has really shown that they are probably the premier
four-pack in the whole competition. At home, it's going to be, what, 27,000,
28,000 fans at Mount Smart just going absolutely bananas. And
they've got to be up for it, I think. The
(31:08):
last two weeks, we know they've had a bit of
issues on the defensive side, on the edge, but it's
a different sort of kettle of fish. And also, it's the.
Speaker 7 (31:15):
Dolphins' first ever playoff game. They've been in the competition for.
Speaker 10 (31:18):
About, what, four or five seasons, and this is the
first time they've made the top eight, so... I'm hoping
that Lady Luck's not on their side and the Warriors
can come out with the win because that means, yeah,
we continue and have a week off and then play
that prelim final. But not looking too far ahead, though, mate.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
The Warriors' defence has been a concern, averaging, what is it,
well over 20 points for the last two games. Do
you honestly think they can sort that out?
Speaker 7 (31:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (31:44):
If you look at the season as a whole, we've
been the second-best defensive team for the whole competition, leading in,
I think, just under... 17 points a game. We know
what's happened in the last two weeks, but players have
been out, important players at important.
Speaker 7 (31:57):
Positions, and maybe.
Speaker 10 (32:01):
Sort of took the eyes off the ball. I knew
they had a top two spot guaranteed, but we still
won those games.
Speaker 7 (32:08):
We did the job.
Speaker 10 (32:08):
It just wasn't overly convincing on the defensive side of
the ball, but.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
No, I have no issues.
Speaker 10 (32:15):
I'm not worried about it one bit.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Now, you're a Warriors diehard, absolute diehard. What would it
mean for you if they were to win the Premiership
this year?
Speaker 7 (32:22):
Oh, it'd be special.
Speaker 10 (32:24):
There's no two ways about it. It's been a long
time coming, season 31 in the competition. I don't really
know if it would feel real, and it would be
very Warriors to do what Canberra Raiders did last year
and sort of bow out in the first two rounds,
lose both games, but It's been a long time coming,
(32:44):
but this season does feel different. This team has a
lot more traits of winning teams. It's got a great
defensive side of the ball, good offensive air, a lot
of X-factor players. And those games where, say, we were
up and other teams came back scoring 14 unanswered points,
instead of sort of rolling over and taking the loss,
we would fight back and we'd come out.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
With the victory.
Speaker 10 (33:06):
And it's just a different side than we've ever had.
Andrew Webster's done a phenomenal job. I think it's about
season four. of him being coach of the Warriors. No,
it would be special. The only thing I would much
rather have than an NRL premiership for the Warriors would
be an NPC title for the mighty.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
Bay of Plenty Steamers.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, we'll talk your beloved Bay shortly. But the All Blacks,
you talked about this briefly before, being in Baltimore, this
effectively is a dead rubber test. I mean, we lost
in South Africa. This is all about trying to raise
inverted commas, a profile for the game over in the States.
Money talks.
Speaker 10 (33:41):
Yeah, definitely money talks, big sponsorship, all that sort of stuff,
playing at the home of the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
It'll be awesome to see them play there. A bit
easier as well on the alarm clock with a 9
o'clock kickoff rather than 3 a.m. Yeah, but it is disappointing.
But you've got to ask yourself, would you rather in
Baltimore or the other talks of that game was going
(34:01):
to be in Saudi Arabia and Qatar or something like that?
Speaker 7 (34:04):
So I think it is what it is.
Speaker 10 (34:07):
It's weird that it's a four-test series anyway. because you
can get that possibility of being a two-all draw, and
I know they've had this special trophy.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
Where it does split in half.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
It's ridiculous.
Speaker 10 (34:17):
If it does split, yeah, if it ends up being two-two,
but yeah, I've never understood a point of a series
where there is a possible outcome of not having a winner.
Speaker 7 (34:28):
That's why I love my American sports.
Speaker 10 (34:30):
It's always best of seven, best of five, whatever.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
It is, but you're always going to get a winner.
Speaker 10 (34:34):
I would have even much rather if it did end
up being Bill Blix winning um on sunday and it
was to all they just did an extra time golden
point or something two ten minute halves uh but like
they did in the consolation cup between the silver ferns
and the lz diamonds i believe it was last year
and it was to all and they just played an
extra 10 minutes extra time and and the diamonds won
so yeah so you do get a uh but you
(34:57):
know south african fans are going to come out if
we do uh win on sunday that they won the
south african series of it they did win two uh
two other three tests but Yeah, it's still an All
Blacks test, and it's still against our sort of greatest rivals,
but it is, yeah, it does feel a bit funny.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Right, well, talk the MPC. Bay are plenty against the
Stags on Sunday. You do realise the Stags are due.
Speaker 10 (35:20):
Yeah, well, and you got us last year as well.
One of, I believe, three or four losses that we had,
and we're not very good. It's been bitterly disappointing watching
the Steamers sort of hang out all year for this
sort of 11-week window of the MPC, and and we.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
Are pretty tough to watch. We've sort of, all.
Speaker 10 (35:38):
Our lady luck of the last couple of years, the
success we've had making a final, a couple of semis
here and there, and a lot of those players now
have gone offshore. We've had 11 club players make debuts
for the province this year, but.
Speaker 7 (35:52):
It's been all right.
Speaker 11 (35:53):
We had a really tough loss.
Speaker 10 (35:55):
Against Manawatu last week, our first game at the Tiding
of Domain for the season, and that's probably almost shot
us in the foot to make the top eight, but...
We win against you guys Sunday. I know we're playing
at your fortress, so we'll see. But, oh, jeez, I
hope we smoke you. I'll tell you that much, Andy.
Sorry to your listeners, but I hope we put 30
on you and the Warriors win and also the All Blacks.
(36:17):
It's the big three for me for the weekend.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Well, let's be honest. I wouldn't really call Rugby Park
a fortress at the moment with a win-loss ratio.
Speaker 10 (36:25):
No, no, but it does look good on TV with
the bums on the seats, so I'll give you that.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
But all in all, it's.
Speaker 10 (36:31):
Been quite an entertaining season of MPC. It's great to
have it back on on 3d on TV and said
but it does feel strange that it is free to
air But you could still watch it on sky. Mm-hmm
And it's still same commentaries except for that sort of
Saturday night commentary team, but now it's been great disappointed
to see my Probably most hated sports team on planet
(36:53):
Earth Hawke's Bay leading Don't you know if you hate
things right?
Speaker 7 (36:57):
I just did not debate.
Speaker 10 (36:58):
I hate how they think they have a shout to
be the bay and But, yeah, Tauranga is everything over Napier.
Speaker 7 (37:06):
Napier's in the air.
Speaker 11 (37:07):
I don't want to start that because we're going into
a beautiful Southland at the moment.
Speaker 10 (37:12):
But, yeah, I just hope their wheels fall off for
the season and there's no title heading to Napier Hastings.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Does it really irk you on the TV when Hawke's
Bay comes up as Bay because they won the game
the year before?
Speaker 7 (37:25):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (37:26):
And then they don't do it for the Volcanics when
we play the Tui in the Farapama Cup. Like, they
do it one way and not the other.
Speaker 7 (37:33):
So I believe that series is one. Also, we still
should be called the Bay.
Speaker 11 (37:37):
But, again, I'm not sure how much your listeners should
care about my hatred for Napier Hastings.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Let it go, Mark Kelly.
Speaker 7 (37:44):
I will never.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Always appreciate your time. Up the wars and go the stags.
Speaker 7 (37:49):
Up the wars, go the Bay, mate. Thanks for having me, Andy.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
This is the muster on Hakanui. Before we wrap up
for the week, we're away over to New York, catching
up with James McNamee, of course, of Garston Hops. He's
been following the All Blacks around on the Greatest Rivalry Tour.
He's been over at the UK for the past couple
of days, and this morning, New Zealand time, actually, just
landed in New York, making his way to Baltimore. James, firstly,
(38:21):
good afternoon, and Garston Hops, congratulations. You guys got an
accolade during the week.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Oh, we did, actually.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, that was really, really good. We've tried for that
one for a few years, and referee's law was we
won it when I was away. But it still means
we're very excited to have it, though.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Yeah, well done. So, firstly, before we talk about being
in New York on quite a poignant day, Soweto, the
big stadium there, Soccer City, whatever they call it, like
93,000 people. What was it like?
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Yeah, intimidating, exhilarating, and pretty good. Yeah, and it's just
literally in the middle of nowhere. And they bus you
in safely and get you out safely. But it was
pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
How would you explain the feeling in there as opposed
to Ellis Park? Yes, the All Blacks won that game,
but that many people in that ambitheatre must be terrific.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
I think they expected to win more. And the first
couple of games was probably a little bit nice. Everyone's
been nice to each other. And then we've had one
game each, so The third game was definitely the gloves
were off, so they definitely thought they were going to win,
and I actually thought we were going to win as well,
but the nice had faded a little bit, but it
(39:39):
was still a pretty good banter.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
So you're on your way to Baltimore. What do you
make of this game? A lot of people are saying
it's a dead rubber. Arguably, the series finished last week
in Soweto. Do you still think there's a lot on
stake on the line with this game? Just bragging rights, perhaps?
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Oh, absolutely. We might be clutching the straws a little
bit to go for a draw, but it is a
four-match series. They chose to have the fourth game here.
So Africa are taking it very, very seriously. I think
it's the first time for many years they've kept the
same team consistently through. They're definitely up.
Speaker 8 (40:16):
To win it.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
It's good for the public to try and America to
try and raise the profile of the game. I don't
know if it's working. We looked at the website before
and there's a lot of tickets still left for sale.
So hopefully it's the same fills, but it might not
be as full as I hoped it would be.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Okay, so are you in New York at the moment?
Is that correct?
Speaker 8 (40:41):
Correct, yep.
Speaker 7 (40:42):
No, landed.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
So this morning I got up and visited a couple
of breweries in London. So I dealt with London sharing
stations and tube station. I dealt with the M25. If
anyone listening understands what the M25 is.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
No, the M25, yep.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
It's a special treat in itself, dealing with the M25.
Got myself to Heathrow. Got the reverse ejection. and then
came over to New York, and then I dealt with
the New York system. So pretty close to Times Square
at the moment. Just had a couple of sharpeners to
revive after the trip, and about to go out and
(41:19):
have a look around Times Square in the town and.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Have something to eat. I love the way you talk
about going and visiting breweries on the way to the airport.
I mean, in your line of work, it's essential.
Speaker 8 (41:30):
Well, it is.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (41:32):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (41:33):
It's a....
Speaker 3 (41:36):
Yeah, I'm trying to think of a nice way to
explain that, but essential is a good word, Andy.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
9-11, it's in New Zealand at the moment. You guys there, obviously,
a little bit behind due to time zones, but quite
a poignant moment. Have you seen anything at all on
your journey to date to actually understand that the stay
is close over there?
Speaker 3 (41:53):
I haven't seen anything yet, but when I was boarding in.
Last time I was in New York, I went and
visited the World Trade Centre and the sites they've done,
and they've done a really good job, actually, of doing
that and, I guess.
Memorising the people and the first supporters and live people
that came and helped them in those days. It's a
(42:14):
pretty good set-up.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
It would be a very sobering moment, I'd imagine, too,
visiting that memorial.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
I was lucky enough to get up the towers while
they were still there, so that was pretty cool. And
then go there and realise they're not there anymore and
just understand where they were, how big they were, and
They had nowhere to fall, really, apart from causing a
lot of damage.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
So what's the plan? Watch the game in Baltimore a
couple of days over there, then back home, is it,
to do some work?
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah, work is definitely calling. Once I finish here, I
need to get back on a call back to the farm.
The hops have broken out of dormancy probably a little
bit earlier than we expected, so they're on their way,
so we need to sort some stuff there to get
ready for building a new garden. Yeah, the plan is tomorrow,
take the train from Penn Station down to Baltimore. We've
(43:10):
got a rental car. We'll go and see a couple
of breweries because, as you said, it's essential.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
It's your job.
Speaker 8 (43:15):
Tomorrow night.
Speaker 7 (43:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
It's a cool description. And then get ready for the game.
The game originally was lunchtime on Saturday, but they pushed
it back to 5 o'clock so you can have a
sleep in, Andy.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Oh, good to know. Hey, now you've got a mate
over there as well. He is 100th game watching the
All Blacks, and he had a special presentation by a
couple of AB legends.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, so all the group are over here. Steve and
I did our 100th game in 2019. We got AJ Whitten.
We were lucky enough for AJ to come and do
our jersey, so we were wondering what to do for Grant,
and lucky enough we managed to arrange.
Three Royal Cups can present his jersey for him in
(44:03):
Cape Town, Richie McCool and David Kirk. So they met
us in a hotel in Cape Town and gave Grant
his jersey. So it was pretty cool. And they're really
nice about it.
Speaker 7 (44:16):
Good talking to them.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
They had a busy schedule, so it's good that they
took their time to do it.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Good on you, James. Better leave it there. Go the
ABs on Sunday. Happy travels. Sounds like a hell of
a journey you're continuing with, and we'll catch up in
due course, mate.
Speaker 8 (44:30):
Perfect.
Speaker 7 (44:31):
Sounds good.
Speaker 6 (44:31):
Thanks, Andy.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Laugh out loud with Ag Proud. Because life on the
land can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by
Shearwell Data. Working to help the livestock farmer. RIP to
my neighbour. He told me his wife was going out
to get some sewing thread but spent the day in
the pub. Gone, but not forgotten. Right, that's us over
(44:57):
and done with. The podcast will be up shortly, thanks
to iHeartRadio. I'm Andy Muir. The show's brought to you
by Peter Genetics. Go the Stags. Go the ABs. Up
the Waz.
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