September 1, 2026 • 7 mins
James Edgar of Moa Flat looks at a trying week as the spring weather cycle hits.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This interview is brought to you by Agri Centre South.
Branches in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ranfurly. Drop by
your local Agri Centre South branch today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
James Edgar is based at Moa Flat and joins us
once again after a trying couple of days with the
weather down here in the south.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
James, good afternoon. You've had quite a bit of snow.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, no, we've had a big snowfall up here. We're probably...
I know the great Wilson there, he's got a beer
bottle that he uses on his table to measure the snow,
and you usually get the obligatory Snapchat afterwards, so it
did cover the whole beer bottle on the table this time,
so yeah, we probably had a good foot, and it
(00:45):
was pretty windy with it too, so we've sort of
drifted to probably a metre up here. Yeah, so it was,
she's been a bit of a battle, I know, that
much for free, but yeah, hopefully, we're not lambing up
here just yet, but we're lambing in Tapanui and Yeah,
that wasn't too flashed. That was a pretty trying couple
of days. But anyway, we sort of got tidied up
(01:06):
yesterday and we'll finish off tidying up today and start
moving forward again, which is sort of the thing you've
got to do. But I've found over the years, if
you can just get tidied up and try and do
your best, then you really can't ask for too much
more than that.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I suppose a great thing about a beer bottle, and
as well a red band in particular, is that it's
a good gauge, well, the red band's a good gauge
for grass growth, but as well when it's outside, how
much inclement weather there has been as such.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
That's right. You've got to have a standard measure. I
know the Americans use inches and feet, don't they, instead
of an electric system. Up here we use beer bottles
of snow.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Wilson's an intelligent man. He knows what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's what we deal with up
here sometimes. But the good news is we're not lambing
up here just yet. So we do sort of expect
a little bit of this stuff here. But, you know,
that was a big one. It's probably you get a
little bit disappointed, I guess, because we've probably had about
three average springs in a row, shall we say. So
you sort of every year at lambing time, you sort
(02:11):
of have high hopes. You've spent all the year picking
your rams and getting your ewes up and Doing all
the job there, and, yeah, there's always hopes and dreams, and, yeah,
there's nothing like a big snow to bring you back
down to earth, but however, that is farming, I guess.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
How wet is it underfoot there? Obviously, yes, you've had
snow in the logs, but before the snow, what was
it like?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
We weren't too bad. We're quite wet up here at
the moment because there's a big melt on, which is good,
so at least it's not hanging around. Tapanui, it was
amazing how much it dried up overnight with that bit
of wind, so we're back there. We had, yeah... big
flooding all through our flats there. I was reasonably trying,
shall we say, Andy, but anyway, we brung a lot in.
(02:54):
It was quite good. My father was in the shed there,
so I was just catching sheep and dropping them in,
and he would feed them. It's amazing how you can
save animals on flat country. We don't have the same
ability up on the hill. You just end up pushing
sheep out of shelter and wrecking things. Down there, we've
got the ability to work hard, so I know when
(03:15):
I rolled out of bed this morning, I sort of
felt like I was back playing rugby, actually. I was
a bit stiff, but yeah, anyway, you always feel a
lot better when you can actually do something. I know
some of the hardest times mentally is that mile flat
when it's trying at lambing time and you've just got
to stay inside because anything you do is only making
things worse. So yeah, so we've worked hard and gone
(03:37):
through our set stocking plan, which is always, you always
wish you had less sheep at that time of the year,
I guess, so. we'll fold them up and, yeah, the
grass covers actually aren't too bad around the place, so
I feel like we've had, yeah, we've done everything we
can over the winter and done our best, so, yeah. Overall,
not terrible, but, yeah, always a little bit disappointing getting
(03:59):
one of those.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Bearings or anything been a problem so far?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
No, we've had no bearings so far up the hill,
down the flats. We've had the old one, but not
too many. We've had a few die-cast, which has been
a wee bit frustrating and We've probably had a little
bit more milk fever than we've had in past seasons.
So I'm not entirely sure why that is. I know
some schools have thought that on the dull days it
(04:25):
makes it worse. So, yeah, we've had a wee bit
of milk fever and there's sort of been rivers running
through the paddocks and a few other bits and pieces.
So it has been a little bit trying. But, yeah,
fingers crossed that that weather looks all right for the
next week, 10 days. And, yeah, you put it behind you,
don't you? And move on.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That's a big thing to remember when you've got the
ewes and undercover and all of a sudden these ailments
can come to the fore, so it's about finding that
balance as well.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah, absolutely. And it's always nice, so we bring a
lot into the wool shed, so we were dropping them
in there and sometimes, and the lambing motels down the
flat there, so it's always nice just to slow down
and look into your lambing motel the next morning, do
all your hard work. I think I had one lambing
motel there where you'd five or six ewes in there
(05:12):
and they're all twins and there was only one died, which, yeah,
makes you feel good because you've worked hard and you've
got them in there, but the sheep are happy and
the lambs are happy and put them back on grass and,
you know, you feel like you've actually done something. So, no,
it hasn't all been disastrous, but, yeah, it's certainly been
trying times. It was sort of a funny storm. I
think that was probably the worst one we've had for
(05:33):
the last, you know, sort of five or six years,
to be honest, because it was so wet early on
and then it got wet and then the snow come last,
not first, if that makes sense. Like sometimes you get
the big snow and it happens when it's still dry
and then it's sort of slowly getting better from there
and I find the lambs are okay. But when you've
had a lot of rain and they've sort of softened
(05:53):
them up a little bit and then you get the snow,
that's when you can, yeah, the lambs just sort of
have enough to, But, yeah, anyway, it is amazing sometimes
when you bring them in the shed too. It exacerbates
some underlying issues sometimes, like if they've got a semi-hard
side on an udder or, you know, their udder conformation
isn't perfect so the lambs haven't got up for a
(06:14):
drink straight away. And, yeah, definitely shows all those things
to be fair. So, yeah, you do lose the odd
lamb even on a nice day. So, yeah, it just
goes to show for me too. And it's probably another...
thing I've sort of go on about a little bit
that you know there's a lot of guys that are
(06:34):
scanning well over 200 percent and you get weather like
that and uh trips aren't that much used to be
honest Andy you know it's good um it's good to
scott about at the pub I suppose when you're um
have a massive um scanning but you don't get paid
very much for that so yeah it's yeah over a
All in above, we've managed our way through it and
(06:57):
everyone's worked hard and, yeah, we're pleased with where we're sitting,
to be fair.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Good on you, James. Chin up, mate. And you guys
keep doing the good work you're doing out there. The
weather will pick up, but it's always a bugger when
Mother Nature does a thing, unfortunately. But, look, we always
appreciate you coming on, being up front about the situation.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
And out on the trenches this afternoon, all the best.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Absolutely. Cheers, Andy.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
James Edgar, based in Mower Flat. Good old Mother Nature, eh?
Up next, Terry Collins of EAA. You're listening to The Master.
This interview is brought to you by Agri Centre South.
Branches in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ranfurly. Drop by
your local Agri Centre South branch today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
James Edgar is based at Moa Flat and joins us
once again after a trying couple of days with the
weather down here in the south.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
James, good afternoon. You've had quite a bit of snow.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, no, we've had a big snowfall up here. We're probably...
I know the great Wilson there, he's got a beer
bottle that he uses on his table to measure the snow,
and you usually get the obligatory Snapchat afterwards, so it
did cover the whole beer bottle on the table this time,
so yeah, we probably had a good foot, and it
(00:45):
was pretty windy with it too, so we've sort of
drifted to probably a metre up here. Yeah, so it was,
she's been a bit of a battle, I know, that
much for free, but yeah, hopefully, we're not lambing up
here just yet, but we're lambing in Tapanui and Yeah,
that wasn't too flashed. That was a pretty trying couple
of days. But anyway, we sort of got tidied up
(01:06):
yesterday and we'll finish off tidying up today and start
moving forward again, which is sort of the thing you've
got to do. But I've found over the years, if
you can just get tidied up and try and do
your best, then you really can't ask for too much
more than that.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I suppose a great thing about a beer bottle, and
as well a red band in particular, is that it's
a good gauge, well, the red band's a good gauge
for grass growth, but as well when it's outside, how
much inclement weather there has been as such.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
That's right. You've got to have a standard measure. I
know the Americans use inches and feet, don't they, instead
of an electric system. Up here we use beer bottles
of snow.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Wilson's an intelligent man. He knows what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's what we deal with up
here sometimes. But the good news is we're not lambing
up here just yet. So we do sort of expect
a little bit of this stuff here. But, you know,
that was a big one. It's probably you get a
little bit disappointed, I guess, because we've probably had about
three average springs in a row, shall we say. So
you sort of every year at lambing time, you sort
(02:11):
of have high hopes. You've spent all the year picking
your rams and getting your ewes up and Doing all
the job there, and, yeah, there's always hopes and dreams, and, yeah,
there's nothing like a big snow to bring you back
down to earth, but however, that is farming, I guess.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
How wet is it underfoot there? Obviously, yes, you've had
snow in the logs, but before the snow, what was
it like?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
We weren't too bad. We're quite wet up here at
the moment because there's a big melt on, which is good,
so at least it's not hanging around. Tapanui, it was
amazing how much it dried up overnight with that bit
of wind, so we're back there. We had, yeah... big
flooding all through our flats there. I was reasonably trying,
shall we say, Andy, but anyway, we brung a lot in.
(02:54):
It was quite good. My father was in the shed there,
so I was just catching sheep and dropping them in,
and he would feed them. It's amazing how you can
save animals on flat country. We don't have the same
ability up on the hill. You just end up pushing
sheep out of shelter and wrecking things. Down there, we've
got the ability to work hard, so I know when
(03:15):
I rolled out of bed this morning, I sort of
felt like I was back playing rugby, actually. I was
a bit stiff, but yeah, anyway, you always feel a
lot better when you can actually do something. I know
some of the hardest times mentally is that mile flat
when it's trying at lambing time and you've just got
to stay inside because anything you do is only making
things worse. So yeah, so we've worked hard and gone
(03:37):
through our set stocking plan, which is always, you always
wish you had less sheep at that time of the year,
I guess, so. we'll fold them up and, yeah, the
grass covers actually aren't too bad around the place, so
I feel like we've had, yeah, we've done everything we
can over the winter and done our best, so, yeah. Overall,
not terrible, but, yeah, always a little bit disappointing getting
(03:59):
one of those.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Bearings or anything been a problem so far?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
No, we've had no bearings so far up the hill,
down the flats. We've had the old one, but not
too many. We've had a few die-cast, which has been
a wee bit frustrating and We've probably had a little
bit more milk fever than we've had in past seasons.
So I'm not entirely sure why that is. I know
some schools have thought that on the dull days it
(04:25):
makes it worse. So, yeah, we've had a wee bit
of milk fever and there's sort of been rivers running
through the paddocks and a few other bits and pieces.
So it has been a little bit trying. But, yeah,
fingers crossed that that weather looks all right for the
next week, 10 days. And, yeah, you put it behind you,
don't you? And move on.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That's a big thing to remember when you've got the
ewes and undercover and all of a sudden these ailments
can come to the fore, so it's about finding that
balance as well.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah, absolutely. And it's always nice, so we bring a
lot into the wool shed, so we were dropping them
in there and sometimes, and the lambing motels down the
flat there, so it's always nice just to slow down
and look into your lambing motel the next morning, do
all your hard work. I think I had one lambing
motel there where you'd five or six ewes in there
(05:12):
and they're all twins and there was only one died, which, yeah,
makes you feel good because you've worked hard and you've
got them in there, but the sheep are happy and
the lambs are happy and put them back on grass and,
you know, you feel like you've actually done something. So, no,
it hasn't all been disastrous, but, yeah, it's certainly been
trying times. It was sort of a funny storm. I
think that was probably the worst one we've had for
(05:33):
the last, you know, sort of five or six years,
to be honest, because it was so wet early on
and then it got wet and then the snow come last,
not first, if that makes sense. Like sometimes you get
the big snow and it happens when it's still dry
and then it's sort of slowly getting better from there
and I find the lambs are okay. But when you've
had a lot of rain and they've sort of softened
(05:53):
them up a little bit and then you get the snow,
that's when you can, yeah, the lambs just sort of
have enough to, But, yeah, anyway, it is amazing sometimes
when you bring them in the shed too. It exacerbates
some underlying issues sometimes, like if they've got a semi-hard
side on an udder or, you know, their udder conformation
isn't perfect so the lambs haven't got up for a
(06:14):
drink straight away. And, yeah, definitely shows all those things
to be fair. So, yeah, you do lose the odd
lamb even on a nice day. So, yeah, it just
goes to show for me too. And it's probably another...
thing I've sort of go on about a little bit
that you know there's a lot of guys that are
(06:34):
scanning well over 200 percent and you get weather like
that and uh trips aren't that much used to be
honest Andy you know it's good um it's good to
scott about at the pub I suppose when you're um
have a massive um scanning but you don't get paid
very much for that so yeah it's yeah over a
All in above, we've managed our way through it and
(06:57):
everyone's worked hard and, yeah, we're pleased with where we're sitting,
to be fair.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Good on you, James. Chin up, mate. And you guys
keep doing the good work you're doing out there. The
weather will pick up, but it's always a bugger when
Mother Nature does a thing, unfortunately. But, look, we always
appreciate you coming on, being up front about the situation.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
And out on the trenches this afternoon, all the best.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Absolutely. Cheers, Andy.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
James Edgar, based in Mower Flat. Good old Mother Nature, eh?
Up next, Terry Collins of EAA. You're listening to The Master.
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