Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you just saying your room? I saw the present you.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Jamie McKay joins us in the Country Crossover, Jamie, good afternoon,
great to chat. Has been a few weeks and fishly
straight off the bat as a kind of ironic that
you're two or three weeks away coincided with the Palestinian flotilla.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
No, it's rather a long coat there, Andy, Greta and
I don't have much in common. Is that what we're
talking about?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yes, it is, Yeah, yeah, No.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I know what I'd like to do with Greta and
a boat.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Think it just sort of get that cleared up though.
Off the bat, you're up there at Gisbane for the
one hundred and fiftieth show. That's a hell of an effort.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, I know. You do the math on that one, Andy,
Sorry if there's a bit of noise in the background.
The place is really starting to fill up here. Yeah,
one hundred and fifty years, So do the math on that.
Eighteen seventy five and that they argue that this is
the most successful AMP show in the country. I'm told
that there's forty thousand people living in this region. Thirty
(01:11):
thousand of them come through the gates today and tomorrow,
so that's three quarters of the population is attending the show.
Pretty amazing, goot show.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Is it one of the more rural shows in the
North Island before? Do you respect?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Ah? Well, I don't know. I haven't been to that
many other shows in the North Island, to be perfectly honest.
Most of the big ones, let's face it, are in
the South. Obviously, Wanka is huge now and the christ
Church Amp Show has been through its problems in recent years,
but they're rebuilding that and it was the biggest of
all the shows. So looking forward to heading up there
(01:49):
launching the twenty twenty five Makaiser and you might have
to come up and join us for that one at
the christ Church Show. But I do know. I think
last year, two years ago, I was at the hawks
By Amp Show. It was really well attended, very rural,
a bit like you know of the good old days
of the Gore Show. Lots of animals, lots of equestrian,
(02:10):
lots of kids, lots of lots of rubbishy. When I
say rubbishy, fun things for kids to eat. Yeah, just
a typical A and T show.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, if you want me to be up in christ
here it's you're with being the boss today. I encourage
you to put a good good word for me there.
Look it's all go for the Alliance group next week.
I've got DoD Morrison on the show shortly. It's been
an interesting few weeks to say the least for the
co Operative twenty two ride shows. I think it is
up and down the country. It's certainly D Day Monday
(02:41):
and Tuesday well.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
So it's possibly it's already been D Day or we
had Markwin on the show yesterday, Andy, and I'm sure
you caught up with what he had to say. I
think about a third of the farmers or a third
of the votes had been cast already, so a lot
of people have made up their mind. I think the
biggest problem to getting the deal past the goalie, as
Mark Gwinn said, is farmer apathy, because they've got quite
(03:06):
a high threshold to get through. They've got to jump
through a couple of hoops to get enough people and
enough and high enough percent of those who actually do
vote to get a yes vote. So if there is
farmer apathy, that could play into the hands of the
no vote. And Mark Gunstan was also on the show yesterday,
and it's admirable that the farmers want to keep it
(03:29):
on one hundred percent co op hands. But well, I'm
not quite so sure certainly what I'm hearing Andy, and
I had been out of the country for a couple
of weeks, but I'm hearing a lot of the smaller
or mid size farmers uninterested in tipping any more money in.
So look at it be interesting to see how it goes.
I think it's my gut feeling would be that they're
(03:52):
going to get a yes vote on this one, and
then when that happens, it's just a matter of whether
the Alliance group can be competitive in a very hot
market when it comes to procurement. I was reading a
story online this morning, Andy about lambs, albeit at early
season lambs or late season lambs at eleven dollars a
(04:12):
kild it's huge money.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well, lambs at the Saleyards down South this week consistently
going over three hundred dollars for the tops I think
what might have been law and for the other day
heading three forty for the big boppers.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yep, Well you imagine if you can mind, you might
be bit difficult in South and getting some early lambs
off in late November. That's about as early as we
get them off down there. But they will be paying
all sorts of money for that. So look at we've
got dwindling stock supplies, intense procurement. You know, I've heard
(04:46):
other views that maybe it would best be best if
Alliance just folded, and then it would alleviate some of
the excess capacity in the industry. But there would be
an absolute shame if a farmer co op with such
a wonderful farmer owned history was to fold. Now we'll
all await tuesdays the answer, Andy, and see what the
vote is.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You have been in the in this rural in this
rural radio game for thirty one years, Jamie. In your opinion,
do you think there's a chance silverfer and Farms and
Alliance can still work together or is that ship gone?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I think that ship sailed. I did hear unofficially from
an industry source, totally unofficially that you know, there was
talks about giving up some of the Alliance sites if
at all, you know, if they couldn't get a deal going.
And but look, I'm not sure on that one. Andy.
(05:40):
It's a real shame. Actually, when you look back in
history that. I think it was about two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine there was talk about the Grand
Alliance between Silver Fern Farms and the Alliance and trying
to replicate something along the Fonterra alliance. I think back then,
and this is only going off the top of my head,
if they combined way back then, it might have got
(06:02):
them sixty percent of the market. That's not a Fonterra
type number where they're at eighty percent, And that's like
a pretty good model. You would have to say the
dairy the dairy farmers, or the dairying models pretty good.
One powerful player, but you've also got very serious competition
(06:23):
from the likes of Open Country and then the smaller
operators like Westland and Tatsu and Sinlay and all that
sort of stuff. So there's enough competition to keep the
big guy honest. But there's also real strength and that
in that player, and that is Fonterra. So look, I
don't know, I mean, I just worry Andy we're going
to run out of sheep. But surely if it's the case,
(06:46):
the last last man standing, anyone left sheep farming, it's
probably going to do quite well because even the other thing. Hellelujah, Andy.
Even while I've been away, something's happened to the wall market.
All of a sudden it's worth something, and they're talking
about it going up even more, which is I think.
I think it's wonderful. To be honest myself, I'd given
(07:08):
up on wool. I thought it was a bit of
a dad dark strong wool. But I've been wrong before
plenty of times, and hopefully I'm wrong on this one
as well. Because if we can get wool up I
don't know, even five or six dollars a kire low
and lamb at ten bucks a kilow, I think Sheep
Farmers and I'm talking about strong wool here would be
(07:29):
in a reasonably good position.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Because the christ Church will exchange great name. By the way,
but it's all of a sudden. It's been the place
to go and see what's been going on over the
last couple of Thursdays regarding the price, and I think
they talked about the price two sales ago being a
generational sale Jamie, which is pretty strong terminology.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, no, it was great. I spoke to Rachel Shearer
from PGG Rights and about that one just before I left,
and it's gone up since then, so look, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Just quickly to wrap up the Tago Well, I'm a
bit of a Southend influence and they're playing on Mark
Kelly's Bay of Plenty and Canterbury Hawks Bay, who we
want to target to win tonight, don't we.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Well, well, I certainly don't want Canterbury to one and
I don't want Hawks fade to one, so I've got
a foot in both camps. Obviously, I live in Deneeden.
I know a couple of the players and there's some
good Southland boys in there with the like Cam Miller.
Good to see him rarely stepping up to the plate
and kicking that goal. He's one of the best goalkickers
(08:30):
in the country. So that's got to play into Otago Sands. Conversely,
my son and I the family's got a bit of
a cleaning business up and Twonga and where sponsors a
Bay of Plenty. I've always liked the Steamers. They play
an inter they play an open sort of game. So
I just hope the winner out of Otago all Bay
of Plenty, hopefully Otago. But whoever wins that game goes
(08:54):
on to win the NPC Andy because one thing I
don't want is Canterbury with it's all ex back to
win the NPC, boring yawn over Ago for twenty years.
So I'll say Otago and my close second is the
Babe plenty.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, cam Miller, Harry Taylor will startart of course, stutut
from down South and next Susan has been drafted him
for the week from the Stags.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah, and is he starting?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Is he? I'm not too sure of it could be yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, no, look it's it's fantastic. And I just think
of some of those some of those guys who are
playing for Ocago. Imagine if we know Fin Hurley's obviously injured,
but imagine if.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
He's in the twenty three today. Isn't he?
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Is he?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I think?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, I haven't seen the team, but if we could
get all those South and born and bred guys, you know,
Harry Taylor, Cam Miller and the likes of Finn Hurley
playing for the Stags, we would be undefeatable.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, it'll be interesting. Jamie, always appreciate your time. You
enjoy it up there in Gusy.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Okay, see you mate.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Jamie McKay and the country crossover. We're going to catch
up with Don Morrison, Knicks Willebank farmer and Alliance board
director talk about Monday