September 3, 2026 • 7 mins
Michelle Watt asks the question: would you eat a horse pie?!
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Country Crossover, brought to you by Bioactive Soils. Growing
together with healthy soils.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Become a proactive farmer with Bioactive Ag Fertiliser. Thanks to
Bioactive Soils, we catch up Michelle Watt and The Country
Crossover this afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good afternoon, Michelle. Return of the Mac. Jay Mac, all
going to plan. He's back on deck next week.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I hope so, Andy. He's been missed here in the studio.
I don't have anyone to make cups of tea for,
so I'm a bit lost. without J-Mac here in the studio,
I'll be honest with you. But we do wish him
all the best. For people out there that have been asking,
and there has been a lot asking, he did text
me and say to pass on, he's suffering from a
very bad case of influenza A. So he's actually been
(00:45):
very unwell for the last two and a bit weeks
and just staying away and recovering. So he is coming back.
He will be back on deck behind the mic at
some point and no doubt he'll have lots of thoughts
in his brain and needs to get out. So make
sure you listen to that for a show.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
He doesn't do sitting around very well.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
No, I feel for him. He loves his golf. He
loves the studio. He loves talking, you know, researching and
doing stuff. And I think it'll be very hard for him.
It would have been hard for me. I'm a terrible patient,
I'll be honest. I'd be driving the poor person mad
that was at home with me if I was ill
for that long.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, all the best, Jamie. We know you're listening. So
sending our regards and see you back on the tools
next week. We'll go into play. And hey, springtime's here
and the weather has been a continuation of what we've seen.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
It's pretty schizo at the moment.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, it's erratic, isn't it? It's all over the place.
But there's typical spring, I think, for New Zealand, especially
in the lower half of the South Island from growing up.
I remember it used to be a bit all over
the place. And it doesn't really settle until, from my memory,
it's usually around February. We get more settled weather. It
sort of can be a bit all over the place
up to then. Of course, they're predicting the Super Hour
Nino at the moment to happen. It's already happening. or
(01:54):
been happening over in Europe and the US, and they're
looking to those places to see what might happen here.
Of course, New Zealand is a little bit different, because
we're a tiny island that's quite close to Antarctica, so
a little bit different compared to the likes of Europe,
which is a bigger landmass. I mean, yes, the UK
is quite close to Antarctica, the Arctic Circle in some parts,
but it's still not the same. It's a bigger landmass
(02:15):
connected to other bigger landmasses.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Interesting as well.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
A bakery in Hoon Hay, which is an area you
heard about during the earthquakes quite a lot. But there's
a bakery there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Horse pies. What do you make of them?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Horse meat pies. Now, as a previous horse girl or
pony club girl, Andy, I probably couldn't go and buy
one and eat one because it just makes me think
of poor old I had Tuffins and I had Glen,
and I just don't think I could do it, I'll
be honest with you. I struggle to buy horse meat
as a pet food for my dog. I just can't
(02:50):
do it. I know that sounds very strange, but I
just can't do it. However, would you know the difference
if someone gave you a horse meat pie or a
steak pie?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, possibly not, because you never tried it, and I mean...
And it's just overseas.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
You hear of a lot of people using horse meat
as a delicacy, dare I say it. But the price
of these pies alone, $ 9, $ 9.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
50.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
To be honest, you can get a couple of jimmies
for that price alone. Or dare I say it, back
in the old red stripe days, you could have got.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Three or four.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
What's the strangest thing you've eaten? Because I know you've
spent time overseas, Andy.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh, you keep it on straight and narrow. It might
have been like bugs or something sautéed or roasted or
something silly like that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I have to say, one day I'd love to get
over to the West Coast, the food festival. That looks
like a lot of fun. I haven't tried a lot
of different stuff. I've eaten things like, obviously, I've eaten
hoo-hoo grubs back in the old days when I was
a kid and stuff like that, but not anything else.
So it'd be interesting to go and just branch out
a bit.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The weirdest thing I've seen, actually, was a couple of
guys who won't be named after rugby one time having
a moth-eating competition.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, that sounds like something that goes on in gore.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
No, that was in Balfour back in the day, actually.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Oh, I wouldn't admit that. It doesn't sound like something
that would happen in Balfour at all.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
No, of course not. You're probably all out doing domes
or something in the valley. It's Madagascar ragwort. Tell us
all about it.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Okay, so apparently it's a bit of an issue in
Wairarapa and Wellington. It's spreading down there. It's only been
known to be sort of up in the northern regions
of the North Island. It's a terrible week. Now, interestingly,
the reason I know about it, Andy, is because of
Pony Club. So I studied up to my C certificate.
All Pony Club, ex-Pony Club girls out there will know
what I'm talking about. You had to learn from this
(04:32):
little manual and you had to do a wee test.
And one of the tests was actually learning a lot
of the weeds. And Ragwort was one of the weeds
because a lot of it's based on the UK from
Pony Club. But it's a terrible thing. You sometimes see
a little bit of it down south, but not very often.
It looks a bit like a yellow daisy, and it
spreads like anything. But it's very, very dangerous to livestock,
(04:53):
really dangerous and very, very highly toxic.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
A lot of things like that. I remember lupins at
the wrong time of year. You can lose use of
toxicity reasons, we found out once upon a time. But
just one of those things. If it's not one thing,
it's the other, I suppose. You've got issues of that
up here. We've got issues down here with other things,
like scabby.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Mouth, for example.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, exactly. There's always something going on, right, that's spreading
around you've got to keep an eye out for. But
luckily in New Zealand, I mean, our biosecurity systems are
actually pretty good, and we've been very lucky with keeping
a lot of really bad stuff out, like the likes
of blue tongue that's spread through Europe at the moment,
foot and mouth, things like that. I mean, we were
unlucky with some bovis, but they learned a lot from that.
(05:34):
I mean, even though it was absolutely devastating for anyone
that went through that on their farm, they learned a
lot from that situation as well. So We're pretty lucky
here in New Zealand. I mean, we're lucky we're a
tiny island and things can't, it's harder for stuff to
get here. But at the same time, we've got a
really good system in place.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
To wrap up, the New Zealand Waratahs, a.k.a. the New
Zealand Warriors, you're a big fan. You are really on
this bandwagon, eh?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Oh, I totally am. I forgot how much I loved
league until we've ended up keeping Sky for a little
bit longer at home because of the Live Welter and
Tour de France being on. And I have to say,
the Warriors have been extremely impressive. Of course, they take
on the Sea Eagles tomorrow at 5 o'clock. So I
might have to tune in to that one. But the
Seagulls are quite far down the table, I think, by
(06:17):
the look of things. I think they're nice. So we should,
in theory, beat them. At the moment, we're equal on points.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
With the Panthers.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
So looking pretty good. It'd be a great final for
us if we end up making that final. Because I
think it was early 2000s, I think, was the last time.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, about 2011 or roundabouts.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, how awesome would that be?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Would you go?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Oh, I don't know if I'd go, but I'd like
to go.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Shannon said to me, well, if they make the final,
would you go? But I'm like, I hadn't really thought
about it too much, actually. It's not that cheap to
get to Aussie. There'll be packages. They always do these
flights out of Auckland. Whether they occurred out of Christchurch, perhaps,
would be another matter. But, look, the game tomorrow, Manly,
the Wards have already rested a couple of players, a
few players.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Coming in on rotation as well. Manly... They're missing out
on the eight.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And if the Warriors win this game and Penrith don't
make up a points differential, because the Warriors are up
by one in the points at the moment, as far
as points differential, they win. I think it's 200k and
some shield for being minor premiers. But ultimately, you want
to be there in about a month's time and have
the big trophy. It's all hearsay at the moment.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Oh, it's exciting stuff. Maybe we could have our own
Southern Warriors watching party or something, Andy.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, we've got to make it first, though.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
It's a marathon, not a sprint, Michelle. We'll leave it there. Hey,
thanks for your time. Up the wires.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Up the wires, mate. Or the wiretaps.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Michelle Watt in the country crossover. Thanks to Bioactive Soils.
Elliot Smith of Newstalk ZB wraps up.
The Country Crossover, brought to you by Bioactive Soils. Growing
together with healthy soils.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Become a proactive farmer with Bioactive Ag Fertiliser. Thanks to
Bioactive Soils, we catch up Michelle Watt and The Country
Crossover this afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good afternoon, Michelle. Return of the Mac. Jay Mac, all
going to plan. He's back on deck next week.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I hope so, Andy. He's been missed here in the studio.
I don't have anyone to make cups of tea for,
so I'm a bit lost. without J-Mac here in the studio,
I'll be honest with you. But we do wish him
all the best. For people out there that have been asking,
and there has been a lot asking, he did text
me and say to pass on, he's suffering from a
very bad case of influenza A. So he's actually been
(00:45):
very unwell for the last two and a bit weeks
and just staying away and recovering. So he is coming back.
He will be back on deck behind the mic at
some point and no doubt he'll have lots of thoughts
in his brain and needs to get out. So make
sure you listen to that for a show.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
He doesn't do sitting around very well.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
No, I feel for him. He loves his golf. He
loves the studio. He loves talking, you know, researching and
doing stuff. And I think it'll be very hard for him.
It would have been hard for me. I'm a terrible patient,
I'll be honest. I'd be driving the poor person mad
that was at home with me if I was ill
for that long.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, all the best, Jamie. We know you're listening. So
sending our regards and see you back on the tools
next week. We'll go into play. And hey, springtime's here
and the weather has been a continuation of what we've seen.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
It's pretty schizo at the moment.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, it's erratic, isn't it? It's all over the place.
But there's typical spring, I think, for New Zealand, especially
in the lower half of the South Island from growing up.
I remember it used to be a bit all over
the place. And it doesn't really settle until, from my memory,
it's usually around February. We get more settled weather. It
sort of can be a bit all over the place
up to then. Of course, they're predicting the Super Hour
Nino at the moment to happen. It's already happening. or
(01:54):
been happening over in Europe and the US, and they're
looking to those places to see what might happen here.
Of course, New Zealand is a little bit different, because
we're a tiny island that's quite close to Antarctica, so
a little bit different compared to the likes of Europe,
which is a bigger landmass. I mean, yes, the UK
is quite close to Antarctica, the Arctic Circle in some parts,
but it's still not the same. It's a bigger landmass
(02:15):
connected to other bigger landmasses.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Interesting as well.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
A bakery in Hoon Hay, which is an area you
heard about during the earthquakes quite a lot. But there's
a bakery there.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Horse pies. What do you make of them?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Horse meat pies. Now, as a previous horse girl or
pony club girl, Andy, I probably couldn't go and buy
one and eat one because it just makes me think
of poor old I had Tuffins and I had Glen,
and I just don't think I could do it, I'll
be honest with you. I struggle to buy horse meat
as a pet food for my dog. I just can't
(02:50):
do it. I know that sounds very strange, but I
just can't do it. However, would you know the difference
if someone gave you a horse meat pie or a
steak pie?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, possibly not, because you never tried it, and I mean...
And it's just overseas.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
You hear of a lot of people using horse meat
as a delicacy, dare I say it. But the price
of these pies alone, $ 9, $ 9.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
50.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
To be honest, you can get a couple of jimmies
for that price alone. Or dare I say it, back
in the old red stripe days, you could have got.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Three or four.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
What's the strangest thing you've eaten? Because I know you've
spent time overseas, Andy.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh, you keep it on straight and narrow. It might
have been like bugs or something sautéed or roasted or
something silly like that.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I have to say, one day I'd love to get
over to the West Coast, the food festival. That looks
like a lot of fun. I haven't tried a lot
of different stuff. I've eaten things like, obviously, I've eaten
hoo-hoo grubs back in the old days when I was
a kid and stuff like that, but not anything else.
So it'd be interesting to go and just branch out
a bit.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The weirdest thing I've seen, actually, was a couple of
guys who won't be named after rugby one time having
a moth-eating competition.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, that sounds like something that goes on in gore.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
No, that was in Balfour back in the day, actually.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Oh, I wouldn't admit that. It doesn't sound like something
that would happen in Balfour at all.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
No, of course not. You're probably all out doing domes
or something in the valley. It's Madagascar ragwort. Tell us
all about it.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Okay, so apparently it's a bit of an issue in
Wairarapa and Wellington. It's spreading down there. It's only been
known to be sort of up in the northern regions
of the North Island. It's a terrible week. Now, interestingly,
the reason I know about it, Andy, is because of
Pony Club. So I studied up to my C certificate.
All Pony Club, ex-Pony Club girls out there will know
what I'm talking about. You had to learn from this
(04:32):
little manual and you had to do a wee test.
And one of the tests was actually learning a lot
of the weeds. And Ragwort was one of the weeds
because a lot of it's based on the UK from
Pony Club. But it's a terrible thing. You sometimes see
a little bit of it down south, but not very often.
It looks a bit like a yellow daisy, and it
spreads like anything. But it's very, very dangerous to livestock,
(04:53):
really dangerous and very, very highly toxic.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
A lot of things like that. I remember lupins at
the wrong time of year. You can lose use of
toxicity reasons, we found out once upon a time. But
just one of those things. If it's not one thing,
it's the other, I suppose. You've got issues of that
up here. We've got issues down here with other things,
like scabby.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Mouth, for example.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, exactly. There's always something going on, right, that's spreading
around you've got to keep an eye out for. But
luckily in New Zealand, I mean, our biosecurity systems are
actually pretty good, and we've been very lucky with keeping
a lot of really bad stuff out, like the likes
of blue tongue that's spread through Europe at the moment,
foot and mouth, things like that. I mean, we were
unlucky with some bovis, but they learned a lot from that.
(05:34):
I mean, even though it was absolutely devastating for anyone
that went through that on their farm, they learned a
lot from that situation as well. So We're pretty lucky
here in New Zealand. I mean, we're lucky we're a
tiny island and things can't, it's harder for stuff to
get here. But at the same time, we've got a
really good system in place.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
To wrap up, the New Zealand Waratahs, a.k.a. the New
Zealand Warriors, you're a big fan. You are really on
this bandwagon, eh?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Oh, I totally am. I forgot how much I loved
league until we've ended up keeping Sky for a little
bit longer at home because of the Live Welter and
Tour de France being on. And I have to say,
the Warriors have been extremely impressive. Of course, they take
on the Sea Eagles tomorrow at 5 o'clock. So I
might have to tune in to that one. But the
Seagulls are quite far down the table, I think, by
(06:17):
the look of things. I think they're nice. So we should,
in theory, beat them. At the moment, we're equal on points.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
With the Panthers.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
So looking pretty good. It'd be a great final for
us if we end up making that final. Because I
think it was early 2000s, I think, was the last time.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, about 2011 or roundabouts.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, how awesome would that be?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Would you go?
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Oh, I don't know if I'd go, but I'd like
to go.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Shannon said to me, well, if they make the final,
would you go? But I'm like, I hadn't really thought
about it too much, actually. It's not that cheap to
get to Aussie. There'll be packages. They always do these
flights out of Auckland. Whether they occurred out of Christchurch, perhaps,
would be another matter. But, look, the game tomorrow, Manly,
the Wards have already rested a couple of players, a
few players.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Coming in on rotation as well. Manly... They're missing out
on the eight.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And if the Warriors win this game and Penrith don't
make up a points differential, because the Warriors are up
by one in the points at the moment, as far
as points differential, they win. I think it's 200k and
some shield for being minor premiers. But ultimately, you want
to be there in about a month's time and have
the big trophy. It's all hearsay at the moment.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Oh, it's exciting stuff. Maybe we could have our own
Southern Warriors watching party or something, Andy.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, we've got to make it first, though.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
It's a marathon, not a sprint, Michelle. We'll leave it there. Hey,
thanks for your time. Up the wires.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Up the wires, mate. Or the wiretaps.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Michelle Watt in the country crossover. Thanks to Bioactive Soils.
Elliot Smith of Newstalk ZB wraps up.
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