May 13, 2026 • 9 mins
Our South Otago correspondent looks ath the resurgence of cluster flies, but more importantly the rise of wool!
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Away to South Otago on the Musta this afternoon. Nijah
Woodhead farming between bell Cluth and Milton, with a bit
of a deviation of State Highway One towards the hills.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And he's around there somewhere. Good day night, How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, goodbye? Pretty good on a daylight day, sun is shining.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I pretty much nailed your location there, saying you just
deviate off State Higway one by a couple of cays.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, but we're out on the coastal side of the
main drag, not towards the hills. But yeah, we're only.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So talking to a few people at the moment.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Jordiy just before saying, hell, well, it's just got sticky
all of a sudden over at Riverton where you're based,
are you Are you looking like that you used today?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It was windy and today's nice sunny day, so it's
drying the surface out of it.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
In the weekend it was weirk. Yeah, holy mom, it
got wet in the hell of Ari just started a
couple of mobs of carves on Fotoweek this morning, and
I was a bit worried they were going to make
a mess, but yeah, a couple of nice days and yeah,
there's no mud, so it's good. So you should be
hell of a long winter if we're making mud already.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Are you getting frost because there's been a lack of
it around the province.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
We've had a couple, I think, but nothing nothing too major,
and there was a space of them the earlier on
and they got cold there for a bit. But no,
we haven't been too badful frost. So it's good.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, it certainly he helps temperatures at the moment if
you can stay around there double digit mark for getting
towards the middle of May. It's certainly every day is
a day that you say for a bit of feet.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh yeah, no, we'll still be growing growing grass slowly. Yeah,
but we're tight for feed man, we're tight. We probably
as tight as have been this time of year. I
don't know if I mentioned it last time. We were
talking about we couldn't couldn't get bull spaced for about
a month. I had fifty big balls still on and
(02:06):
we have forty of them ready to go. And you know,
at five hundred and fifty six and akilo ball eats
fear but attacker. So that month year really cost us
a heap of grass. So as a result, they're heading
for a little bulls are just waiting to go on
the trucks for they're pretty added sort of all north
of five hundred kilos. It's not quite heavy enough to kill.
(02:29):
And the last three hundred and twenty lambs went on
a truck store the other day. I was hoping to
finish all my bulls and all my lambs this year,
and I was close, but not quite. You know, it's
you know, there's still worth plenty of money and you've
got to make a decision this time of year. Don't
you predict next years and next year's income.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I can hear the two he's going in the bank around.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, we have a few native buds just floating around. Actually,
that's cool. Actually they're just in the trees and behind
the dopkins. So you love note of goods when you
get the.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Two e's or the bell birds just singing your way
and you're doing a job and you just put everything
that puts everything into perspective to suppose about why you
do it, why you do.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
What you do. It's pretty fun. Actually, I'm just standing
out in front of my shield and there's paying for
a bentail just snooping around. I hope they're eating some
of these cluster flies.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Hate to How bad is a classify situation for you?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Oh? Pretty bad? Yeah? Not good doing the other when
the grab a can of drink off a shelf and
the wall, sheheed and pulled it and it was up
against the wall and pulled it off, and it's like
a yeah, how they like sit between and get like that.
There was like a whole gazillion of them stepped in
between the drink drum and the wall. It gives you
(03:46):
the willies. I hate the cluster flies.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Actually, you bring up the number of gazillion.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I think gazillion should be recognized as a number, not
necessarily placed after a million or a chillion, but it
basically means a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh yeah, well you say gazn You know someone's talking
about a truckload of something, right, So absolutely, no, that's
an accurate Well it's not an accurate number, but it's
a good depiction of what we're talking about anyway.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You talk about getting these animals away insial did mention
it a couple of weeks ago, trying to get these
balls off to the works. Jordy talked about it before though,
the schedule actually coming back up at the weekend and
hasn't dropped bugger all, No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
It's here like their ball schedules up sort of around
nine and what do I say the lamb should you
was ten thirty or ten forty or something. So yeah,
we'll take it. It's good. The last lot of my
works them have just been on the truck. The prime
leams were on the truck this morning, and I don't know.
They might do They might do nineteen in the stretch.
(04:48):
I'm doating something. They definitely felt heavier dragon and over
the board yesterday than they look, so yeah, I hope
they'll be Hopefully there'll be a two in front of
the in front of the price there. It's good. Yes,
an unbelievable season, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What would your lambs be everaging over the past couple
of the season's nuge?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You can't even compare this year to previous years, like
you just literally can't compare them like we Like I said,
I was hoping to finish everything and we only sold
those three twenty earlier in the weekly. The only stare
ends we've done all year. If you take my winning
drafts if you put them to one side with averaging
north of nineteen. And yeah, I think we've only had
(05:31):
one draft since since January go under nineteen and that
was eighteen point nine something something as well. So yeah,
but then like last year, in the year before, we
sold probably seventy eight percent of our lamb store. So
it's just you can't even compare the seasons. Makes it
pretty tough farming. Not being able to, you know, actually
(05:52):
have a pretty good idea of what you're going to do.
Like you know, if we if it rains at Christmas
and we ever got to feed them, will finish them,
and if it doesn't, then we have to sell them
or it's not a perfect business model, but that's what
we've got to the author.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
No, but you've got levers as we call it in
the game that you can pull if you need to.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well that's why yeah, yeah, and that's why we like
the freezing balls because they're usually the first thing to go.
But it's yeah, and it's quite nice having a balance
between kettle and sheep. Like if it's a really good
spring and thing gets away and you you've got lots
of longer feed around, then you get rid of lambs
because they're not going to do so well on that
longer feed, and keep the kettle that can handle that
(06:33):
slightly longer feed as opposed to if it's the place
short and green and it looks like it's getting a
bit dry, where you hold onto the lambs because they
like that short stuff and ditch the kettle. So yeah,
it's quite good having that balance. And we reared a
handful extra carves as you read seventy five, and then
bought an extra aty something, so a few more kettle
(06:55):
and hopefully they'll try and just balance things out of it.
You know, if we decide to pull the pull the
liver on kettle, then it's a bigger wack of mounds
off the platform in one go if we want to
sell some store, if that makes sense. So yeah, we'll see,
Like I might know if it turns week in July,
I might regret having one hundred and twenty balls instead
(07:16):
of sixty. But well, yeah, we should be we should
be right. We've got plenty of plenty of options for
we had to put kedle if it gets wet in
the window in the spring.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, we know, we all know how protein is looking
at the moment. What about your will check for the season?
How would that rate?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah, that's probably almost been as big as surprise as
anything like, Yeah, we we're expecting reasonable money for lemon fiflutely.
I mean, I don't know. I don't think anyone had
teen or eleven dollars in their budget, but we're expecting
things to be not too bad. But yeah, I think
I just get an offer use day of six dollars
(07:52):
already something for my two do well clean, So yeah,
we'll take that.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's fantastic. Yeah, so we'll compete years anyway.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Oh yeah, I mean it's like the war camp and
the accounts at the end of the year, is can
have a positive in front of it, which it hasn't
for a long time, so unbelievable. Yeah, and unreal. It's
so good just to have that part of the business
Planet's way for a change, which again, you know, if
you're a root of businessman, comments like oh it's good
(08:25):
to have that part of the business Planet's wagame is
probably not something you want to say too often, but
you know, here we are, we have to produce this
stuff if we're growing the type of sheet we produce,
so it's good that it's yeah, there's finally value in it,
because it doesn't. It is an awesome product and there's
got to be value in it some way.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Good on your Nigel.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
We always always appreciate your catchups on the Muster and
ketch you a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Cheers and we'll go into Niger.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Wand here in South Atago between bout Cleath and Milton.
Just reiterating the puzzles for the season than the like
Jeordie said before as well regarding the schedules, certainly the
good news story for.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
A lot of people. Jason arches up next in the
Beef and lambslot.
Away to South Otago on the Musta this afternoon. Nijah
Woodhead farming between bell Cluth and Milton, with a bit
of a deviation of State Highway One towards the hills.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And he's around there somewhere. Good day night, How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, goodbye? Pretty good on a daylight day, sun is shining.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I pretty much nailed your location there, saying you just
deviate off State Higway one by a couple of cays.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, but we're out on the coastal side of the
main drag, not towards the hills. But yeah, we're only.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So talking to a few people at the moment.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Jordiy just before saying, hell, well, it's just got sticky
all of a sudden over at Riverton where you're based,
are you Are you looking like that you used today?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It was windy and today's nice sunny day, so it's
drying the surface out of it.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
In the weekend it was weirk. Yeah, holy mom, it
got wet in the hell of Ari just started a
couple of mobs of carves on Fotoweek this morning, and
I was a bit worried they were going to make
a mess, but yeah, a couple of nice days and yeah,
there's no mud, so it's good. So you should be
hell of a long winter if we're making mud already.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Are you getting frost because there's been a lack of
it around the province.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
We've had a couple, I think, but nothing nothing too major,
and there was a space of them the earlier on
and they got cold there for a bit. But no,
we haven't been too badful frost. So it's good.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, it certainly he helps temperatures at the moment if
you can stay around there double digit mark for getting
towards the middle of May. It's certainly every day is
a day that you say for a bit of feet.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh yeah, no, we'll still be growing growing grass slowly. Yeah,
but we're tight for feed man, we're tight. We probably
as tight as have been this time of year. I
don't know if I mentioned it last time. We were
talking about we couldn't couldn't get bull spaced for about
a month. I had fifty big balls still on and
(02:06):
we have forty of them ready to go. And you know,
at five hundred and fifty six and akilo ball eats
fear but attacker. So that month year really cost us
a heap of grass. So as a result, they're heading
for a little bulls are just waiting to go on
the trucks for they're pretty added sort of all north
of five hundred kilos. It's not quite heavy enough to kill.
(02:29):
And the last three hundred and twenty lambs went on
a truck store the other day. I was hoping to
finish all my bulls and all my lambs this year,
and I was close, but not quite. You know, it's
you know, there's still worth plenty of money and you've
got to make a decision this time of year. Don't
you predict next years and next year's income.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I can hear the two he's going in the bank around.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, we have a few native buds just floating around. Actually,
that's cool. Actually they're just in the trees and behind
the dopkins. So you love note of goods when you
get the.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Two e's or the bell birds just singing your way
and you're doing a job and you just put everything
that puts everything into perspective to suppose about why you
do it, why you do.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
What you do. It's pretty fun. Actually, I'm just standing
out in front of my shield and there's paying for
a bentail just snooping around. I hope they're eating some
of these cluster flies.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Hate to How bad is a classify situation for you?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Oh? Pretty bad? Yeah? Not good doing the other when
the grab a can of drink off a shelf and
the wall, sheheed and pulled it and it was up
against the wall and pulled it off, and it's like
a yeah, how they like sit between and get like that.
There was like a whole gazillion of them stepped in
between the drink drum and the wall. It gives you
(03:46):
the willies. I hate the cluster flies.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Actually, you bring up the number of gazillion.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I think gazillion should be recognized as a number, not
necessarily placed after a million or a chillion, but it
basically means a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh yeah, well you say gazn You know someone's talking
about a truckload of something, right, So absolutely, no, that's
an accurate Well it's not an accurate number, but it's
a good depiction of what we're talking about anyway.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You talk about getting these animals away insial did mention
it a couple of weeks ago, trying to get these
balls off to the works. Jordy talked about it before though,
the schedule actually coming back up at the weekend and
hasn't dropped bugger all, No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
It's here like their ball schedules up sort of around
nine and what do I say the lamb should you
was ten thirty or ten forty or something. So yeah,
we'll take it. It's good. The last lot of my
works them have just been on the truck. The prime
leams were on the truck this morning, and I don't know.
They might do They might do nineteen in the stretch.
(04:48):
I'm doating something. They definitely felt heavier dragon and over
the board yesterday than they look, so yeah, I hope
they'll be Hopefully there'll be a two in front of
the in front of the price there. It's good. Yes,
an unbelievable season, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What would your lambs be everaging over the past couple
of the season's nuge?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You can't even compare this year to previous years, like
you just literally can't compare them like we Like I said,
I was hoping to finish everything and we only sold
those three twenty earlier in the weekly. The only stare
ends we've done all year. If you take my winning
drafts if you put them to one side with averaging
north of nineteen. And yeah, I think we've only had
(05:31):
one draft since since January go under nineteen and that
was eighteen point nine something something as well. So yeah,
but then like last year, in the year before, we
sold probably seventy eight percent of our lamb store. So
it's just you can't even compare the seasons. Makes it
pretty tough farming. Not being able to, you know, actually
(05:52):
have a pretty good idea of what you're going to do.
Like you know, if we if it rains at Christmas
and we ever got to feed them, will finish them,
and if it doesn't, then we have to sell them
or it's not a perfect business model, but that's what
we've got to the author.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
No, but you've got levers as we call it in
the game that you can pull if you need to.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well that's why yeah, yeah, and that's why we like
the freezing balls because they're usually the first thing to go.
But it's yeah, and it's quite nice having a balance
between kettle and sheep. Like if it's a really good
spring and thing gets away and you you've got lots
of longer feed around, then you get rid of lambs
because they're not going to do so well on that
longer feed, and keep the kettle that can handle that
(06:33):
slightly longer feed as opposed to if it's the place
short and green and it looks like it's getting a
bit dry, where you hold onto the lambs because they
like that short stuff and ditch the kettle. So yeah,
it's quite good having that balance. And we reared a
handful extra carves as you read seventy five, and then
bought an extra aty something, so a few more kettle
(06:55):
and hopefully they'll try and just balance things out of it.
You know, if we decide to pull the pull the
liver on kettle, then it's a bigger wack of mounds
off the platform in one go if we want to
sell some store, if that makes sense. So yeah, we'll see,
Like I might know if it turns week in July,
I might regret having one hundred and twenty balls instead
(07:16):
of sixty. But well, yeah, we should be we should
be right. We've got plenty of plenty of options for
we had to put kedle if it gets wet in
the window in the spring.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, we know, we all know how protein is looking
at the moment. What about your will check for the season?
How would that rate?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah, that's probably almost been as big as surprise as
anything like, Yeah, we we're expecting reasonable money for lemon fiflutely.
I mean, I don't know. I don't think anyone had
teen or eleven dollars in their budget, but we're expecting
things to be not too bad. But yeah, I think
I just get an offer use day of six dollars
(07:52):
already something for my two do well clean, So yeah,
we'll take that.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's fantastic. Yeah, so we'll compete years anyway.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Oh yeah, I mean it's like the war camp and
the accounts at the end of the year, is can
have a positive in front of it, which it hasn't
for a long time, so unbelievable. Yeah, and unreal. It's
so good just to have that part of the business
Planet's way for a change, which again, you know, if
you're a root of businessman, comments like oh it's good
(08:25):
to have that part of the business Planet's wagame is
probably not something you want to say too often, but
you know, here we are, we have to produce this
stuff if we're growing the type of sheet we produce,
so it's good that it's yeah, there's finally value in it,
because it doesn't. It is an awesome product and there's
got to be value in it some way.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Good on your Nigel.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
We always always appreciate your catchups on the Muster and
ketch you a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Cheers and we'll go into Niger.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Wand here in South Atago between bout Cleath and Milton.
Just reiterating the puzzles for the season than the like
Jeordie said before as well regarding the schedules, certainly the
good news story for.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
A lot of people. Jason arches up next in the
Beef and lambslot.
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