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Speaker 1: It was a privilege to host the twenty twenty six

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Speaker 1: Canterbury North Otago Dairy Industry Awards at Hotel Ashburton last week,

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Speaker 1: sharing a special congrats to our regional sheer Milkers of

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Speaker 1: the Year Mark and Meghan Lalitch.

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Speaker 2: That's you morning, morning, morning. How are you? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Good mate? So you're fifty to fifty sheer milking six

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Speaker 1: hundred and eighty cows on Peter and Susan Lulitch's one

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Speaker 1: hundred and seventy three hectare farm near christ Church On.

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Speaker 1: Assuming there's a family connection there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yep, going up the last time, it sure is. Yeah, yeah, so.

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Speaker 1: This is your first time entering the awards. Why'd you

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Speaker 1: do it?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Just a bit of encouragement from financial teams and family

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Speaker 2: and whatnot with family and in the bar. Yeah, no,

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Speaker 2: it was. It's been much a good thing to do.

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Speaker 1: And I'm going to lie over well, you scooped four

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Speaker 1: merit awards and a prize pack valued over eight thousand dollars,

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Speaker 1: so that makes it pretty worthwhile. But was there anything

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Speaker 1: else about the journey that's been rewarding?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Now these man hates getting to know our business,

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Speaker 2: what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, the middle

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Speaker 2: of the good people in the in the journey and

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Speaker 2: just just yes, learning a lot about ourselves in the meantime,

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Speaker 2: and great great buyer staff being involved with with on

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Speaker 2: farm stuff as well to do with it.

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Speaker 1: You're here a time and time again. You know when

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Speaker 1: you're when you're just busy day to day on the tools,

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Speaker 1: it's not often you get to step back and work

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Speaker 1: on the business. The in the business. I guess this

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Speaker 1: is one of those opportunities.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is, it is, and and we're very lucky,

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Speaker 2: as I've said, having a good, good team of stuff

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Speaker 2: able to keep the farm running while we were really

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Speaker 2: focusing on on this and our business and and yeah

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Speaker 2: in the competition, so we're very very lucky there.

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Speaker 1: And I correct that you were originally keen to be

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Speaker 1: a builder. Why the move? What triggered the move into farming?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, up on a farm, let's see up in let's

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Speaker 2: school as a viler. But yeah, farmine was in the blood, sir,

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Speaker 2: So I've always wanted to do it with question, so

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Speaker 2: I just thought of one thing later to another.

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Speaker 1: Was Megan a bit of an influence too?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah she was. She definitely was.

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Speaker 1: I understand you you're there, Meghan, Hello to you, Yes,

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Speaker 1: hello in congrats. So I also observed that I can't

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Speaker 1: remember who's who but one of you. I'm sure perhaps

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Speaker 1: Mark is thirty one and twenty eight so young.

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Speaker 3: Yes, we started don't Eve when I was nineteen, so

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Speaker 3: we've seen you there for.

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Speaker 1: A while and obviously kicking some serious goals. So you

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Speaker 1: were contract milking for four seasons before moving into sheer

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Speaker 1: milking for the last three years for the towny in

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Speaker 1: the room. Can you explain what that difference is?

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Speaker 3: Well, three years ago we bought the cows, so that

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Speaker 3: was a big change in our business. So now with

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Speaker 3: the two percent with the farm owners and with us,

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Speaker 3: so we own all the cows and the farm owners

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Speaker 3: loading the land.

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Speaker 1: That's how it works, right. Do you mind me asking?

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Speaker 1: Do you guys supply Fonterra.

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Speaker 3: No, it's some later suppliers and a two as well,

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Speaker 3: so it's a nice little head of bonus.

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Speaker 1: You've got a bit of foam at the moment Fonterra

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Speaker 1: shareholders about to get their share of three billion dollars

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Speaker 1: in coming weeks.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I know it is a bit of a poem,

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Speaker 3: but we've still got our twenty cent a too.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's yeah. Has it ever been so good for

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Speaker 1: dairy farmer's the diesel aside will come back to that

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Speaker 1: in the moment and the furd and whatnot that you know,

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Speaker 1: all metrics seem to think it seemed to point to

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Speaker 1: pretty good times.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think last year was the highest payout

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Speaker 3: that've ever had, and but the year before that was

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Speaker 3: a marginal one. It's just a bit hit and miss.

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Speaker 3: This year is looking like it's going to be a

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Speaker 3: good payout again, which is quite nice.

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Speaker 1: It allows us to keep topping up those tanks. So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: fuel is top of mind for everyone. How's it hitting

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Speaker 1: you or as far as once again timing, has it

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Speaker 1: come at the beast because we're at the towel end

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Speaker 1: of the season.

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Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, well but we're still speeding out a lot,

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Speaker 3: so it's a concern, but it's just something that we've

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Speaker 3: got to try and control. We're only doing our best

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Speaker 3: and just yeah, try and have that reserve tank for

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Speaker 3: being needed.

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Speaker 1: Are they still filling your tank?

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Speaker 2: No?

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Speaker 3: All, well, we're still a lot of reserve and we're

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Speaker 3: not actually filling up out of that. We're just filling

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Speaker 3: up from the fuel station at the moment. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: so we're keeping that as back up.

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Speaker 1: Crazy times. Let's finish with this. So being crowned winners,

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Speaker 1: you're hosting a field day. We're able to come and

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Speaker 1: have a knows you what you're doing Wednesday, the eighth

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Speaker 1: of April. How's this all going to work?

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Speaker 3: Just anyone that wants to can come and ever look

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Speaker 3: on farm, we please to show run around and yeah,

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Speaker 3: we're pretty proud of our farm and proud of the

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Speaker 3: cows and here we're happy to for everyone.

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Speaker 1: To come and ever look, is there one thing in

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Speaker 1: particularly you're looking forward to showing off?

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Speaker 3: Probably the it's a big thing for us. Everything.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right on, and that was certainly acknowledged on the day.

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Speaker 1: So that is five to seven. Clinton's road from ten

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Speaker 1: to thirty. But there are details on the Dairy Industry

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Speaker 1: Awards website if you fancy road trip to go and

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Speaker 1: check out what scored. Mark and Meghan Lalich sheer milkers

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Speaker 1: of the Year at our regional wards and wishing you

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Speaker 1: all the best for the national showcase which is coming

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Speaker 1: up in a few months time. And Rod through