1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Standing by for our first long weekend of the year. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: With the right weather, could well be a long weekend 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: in a very different sense in the cab for our 4 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: contracting friends, although has the fine stuff come just a 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: little too late. We've got a new voice for farm 6 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: chat this morning. We welcome in feder Ad of Farmer's 7 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: Arable Chair for Mid Canterbury Bevern. 8 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 2: Litl Hi, big, good morning, how are you you good? 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: Doesn't matter who you talk to at the moments, the 10 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: conversation always seems to come back to the weather and 11 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: the crud summer we've had, and then thoughts to our 12 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: local cropping farmers, which is yourself, what's the state of 13 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: play out there? How bad is it? 14 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 2: It's particularly challenging at the moment. Many farmers are really 15 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 2: struggling to get their harvest done, in particular ryegrass seed 16 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 2: crops and clover crops and pea crops, particularly impacted by 17 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: the wet weather that we've had throughout January and now 18 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 2: into early February. So here's hoping for a war woman's 19 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 2: sunny long weekend. 20 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: How far off target are we? What would you expect 21 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: to be in by now? 22 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 3: That's not Yeah, well we would expect much of the 23 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 3: rye grass to be harvested by now, so we're probably 24 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 3: a few weeks behind there. Often by now we would 25 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 3: be starting to harvest milling wheats, particularly near the coast. 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 3: But essentially the damage. 27 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 2: Has already done. It's highly likely that clover seed crops 28 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: will be very poor because seed is sprouted within the 29 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,559 Speaker 2: bottom of the crop. Milling wheats likely will be downgraded 30 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 2: to feed wheat because they've already sprouted in that prolonged 31 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: wet period, and early pea crops are also probably in 32 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 2: trouble it with sprouting as well, So it's really the 33 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 2: prolonged weather has already done the damage. 34 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: I'm drawing my knowledge from Clackson Farm here. And when 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: you say that you have to drop from your feed 36 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: to stock feed, in other words, that means you're getting 37 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: less moneiful for you yield. 38 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 2: Right. Absolutely. 39 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: You mentioned yesterday how in most businesses and most farming 40 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: operations you get paid progressively through the year. That's not 41 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: the case with arable guys, right. 42 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 2: No, we get paid on what we harvest and on 43 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 2: the quality of what we harvest, so we essentially get 44 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 2: one chance at a payday. 45 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: That makes it particularly brutal. 46 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 2: Imagine when the one month we're going to be harvesting 47 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 2: is as poor as it has been, It's very challenging. 48 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: Is there any insurance here? I think you know, we 49 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: also had that freak hailstorm that came through between Christmas 50 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 1: and New Year safeguard Well, hail. 51 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 2: Insurance is particularly expensive and many farmers choose not to 52 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 2: carry it because it essentially doesn't pay United Wheat Growers 53 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 2: as a cooperative insurance scheme for wheat, and that covers 54 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 2: the bulk of your growing costs, and so wheat is covered. 55 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 2: But if there's been about five thousand hectares of wheat claims, 56 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 2: and you could probably say therefore that somewhere around twenty 57 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 2: five thousand hectares of crop has been damaged by hail, 58 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 2: much of which would be uninsured. 59 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: Wow. Is there anything that we the Joe public can 60 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: do to support you guys, because I'm sitting here feeling 61 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: pretty helpless at the moment. 62 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it's just I suppose a little bit of sensitivity, 63 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 2: But it's also a bit of sensitivity perhaps from some 64 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 2: of our clients that in particular, perhaps the feed grain 65 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 2: users that supporting New Zealand grain is perhaps one of 66 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 2: the ways that they can help us at the moment 67 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 2: get through what is a particularly difficult period, instead of 68 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 2: importing Palm kernel and DDGs from overseas. Perhaps it's New 69 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 2: Zealand wheat and balley that can be the product of choice.