REX

The National Party's MP for Selwyn Nicola Grigg joins the REX team for a round of "Yes Minister".

Time to look back at the last week of events with REX Today host, Dom George.

Beks and Hamish caught up with the Committee Chair for South Island Agriculture Field Days Hayden Dorman. Due to off-site recording, the quality of this audio is a bit harsher than normal.

Sustainability is a word we hear a lot these days, but what does it actually mean? We’re joined today by The Whole Story founder Becks Smith, who is inspiring sustainable change from the ground up. She recently launched ‘Weather Together’ following Cyclone Gabrielle, an online space connecting and supporting those impacted by climate volatility.

Hamish and Beks caught up with South Island Agricultural Field Days Executive Committee Member and Demonstration Co-ordinator in Kirwee.

Dom George caught up with Silver Fern Farms Director Adrian Ball and Clark Taylor, shareholder relations manager at the South Island Agricultural Field Days earlier this week

Middlehurst Station is a 16, 500 hectare property in Marlborough, owned by the Macdonald family. Lucy and Sophie, along with the rest of the MacDonald family, have taken a dream of theirs and turned it into a reality, by supplying lamb directly from their high-country station, to the people of New Zealand. The last couple of weeks have been big ones for the two sisters. They won a Gold medal at the 2023 Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards for their Middlehurst Station - Deluxe edition box, then were invited to travel to Sydney to speak at the Rabobank Farm2Fork summit. Lucy is back in NZ and joining us from north Canterbury.

Geoffrey Young is the newest Director of Beef + Lamb NZ, after being elected to the Southern South Island Ward last week. He is a farmer but has spent a lot of time over the years on the road, travelling to meetings - leading Federated Farmers Southland, and most recently, getting vocal in the Ground Swell choir. Today we are hearing a bit more about the man behind the name. He has tramped the boards on stages around the South in the past, doing a bit of singing and acting, and is now about to step into the bright lights of the Beef + Lamb boardroom.

Beks and Hamish bumped into the National Party Leader at the South Island Ag Field Days.

We have a look at what’s happening in the rural print media alongside the one and only Tony Leggett.

Dog and Country are a North Canterbury-based business that strives to provide the best quality pieces for farmers and their dogs looking for quality products that will last the test of time, Jess Belle is the owner of Dog and Country and was joined by the REX team in her tent at the South Island Ag Field Days.

The CEO of Silver Fern Farms Simon Limmer joins Dom George for a chat about their Annual results, and as it's Friday, we go to our resident sports nut, the former Sports journalist turned REX host Hamish McKay.

The CEO of Silver Fern Farms Simon Limmer joins Dom for a chat about their Annual results.

Well as it's Friday, we go to our resident sports nut, the former Sports journalist turned REX host Hamish McKay.

Stan and Dom have a good catchup in-person at the South Island Agricultural Field Days in Kirwee.

Dom George is down in Kirwee and caught up with Keith Cameron from Lincoln University and CarlAhlfeld from Ravensdown to talk about EcoPond, which won the Agri-Innovation Award at the South Island Agricultural Field Days.

Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Mel Poulton joins Dom today, we have our Property Brokers "Property of the Week", and New Zealand Feijoa Growers Association Manager Ian Turk joins the show as well.

Agritourism is a growing industry worldwide. It's where agriculture and tourism meet, and gives people from both ends of the rural/urban divide the opportunity to connect and provides some much-needed tourism numbers back to rural areas of the country. Marijke Dunselman is the founder of Agritourism NZ and joined Dom for some insight into the ever-growing sectors return to form post-pandemic. And Craig 'Wiggy' Wiggins will be in Kirwee this week at the South Island Ag Fieldays cooking up all sorts of fine meats at the Carters Tyre Service tent, and "Leaning on a gate, and chatting to a mate" - the new initiative spearheaded by Wiggy to get Farmers talking about their mental health.

Wiggy will be in Kirwee this week at the South Island Ag Fieldays cooking up all sorts of fine meats at the Carters Tyre Service tent, and "Leaning on a gate, and chatting to a mate" - the new initiative spearheaded by Wiggy to get Farmers talking about their mental health.

Let’s kick things off this morning by putting the spotlight on an event taking place in just a matter of days - the South Island Agricultural Field Days at Kirwee, just out of Christchurch, 29th to 31st of March… And joining us for a preview is Executive Committee Member and Demonstration Co-ordinator Andrew Stewart

With dry conditions hitting the lower South Island over the last few summers we cross to Mark Patterson, who is Otago's Fed Farmers President for his insight into what's happening on the ground. 24-year-old Hugh Jackson was announced as the winner of the Otago Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year over the weekend, he joins Dom after the big weekend. And Dom crosses the ditch for a catchup with former farmer turned life coach and good friend of REX Shane Bird.

Dom crosses the ditch for a catchup with former farmer turned life coach and good friend of REX Shane Bird.

24-year-old Hugh Jackson was announced as the winner of the Otago Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year over the weekend, he joins Dom after the big weekend.

With dry conditions hitting the lower South Island over the last few summers we cross to Mark Patterson, who is Otago's Fed Farmers President for his insight into what's happening on the ground.

On today’s episode; We head across the ditch for a chat with a third generation cropping and sheep farmer… We catch up with Craigmore Chief Executive Che Charteris… And we profile the Tarras Collie Club’s Centenary celebrations.

We profile the National Party’s new agriculture spokesperson Todd McClay… We put the spotlight on a new initiative to help with the Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild… And we head Stateside to talk to an international business leader who specialises in sustainable food production.

A lot to cover with REX Today Host Dom George as we look back at the last week with "A week of it".

Mark Merrett is a third-generation cropping and sheep farmer in Victoria, close to the South Australian border… During covid lockdown he saw urban people panic buying, so he decided to post some YouTube clips of himself farming, sowing and harvesting crops, to reassure people that farmers were still feeding the nation… His Vlogging has grown wings and he can easily get 10,000 views of his videos, from around the globe. We find him in heartland Victoria, on a very flat paddock near Dinyarrack.

Time now to catch up with Carter’s Brand Ambassador, former All Black Richard Loe.

The head of AgResearch’s Māori Research & Partnerships Group believes Mātauranga Māori should be seen as adding to the toolbox to tackle the big issues for agriculture and other sectors, rather than something that threatens the science status quo… Ariana Estoras heads up the group and joins us now.

Justin Willson has a day job farming merinos at Nine Mile Station. Today, he’s at the Tarras Collie Club running two dogs in the local trials… The Club is celebrating its 100th dog trials and Justin is the current President… So we caught up with him to hear about the club's history and a book written to mark the occasion.

We’re joined by Phil Journeaux from AgFirst, in the Waikato… Phil’s been working on agricultural greenhouse gases for eight years - consulting with both MPI and He Waka eke Noa. He was the man behind the study into calculating greenhouse gases, and farm sequestration for He Waka Eke Noa. With a couple of master's degrees.. Phil specialises in economic analysis, especially of whatever policy the government is sending down the line… And he has a herd of finishing cattle which he runs on his lifestyle block, just to keep his eye in.

Let’s take a look at what’s happening with the rural real estate market, and it’s a warm welcome to the man with all the insights, the GM of Rural at Property Brokers, Conrad Wilkshire.

Well, a slight reshuffle of proceedings this weekend - time now for the latest edition of Yes Minister, and our guest this week has just recently been handed the National Party’s agriculture spokesperson role, taking over from Todd Muller, it’s a different Todd, Todd McClay… Welcome onto REX!

Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand, the industry body for fencing contractors, has launched a fundraising campaign with FCANZ Patron Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins… The “Help a mate, buy a gate” campaign looks to raise funds to help with re-fencing parts of Hawke’s Bay which were decimated in February by Cyclone Gabrielle… To tell us more, we’re joined by FCANZ President Phil Cornelius

Let’s head Stateside now, and Devry Boughner Vorwerk is the founder and CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies and the keynote speaker at next week’s Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit in Christchurch… Devry is a global food executive, sustainability entrepreneur and an expert in international trade relations, among other things.

Geoffrey Young: New Beef+Lamb NZ Chair, McKay on Sport, and Property Brokers Jared Brock make up Fridays REX Today.

Dairy-free desserts from Lilo have hit stores across New Worlds recently, and their Co-founder, Cleo Gilmour, joins Dom to share the company's story from start-up to being a mainstay for Kiwi's grocery lists. And The South Island Agriculture Fieldays are right around the corner and their Oganising Committee Chair Hayden Dorman joined Dom for an update around the Kirwee event.

Dairy-free desserts from Lilo have hit stores across New Worlds recently, and their Co-founder, Cleo Gilmour, joins Dom to share the company's story from start-up to being a mainstay for Kiwi's grocery lists.

The South Island Agriculture Fieldays are right around the corner and their Oganising Committee Chair Hayden Dorman joined Dom for an update around the Kirwee event.

Garage Projects Technical Manager & Sensory Programme Coordinator Tim Low joins Dom to talk all things beer. And NZX's Amy Castleton joins Dom for a GDT Marker update.

Dom highlights another great rural property-owning opportunity with Property Brokers Property of the Week.

NZX's Amy Castleton joins Dom for a GDT Marker update.

Garage Projects Technical Manager & Sensory Programme Coordinator Tim Low joins Dom to talk all things beer.

Harvesting is well underway for Nelson's Brood Fermentation Head Brewer and Wine Maker Lauren Yap as she joined Dominic George to share her story of how she and her husband ended up in sunny Nelson and her journey in Brewing. And with thousands of hunters about to head into the hills for the annual deer Roar, the Game Animal Council is reminding them to follow the 5 Ps for a safe and successful Roar; plan for the best, prepare for the worst, provide your intentions, positively identify your target and pick the right animal - The GM of NZ Game Animal Council Tim Gale joined Dom to dig deeper into the 5 P's.