Listen to The Country online: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on agriculture’s importance to NZ’s economy

Prime Minister and National Party leader Christopher Luxon at the 2024 National Party annual conference. Photo / Claire Trevett

Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who ponders the importance of New Zealand’s agriculture sector when it comes to the economy.

On with the show:

Christopher Luxon:

The Prime Minister ponders the importance of agriculture to the economy, paralysing power prices, taming Winston Peters, the National Party’s annual conference and Sir John Key’s role, crippling national debt and US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s pick for vice-president.

Miles Hurrell:

The chief executive of Fonterra reviews a very good GDT auction (up 0.5%, whole milk powder + 2.4%) when the commentary was suggesting the step-up in August volumes, especially whole milk powder (+~60%) was always going to be a tough ask, all the more so considering what happened in the July increases. However, the extra product was seemingly consumed with ease. Plus; are we “sleepwalking” into an energy crisis?

Blair McLean:

Our Blenheim-based viticulture correspondent comes to the party with a couple of fun packs (courtesy of Forrest Estate) to cheer up farmers calving, lambing and trying to get crops into the ground.

Wendy Paul:

We catch up with the chief executive of Growing Future Farmers for a chat. Rabobank is one of the major supporters of this programme and the initial idea for the programme stemmed from a Lower North Island Rabobank Client Council meeting in 2018 where the Council discussed ideas to address the critical skills shortage in the sheep, beef and deer sector.

Listen below: