Listen to The Country online with Jamie Mackay: Zanda McDonald winners and tough times for sheep and beef

New Zealand Zanda McDonald 2024 winner Nancy Crawshaw (top) and Australian winner Tessa Chartres were on The Country today.

Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with the two winners of the 2024 Zanda McDonald Award, Nancy Crawshaw (New Zealand) and Tessa Chartres (Australia). He also talks about how the sheep and beef sector is doing it tough with Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland.

On with the show:

Kate Acland:

Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s chair talks about the Mid-Season Update 2023-24 and confirms that times are tough and farmers will have to continue to dig deep to stem what looks like widespread cash losses in the sheep and beef sector for the 23/24 financial year. The outlook for 2023-24 has worsened significantly since the October forecasts, because there has been no recovery in China, and Australian exports of red meat have been bigger than originally forecast. Farm profits are forecast to be down 54 per cent to an average of $62,600 per farm.

Nancy Crawshaw and Tessa Chartres:

We catch up with the two winners of the 2024 Zanda McDonald Award. Kiwi winner Nancy Crawshaw, 27, is an extension officer for Angus Australia based in New Zealand; and Australian winner Tessa Chartres, 32, based in Deniliquin NSW, is the general manager of business development at Murray Irrigation.

Grant Watson and Patricia Stroup:

The Synlait chief executive and Nestle global chief procurement officer announce a unique three-way partnership with its farmer suppliers to help fund innovative on-farm emissions reduction tools.

Angus Moore:

One of New Zealand’s leading shearers emailed us over the weekend.

“Hi there Jamie. Just a tongue-in-cheek offer. I hear you lost some money on me at the TAB last weekend. Our farmers have mentioned it a few times.

“Pretty funny. If you find yourself with a hole in your show at any point you can line up an interview by way of compensation for your loss”.

So we took him up on the offer!

David Foote:

The former chair of Cattle Australia, and long-time supporter of the Zanda McDonald Award, shares his thoughts on a highly successful Impact Summit Conference in Queenstown.

Listen below: