Reflections of a travelling Kiwi
Roger Barton, Carterton, Wairarapa, with his wife Barbie, farms a glorified lifestyle block (480ha total) amongst the rocks at Woodside, west of Greytown. They have four adult children, two of which are farming on their own blocks.
We’ve been lucky, or frivolous enough, to have travelled two years in a row. It would have been more efficient if our young friend had organised his wedding for last year.
So, a wedding in Northumberland at Bamburgh Castle’s stone church (built 1350ish) and then a sniff of Scotland and quite a lot of stops in Wales. Reconnecting with friends from 1995. Mostly talking farming and family. Half a day spent pushing 2th rams onto a conveyor with an Innovis sheep breeding team led by Dewi Jones on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. I was impressed with the attention to detail in his culling pre-sale.
We travelled 3200 km. Tried to avoid the big cities and listened diligently to our navigational assistant, including pending speed cameras. We saw a modicum of road cones but after three countries declared New Zealand the ‘road cone capital’ of the world.
“For us, the most exciting part of New York city was seeing Atkins Ranch lamb in the Wholefoods outlet near Columbus Circle.”
What did we learn? That population brings retail opportunities. There are a lot of farm shops (think Clarkson’s farm), although Covid saw the demise of some, or certainly cut retail trade, British farmers are closer to their market and understand customer’s requirements. Their subsidies are still a part of their revenue stream but changes are coming. The adjustment will be painful for the smaller operators. We are still happier farming here in most regards. The current blip in sheep and beef returns will change along with interest rates but it’s hard to see how costs will decline. Covid has been a massive interrupter at so many levels, or is it a convenient excuse?
We then spent time in Italy: Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Rome. The Italians know their food and their hospitality. In amongst the 40,000 daily visitors to the Vatican we ran into Aucklanders we knew, and a past principal of Greytown Primary as we toured the city. A day trip to Pompei was a salient reminder that NZ is a very young country. A trip to Rome on the bullet train (250 to 300 kph) reminded us that our own train network is a sad and distant relation. The Wairarapa line has had an extended period where it was late 100% of the time.
The Italian cities were busy (mad traffic) but beautiful. Hospitality and cuisine were authentic and memorable. Then we went to New York. An amazing city but too many people and too much concrete for this boy.
But … you have to marvel at the logistics of running a city of that size. Traffic flows (5000 yellow taxi cabs), water reticulation, rubbish management (well eventually … not a bright spot of our stay) and of course the shopping. Retail to meet all needs.
For us, the most exciting part of New York city was seeing Atkins Ranch lamb in the Wholefoods outlet near Columbus Circle; and some great discussion with the meat market manager and his head butcher. Presentation was well beyond anything we see in NZ but the real understanding came through the power of the back story of our product. We engaged with shoppers about the pasture fed attributes of meat products in the chiller, including the audited production process that we subscribe to. None of this can be taken lightly.
We’ve been home six weeks and if I’ve reflected on one aspect of NZ, it is that we used to be a can-do nation and we have allowed ourselves to morph into a can’t-do nation. The Wairarapa Times Age recently featured local Len French and his battle to establish an irrigation lake to add value to local product. He had to spend $400,000 to get consents over a protracted period which sums up some of our current problems. All power to the Lens’ of this country … we need more of them.
