Crafar was delighted for himself rather than Sir Michael Fay because he now sees himself back in the race.

He was in an Albany café with Country99 TV programme executive producer Genevieve Westcott after filming an episode of the Straight Furrow sponsored Straight Talk show.

Crafar said he hoped the ruling would stand as he would be back in the race when the receivers of his farms put them back out to tender.

“The Crafar group is in a position now [if the decision is upheld] to match the [Chinese] offer with three private investors ready to make a straight lending arrangement,” he told the programme.

Asked who he would prefer to own the farms, he simply replied “us”.

He wants his 16 farms back and was approaching the receivers the next day [Thursday].

“The fight is not over and the receiver will put it out to tender again and we are well positioned.

“I have never thought of giving up and I don’t believe it is too late.”

While he believes our farmland should be owned by New Zealanders “that which the banks ‘own’ was already foreign owned because the banks were”.

“They have just shipped $5 billion offshore in profits.”

Crafar told the programme that in September 2007 the banks were approaching to take his lending up to $200 million [it was at the time $155 million].

At that time, the farms were valued at $400 million and by the end of 2008 in the global financial crisis, this had come down to $230 million.

He said it made him angry to see the farms taken away by “some suits”.

Cows, he said, were not the problem; the most difficult animals around were humans.

“I worked too hard and trusted too many people,” Crafar told the programme. “And some were determined just to get rid of a tall poppy.

“At this stage I am not pushing the grass up, I am still treading it down.”