At last some leadership within the Meat Industry, but whether it is enough to slow the exodus to dairy, only time will tell.
Sixty five processing plants and far too many companies competing for too few sheep and cattle, at the farmers expense, is a core issue that has yet to be addressed.
And the sad bit is, a large amount of this internal competition is between two farmer co-ops, both trying to maximise profits for its stakeholders.Their lack of success illustrated by the swing to dairy and poor pre tax incomes by farmers, shows there has to be a better strategy.
The NZ Meat industry focus should be unified internally but collectively competitive in our exports markets, against other sellers of meat products.
Sheep and beef farmers and meat companies are to join forces to search for a strategy to revive the flagging meat industry. The move by Beef + Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association comes as sheep and beef farmers have struggled to cope with high costs, high exchange rates and years of drought. Lamb returns in the valuable British and European markets have been at their highest in recent months, but Beef + Lamb economists pick the average sheep and beef farm pre-tax income to be only $40,000 this year.
With wool no longer a viable income-earner, farmers expressed their frustration at their falling fortunes last year by voting to end a levy to pay for wool research and development and shearing training. The Meat Industry Association, which turned down an offer to merge with Beef + Lamb earlier in the year but is represented on its board, is a lobby group for companies that run 65 processing plants across the country. Agriculture Minister David Carter said swift action was needed to capture the top end of the market and "the world's most discerning customers".
Beef + Lamb chairman Mike Petersen and the Meat Industry Association chairman Bill Falconer said they had agreed on terms of reference and funding for the first stage of a two-stage process. This was a study of the issues and opportunities across the sector from market to farm, to be completed early next year. They expected the strategy to have a five to 10-year outlook, but were optimistic several "quick wins" would be identified. In stage two, "willing industry participants" would work together on these initiatives, which might include research and innovation, market development or whole-of-supply-chain initiatives.
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