Behind-the-scenes efforts are under way to find a new funding stream to train shearers and shedhands. Agriculture industry training organistion chief executive Kevin Bryant said he was working closely with M&WNZ and others in the wool industry ahead of a series of meetings to try and find a replacement for the $300,000 farmers provided to fund the training of shearers and shedhands.

Chaiman Mike Petersen said the board’s chairman, Scott Champion, would convene a meeting in the next few weeks to discuss the industry contributing to the training of shearers, woolhandlers and classers. Those invited to attend include the Council of Wool Exporters, the NZ Merino Company, Woolpartners, Elders Primary Wool and shearing contractors.

“The fact is farmers said no to the wool levy so we obviously lost $300,000 of M&WNZ contribution and that leveraged close to $1.5 million of government money which allowed us to provide subsidised training to over 1000 shearers and woolhandlers through a partnership with Tectra.” If the industry did not contribute to training, then neither would the Government, but Mr Bryant said farmers could end up paying anyway.

(more…)

Meat & Wool NZ will dump about a third of its head office staff in Wellington following massive budget cuts. Yesterday the organisation, which has around 30 staff, announced it slashed $6.3 million in its yearr-on-year budget ending a number of projects and minimizing others reports The NBR. The adjustment was required because of the loss of the wool levy and has been carried out in conjunction with the M&WNZ organisational restructure announced last week.

Reducing funding for others include Sheep Improvement, down $155,000 and Californian thistle research with nearly $100,000 slashed. Mr Petersen said there had were significant budget cuts made to the market development activity with $1 million coming out of the Europe programme and $350,000 removed from activity for sheepmeat and beef in other markets.

(more…)

M&WNZ is working hard to muster farmer support for its plan to increase the compulsory sheep and beef levies (but decrease the wool levy) that fund the organisation reports Stuff.  In tough times, when other  farmer bodies also have their  hands out for funding help, I sense  a resistance to paying more, particularly for work they feel is someone else’s responsibility. Whether this will be translated into a rejection of the levy proposal, which farmers have till the end of the month to vote on, is hard to tell. It may just be reflected in a low turnout. But this would be just as damaging, even if the majority voted yes, as it would give the Government pause in approving the new levies. The disgruntled are being given voice by a small but active group of farmers. I suspect that what will be their undoing, and Meat & Wool’s salvation, is that their proposals for an alternative, slimmed down organisation go too far.

The levies fund activities known as “industry good” – work of benefit to farming that would not otherwise be done by other organisations. It covers a wide field – from providing funding for research into animal diseases to getting information to farmers that will improve their performance, to administering the valuable export meat quotas, to encouraging the growth of leadership, to promoting the sale of beef and lamb. The levies are skimmed from the sales of sheep, beef and wool to processing plants and although last year it amounted to $32.3 million, it was not enough to fund Meat & Wool. A further $5.6m was needed, most of it coming from a $90m reserve held by its parent body, the Meat Board. Meat & Wool has to get farmer approval for a new levy every five years, and now, five years after it was first formed with a strongly favourable vote, it is putting up a new proposal.

(more…)

Keeping a steady hand on the tiller is necessary for sheep and beef farmers to continue getting value out of their Research & Development investment, Lincoln Vice-Chancellor Professor Roger Field says. Professor Field says R&D is about knowledge building on knowledge and requires a steady hand to keep the programme on course. “Research very rarely delivers a leap forward in thinking. More often it’s a steady progression as knowledge builds on knowledge to provide exceptional outcomes over time. The strength of New Zealand’s pastoral sector can be traced back to consistent investment in R&D and applying it on the farm. The danger lies in failing to recognise this and risking it all for a new strategy.

“Lincoln University has been a key contributor to research as part of the Meat & Wool New Zealand Central Progeny Test. The CPT has provided a very visual and easily understood demonstration of the value of superior genetics. This has made a very valuable contribution to the New Zealand sheep industry.“Meat & Wool New Zealand has always taken the long-term view and as such has also been careful with its investments to prevent changes mid-stride. Its proposal shows very clear objectives and the right expectation that we should be able to deliver benefits over the short, medium and long-term to farmers.

(more…)

M&WNZ’s Economic Service says drought and dairy expansion have continued to reduce sheep numbers, resulting in a 2.8 per cent drop in total sheep numbers, to 33.14 million for the year to 30 June 2009.  Economic Director Rob Davison says its annual stock number survey, which establishes the productive base of livestock for 2009-10, shows North Island sheep numbers decreased by 5.9 per cent (-1.0 million) while numbers remained almost static (+0.3 per cent) in the South Island.  “In the North Island, three consecutive years of drought in the East Coast regions has caused successive reductions in sheep numbers. In addition, drought in the summer and autumn of 2008, coupled with dairy herd expansion, resulted in significantly fewer lambs in 2008-09 (-12 per cent) than in the previous year.

The flow-on effect was fewer lambs for export and fewer lambs to keep as replacements at 30 June 2009. Farmers’ need for cash flow and improved lamb prices compared with the last three years, particularly in the latter part of 2008-09, prompted more lambs to be drafted for export instead of being kept as replacements.”  “The total number of hoggets or young sheep was almost static but there was a major difference between islands. North Island hogget numbers were down 12.2 per cent but South Island numbers were up 15.8 per cent. The South Island increase is measured against very low hogget retentions in the previous year. Some of this increase is likely to be lambs held over for slaughter in late winter.”

(more…)

This MAF report looks at the sheep meat and beef sectors past history of poor profitability, and seeks to identify some opportunities and challenges that must be met to improve this financial position. It looks at 10 strategic important factors  that have influence in the underperformance of this industry. They include farm and processing profitability, investment in research and marketing, developing new markets and the use of brand NZ, coopertive marketing overseas, efficency onfarm and at the processing end and addressing supply issues with contracts.

Meat & Wool New Zealand welcomes this publication of MEAT: The Future,  which identifies the challenges facing the meat sector, and aims to encourage debate about the future. “As the study notes, there are a number of fundamentals that indicate the future is bright for the NZ meat industry,” says M&WNZ Chairman, Mike Petersen.  “Our high quality natural products, rising protein prices, growth in developing nations and declining sheep numbers worldwide, point to opportunities for the meat industry. “It is vital that the industry is repositioned to be able to take advantage of these trends and restore profitability to the sector. However, as a sector, the meat industry has not successfully addressed recurring problems and put in place better planning for the future.”

(more…)

Meat & Wool NZ have released their 2008/09 movement in input price report which reveals input prices rose 7.6% for the year. Whilst this was down from the previous year any increase in costs in these tough economic times is hard to bear.

 The main driver was the cost of fertiliser which was up by nearly 34% but fortunately this rise has now halted with the world economy taking the sting out of demand. The falls however have not matched the last years rises. Other major items to rise included local Govt rates by 5.6%, repairs and maintainence 8.9%, and shearing expenses 14.7%. On further analysis the shearing increase was more about farmers changing from shearing twice a year to once a year shearing so total money spent may well be less.

Some significant price decreases were seen to balance those increased costs and  were seen in the interest and fuel areas. Many farmers would have welcolmed the fall in their overdraft costs and some who interest term fell due, would have some relief on mortgages as well. The overall price in interest on debt fell by 6.7%. Fuel, a significant cost for many, also came to the party dropping by 14%. Overall on-farm inflation was double the CPI and one wonders whether this is a carry over of the dairy boom the year before. If it is we should see a significant fall in many costs next year, although some costs such as fertiliser, with a high imported influence, will be harder to control.

The Meat Industry Action Group (MIAG) says it has received an overwhelming mandate to continue but will take a more conciliatory ‘watchdog’ role in its efforts to bring about reform. ‘We are hugely proud of what MIAG has tried to achieve,’ says chairman John Gregan, who was reappointed at the group’s annual meeting in Dunedin last month reports Rural News. ‘A group of concerned, self motivated farmers whose only concern was to improve the industry they were a part of, stepped up to the plate. But we also recognise MIAG has not always got it right.’

So in future the group aims to work with meat industry companies and organisations to facilitate consolidation or greater cross-industry co-operation, rather than trying to force reforms as it has in the past. ‘The problems in the industry that all the companies agreed existed are still there… We need a plan for a better industry. This survival of the fittest is not healthy for farmers because effectively the companies are continually beating each other up.’ Deals where one farmer receives a better price than another for the same weight and grade lambs, sold to the same company, on the same day, for no apparent reason remain rife, as do inefficiencies due to a fragmented, uncooperative industry structure, says Gregan.

(more…)

Federated Farmers has lobbied hard to promote policies that will ensure farmers, the economy and the country are all on the road to success.  Farming is NZ’s backbone and will lift us out of recession.  Federated Farmers is pleased to see delivery on research, infrastructure, water and regulatory reform during challenging economic times.   “The agricultural sector accounts for 65 percent of all exports and Budget 2009 emphasises agriculture as NZ’s largest and most important industry.  It’s welcome realism,” says Don Nicolson, Federated Farmers President.

“The Government has walked a tightrope in looking to boost productivity and competitiveness without flaming debt. “That said, business is facing a very difficult environment and many NZers are being insulated at the expense of business.  Its okay to ‘preserve entitlements’ for workers but without business owners, there would be no jobs. “The Minister of Agriculture ought to be congratulated for the Primary Growth Partnership.  He has won this during a very difficult economic period and it will boost Research and Development (R&D) by $321 million over four years,” Mr Nicolson says.

(more…)

Welcome rainfall triggers sudden increase in spore counts says AsureQuality on 16th February. The much needed rainfall experienced in most parts of the country is triggering a sudden increase in spore counts and with that comes a warning according to AsureQuality’s facial eczema monitoring programme manager reports Scoop. Wayne Baxter says the situation may become very dangerous in many regions by next week and full precautions by farmers on at risk farms need to be in place. Some places have experienced heavy rain and this may have washed spores off the pasture, however due to the moist conditions, if temperatures and humidity remain high there will be further multiplication of spores,” he said.

Areas recording high counts last week were Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, Matamata and Waipa in the Waikato, and in the Lower North Island, Horowhenua, Tararua and Wairarapa.. Wairoa has given consecutive high counts since readings began this season. The moderate readings are also ones to watch, they are Rodney, Te Puke, Hauraki Plains, Piako, Raglan, Otorohanga, New Plymouth and Gisborne.

Farmers now have an online resource to help the track facial eczema with weekly spore count reports posted on line with www.asurequality.co.nz , http://www.meatandwoolnz.co.nz/main.cfm?id=64 and www.rd1.com/sporecounts. (more…)