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3 Dairy farmers back in the black Vol 22 No 39 | October 7, 2024
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Smithfield may be the shape of things to come NEWS
Sheep and beef
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ORE meat processing plants are likely to follow the proposed closure of Alliance Group’s Smithfield site unless there is a reversal of fortunes for the sheep industry. It’s not just greater profitability needed for the sheep industry. Greater leadership is needed around the board tables of the country’s meat industries to save the beleaguered industry, said Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams. Alliance Group announced on September 27 that it is proposing to close its Smithfield plant in Timaru, affecting the employment of 600 staff. “There has to be more plant closures. As hard as it is on the regions and where these plants are closing, this is part of the cycle we’re in. We’re not building up sheep numbers anymore so we can’t afford to hold the capacity that we are,” Williams said. There are also older plants around the country in similar situations to Smithfield that might be next to go. “There will be more closures. Where are they going to come from? That’s the $10 million question.” There needs to be a plan going forward and greater profitability is the only thing that will turn this around, he said. While the latest free trade
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Nurturing the on-farm relationship Ngāi Tahu Farming and PGG Wrightson saw first hand the fruits of their continued support for IHC when members of IHC’s Christchurch/North Canterbury rōpū group recently visited Te Whenua Hou farm in North Canterbury. The IHC Calf & Rural Scheme has been raising money to support people with intellectual disabilities and their families in rural areas of New Zealand for 43 years.
Whisky and wind anchor creative croppers Few things are more deeply linked to history, land and tradition than whisky, and Scottish farmer Peter Mackenzie shares a stronger link than most.
ARABLE 16-17 It could be 18 months before China’s red meat market recovers.
Drones and AI tech to take the hassle out of counting livestock.
Flower grower Sarah Rutherford is used to getting her hands dirty.
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agreement with the United Arab Emirates will help, meat companies and Beef + Lamb New Zealand have to be looking for new markets to drive up demand for sheep or sheepmeat could become a boutique industry. A credible plan is also needed from industry leadership to drive profitability back into sheep farming. The meat industries need to collaborate to keep processing costs to a minimum and to ensure those plants operate as efficiently as possible for shareholder farmers. One possible solution is toll killing, where a company processes another company’s livestock because it is located closer to the farmer’s farm. While it would mean that plant is more likely to run at capacity, it would still mean finding solutions around contracts and the processing plant’s set-up. “It’s not as easy as it sounds but it would be the most efficient way of doing it,” he said. BLNZ chair Kate Acland said the sheep sector has been hit by fundamental profitability issues over the past few seasons with a 32% increase in inflation over the past two years. Critical to overcoming that is building on on-farm efficiencies, market access and having meat processors working as efficient as possible. But she concedes there’s no simple solution. “We can’t ignore the fact there
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