Wills New Chairman - Hawke's Bay sheep and beef farmer Bruce Wills is the new Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre chairman. Mr Wills was elected by the Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre Council at its annual general meeting in Christchurch on June 24. The 47-year-old is also currently the vice-president of Hawke's Bay Federated Farmers. Mr Wills, with family, farms 10,000 stock-units on hill country north of Napier.  Read more >>

Improved Import Standard Process - Federated Farmers has been successful in its request for amendments to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Import Health Standard process. It is now possible to initiate an independent review of provisional import standards. This change arose from concerns about the importation of new organisms and resulted in the passing of the Biosecurity Amendment Act (No 2) 2008 and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Amendment Act 2008. The facility for an independent review is an important control measure as it will safeguard members' interests when Import Health Standards are developed in the future.

Website Update - The Federated Farmers website has undergone a significant revamp.  Importantly, you can now comment about farming issues that concern you by going to the "Have Your Say" section in the "Our Work" Menu.  Bruce Wills, the new Meat & Fibre Chairman, is very keen to learn of your thoughts about the proposed PGG Wrightson/Silver Fern Farms venture. Have your say >>

Reserves Policy - In April, Federated Farmers prepared a submission to the Meat Board on the Reserves Policy based on feedback received from members. Members who responded were supportive of the current Reserves Policy and this position has been reflected in the decision of the Meat Board who, has decided not to make any alterations to the policy.

Report Available - A report on Meat Industry Issues is available to Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre members on request.  The report is called: "Necessary but not sufficient: Recent New Zealand meat industry restructuring initiatives - Some issues for members to consider". For a copy contact the Meat & Fibre policy advisor, David Burt telephone 0800 327 646 or 04 494 9182 or email: dburt@fedfarm.org.nz.

Drought Recovery - The flow-on effects of the drought will continue to be felt for some time in areas such as stock condition and pasture damage.  MAF have produced a very useful "Drought Recovery" pamphlet that is available on our website. Read more >>

0800 DROUGHT - The Federated Farmers helpline, 0800 376 448, for feed is still running. Federated Farmers can also link into a range of assistance mechanisms that are available through agencies such as the Rural Support Trusts. The use of this service over recent months has dropped off dramatically. Should there be no demand for it over the next couple of weeks, the service will be discontinued.

Bruce Wills

Meat Industry Mayhem - Less than a week into the job, the Meat Industry Taskforce falls over and PGG Wrightson offers $220million for 50 percent of Silver Fern Farms. At long last some commercial manoeuvring is underway. The new partnership proposal may be just the catalyst the industry needs to spark some sort of consolidation. It also risks driving players into separate corners to carry on doing their own thing which is not the answer for this industry's woes. Whether this proposal goes ahead is of course in the hands of Silver Fern Farms shareholders. The real issue is whether farmers continue their pursuit of a 100 percent farmer-owned industry or allow a hard-nosed corporate to ride to the rescue of Silver Fern Farms at what could well prove to be the bottom of the market cycle.

The Big Question - Farmer-owned verses corporate involvement? This is the decision that SFF shareholders need to make. Either way the implications of this fundamental decision will resonate throughout the wider meat industry. Could there be another bid? What about Alliance? Will other meat companies be keen to talk to the proposed new partnership at the risk of being left behind? Many of us have been calling for action in this struggling industry for a long time. At long last this appears to be happening. Have your say >>

Contact Bruce Wills: bwills@fedfarm.org.nz, phone 027 234 1516.

Election Results

Chairman: Bruce Wills
Vice-chairwoman: Jeanette Maxwell
Executive members: Hamish Cave, Tony Gray, Dugald McLean

Thanks to Keith Kelly, Andy Fox and Kees van Beek for their sterling contributions to the work of the executive.

Introducing the new Meat & Fibre Executive:

Bruce Wills, with family, farms10,000 stock units on hill country north of Napier. The family also run a small on-farm tourist business. He has been farming in his own right for four years having previously spent 20 years in the banking and investment industries. Bruce joined Hawkes Bay Federated Farmers in 2005 and is also currently the treasurer and vice-chairman. Bruce was elected on the Meat & Fibre executive in 2006. That year he also completed a Kellogg's course with a project on the New Zealand property market and asked the question: Where to from here?

Jeanette Maxwell farms, in partnership with her husband, a 300hectare sheep and beef farm in the foothills of Mid-Canterbury.  She was previously a veterinary nurse and, prior to that, worked in advertising. In 2006 she participated in the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and attended two Federated Farmers leadership courses. In 2007 she was elected as both the Meat & Fibre chairwoman for Mid-Canterbury and on to the Meat & Fibre executive. Most recently, Jeanette was selected to be part of the FAME (Food, Agribusiness, Marketing and Experience) course.

Hamish Cave, with family, farms at Ngatapa, 30km west of Gisborne, running a 1660 hectare hill country sheep and beef breeding finishing operation. He was awarded a Rotary UK Group Study Agricultural Exchange in 2001 and is currently the FF Chairman Gisborne Wairoa Provincial President.  He has been a Meat & Fibre delegate since 2005 and was the Gisborne Wairoa Meat & Fibre chairman for Gisborne Wairoa in 2007.

Tony Gray farms, in partnership with his wife, on 275 hectares of easy medium hill country in Northern Manawatu farming sheep, cattle and deer. They are also shareholders in a company direct marketing venison to the UK, EU and US. Tony has been the M & F delegate for Manawatu Rangitikei since 2001.

Dugald McLean has been farming hill country sheep and beef in coastal North Canterbury - on his own with casual help - for 30 years. He is the M&F Chair for North Canterbury.

General Business

Outgoing Meat & Fibre Chairman's Speech - To survive as farmers in New Zealand it appears we must give up our land, pay excessive rates, taxes, high interest - all for the common good, and for no benefit to farmers. Never before has there been such a need for the knowledge and experience of our lobby group, Federated Farmers. In a world that is rapidly heading towards starvation we are being led by a bureaucracy that believes food comes from supermarkets not farms. This must be changed. Read more >>

Remits to National Conference - "That Federated Farmers solicit government to reform its monetary policy in a way that achieves minimal impact on our exchange rate in order to stabilise and rejuvenate New Zealand's exporting environment. Furthermore, to use alternative policy to the OCR to reign in housing and property prices and limit its overall expenditure level to that which is economically sustainable and non-inflationary in the medium term." The Remit was defeated at National Conference.

Matters for Executive Action

• That Federated Farmers take a more active and aggressive position in relation to meat industry restructuring.
• Federated Farmers support consolidation of the meat industry where necessary.
• That this meeting requests Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre take whatever action possible to encourage their companied to commit to a sustainable and workable agreement in order to save the sheep-meat industry.

Conference Highlights

Tuesday of Conference - The focus on Tuesday of conference was a Meat Industry Forum at which four invited speakers gave their views about the industry and issues that needed to be addressed. The presentations were followed by questions from the floor to the panel members:

Hayley Moynihan, Senior Analyst, Dairy and Animal Proteins, Rabobank International, spoke about:

• The emergence of new markets and the speed with which market opportunities can both develop and disappear
• The emergence of global food supply chains/footprints
• The importance of a market focus and knowing how to extract payment for product attributes
• The importance of recognising emerging market competitors

Keith Woodford, Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness at Lincoln University, spoke on:

• Price positioning of lamb.
• The need to manage the issue of quota market share to comply with a European Court of Justice ruling.
• The need for debate about the structure of cooperatives.
• The importance of moving away from a focus on peak season supply to one of supply smoothing to better meet market demands for the year round supply of product.

Simon Gatenby, Chief Executive Officer, Taylor Preston Ltd, spoke on:

• The importance of processors meeting the competitive procurement market to secure stock.
• The need for farmers to decide what they want from the industry and to then work out how they can achieve it.
• The extent of processing overcapacity in the industry.
• The expectation of significantly increased returns leveraged off market share strength will be very difficult to achieve in the UK market.

Mike Petersen, Chairman, Meat & Wool New Zealand, spoke on:

• The importance of making the most of the market opportunities that exist.
• The need to better utilise plant.
• The need to develop a greater understanding of consumers.
• The need to develop greater trust between farmers and processors.

Later on Tuesday ...

John Perriam of Wool Grower Holdings and owner of the famous sheep, Shrek spoke on:

• The background to the recent developments in the strong wool area.
• The development of the current proposal has been difficult and time consuming.
• Opportunities exist to provide a world-class product by building the right relationships within the industry.
• Growers must take control of the process and market their product with pride.

Wednesday of conference ...

Mike Petersen, spoke on the Commodities Levy Act:

• Meat & Wool is in the process of developing their future strategy, including proposed investment areas and the needed organisational structure to deliver this.
• Discussion took place around whether M&W NZ should have processor representatives as part of its governance group.
• Key stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on any proposed M&W constitutional or structural change.

John Greer, Regional Team Leader, MAF Policy, spoke on Sustainable Land Management spoke on:

• The requirements of farmers to successfully farm sheep and beef stock in demanding conditions was discussed.
• A definition of sustainable land management was provided.
• The importance of dewatering the sub-catchments and providing the right type of root mass to bind the soil in erosion affected areas.
• The need to look at alternative farm management practices and to look holistically at the problem.
• Significant incentives are needed to achieve change and these are not yet generally available.
• More progress is needed in protecting erosion-prone land.