New Zealand Meat Board AGM
New Zealand’s red meat sector can thrive despite volatility, guest speaker and trade envoy Mel Poulton said at the New Zealand Meat Board annual meeting.
The event was held online on March 24.
She said international markets appreciated the sustainable meat New Zealand could produce, despite belt-tightening in a number of demographics.
This country was poised to benefit from market competition in that space.
“If we get this right, our food and fibre sector could find the sweet spot of being strategically positioned to capture the advantages of addressing climate change.
“This could have benefits in the marketplace with our customers when there is a consumer recovery in trade, and also as a strategic influencer in global food systems policy on climate change.”
She called on the Government to support innovation and sustainability through policy making:
“Taking a whole farm systems approach to environment, emissions and sequestration, production and profitability.”
NZMB chairman Andrew Morrison, whose term ends this week, told attendees that New Zealand exported $2.6 billion of red meat to the EU, UK and US quota markets with tariff savings of $782 million.
The NZ-UK Free Trade Agreement signed last year presented enhanced opportunities for New Zealand red meat trade into the UK during a transition period of 15 years, he said.
NZMB chief executive Sam McIvor said the New Zealand Meat Board balance sheet was strong with net assets of $77.8 million.
A deficit of $4.4 million was reported from reserves management, which includes investment losses from revaluing the portfolio of $5 million and a net $600,000 of interest and dividend income after reserve management expenses.
Reserves management also funded $900,000 of industry good funding for the Informing New Zealand Beef genetics programme in the year to 30 September 2022.
“We’ve sought feedback from farmers on our proposal to fund up to $1.4 million from investment income for industry good funding for this programme for the 2022-23 year.”
Slight confidence rise
After dropping to an historic low in late 2022, New Zealand farmer sentiment has crept higher, the first quarterly Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey of the year has found.
However, rural confidence remains deep in negative territory overall with only one-in-20 farmers holding an optimistic view on the prospects for the agri economy in the year ahead, Rabobank New Zealand CEO Todd Charteris said.
The latest survey – completed late last month – found farmer confidence was up on the previous quarter (Dec 2022), with the net confidence reading rising to -58 per cent, from -71 per cent previously.
The latest survey found the number of farmers expecting conditions in the agricultural economy to improve in the coming 12 months had risen to five per cent (from four per cent in the previous quarter) while the percentage expecting conditions to worsen fell to 63 per cent (down from 75 per cent).
A total of 31 per cent were anticipating the agricultural economy to remain stable (up from 19 per cent previously).
Todd said the uptick in confidence came despite incredibly challenging climatic conditions for many of New Zealand’s primary producers during the early part of 2023.
“With Cyclone Gabrielle battering much of the North Island in February, and parts of the lower South Island impacted by drought in recent months, it really has been a tough start to the year for the country’s farmers and growers,” he said.
