Farmers yet to master the red meat and science story
Farmers need to grasp the art of story telling backed with science, says Beef+Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor.
They need to tell the story of New Zealand beef and lamb in a way that sets it apart from its competitors and resonates with its customers, he said. ’’The story is not going to be straight forward as internationally there are others countries that include open spaces, clean and green, grass fed, sustainable and animal welfare in their story.
‘‘The story is not sufficient by itself. We must support our claims with hard data,’’ said McIvor to a 250 people audience at the Beef +Lamb FarmSmart event in Christchurch.
The remarkable story of New Zealand’s red meat industry began in 1990, he said.
‘‘Before that, 1980 was from a sheep industry perspective, the peak of sheep, driven by a bunch of perverse government incentives that bore little resemblance to what the market wanted,’’ he said.
‘‘In the 1980s New Zealand found itself with 70 million sheep and an extremely depressed international market. It was wholecarcass based and almost solely focused on the United Kingdom.’’
In 1984 the newly established Labour Government devalued the New Zealand dollar and overnight this brought greater returns for exporters. ’’However the next six years were traumatic for farmers,’’ McIvor said.
‘‘The government phased out most support for agriculture and started charging for services. Ironically they still left import protection in place which raised the cost of inputs for farmers.
‘‘And we have all heard or can remember the stories of 28 per cent interest rates.’’
By 1990 the farming sector was the most deregulated in New Zealand and maybe the world.
And that’s when the story of a remarkable comeback began, McIvor said.
‘‘Farmers became focused on what they were producing with dramatic improvements in productivity. This was illustrated best by New Zealand’s lambing percentage which went from 100 per cent to the 125 per cent it is today.
‘‘Additionally, farmers have increased the lambs weaned per ewe wintered by 106 per cent. This is quite remarkable.
‘‘Farmers now use fewer resources to do this and have maintained the amount of meat produced with half the number of sheep. And this has been achieved on 23 per cent less land. About one million hectares has gone into reserve, and another one million has been converted into other farming uses.
‘‘Not only is the land use footprint reduced, but so have greenhouse gas emissions by 19 per cent on sheep and beef farms, ‘‘McIvor said.
While the UK remains an important market, the typical carcasss is dissected into 42 different cuts. Alliance Group sends 2000 products overseas based around sheep. In the past, 90 per cent of New Zealand’s meat was sold as frozen carcasses. Today carcasses make up only 5 per cent of the trade.
‘‘Believe it or not the average export price we receive today is 135 per cent more than it was in 1990,’’ McIvor said.
‘‘Today the sheep and beef sector is worth $9 billion in sales and employs about 60,000 people both on the land and in processing.
‘‘And the sequel to this remarkable story is underway.’’
Underpinning the story would be the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme which provided a base line of assurance across the industry, McIvor said.
Farmers only have to complete one audit even if they supply multiple companies. The vision is that within a couple of years every red meat farmer in NZ will be part of that assurance programme. ’’Looking forward to 2040, what are we going to achieve?’’ he asked.
‘‘In my view for sheep and beef farmers, a greenhouse gas equilibrium at the farm gate is entirely possible. It’s about measurement and recognition of a carbon contribution.
‘‘We as red meat farmers are the best placed New Zealanders to make a significant contribution to halting the decline of our endangered species, and I see this happening. Change must balance social, cultural and economic aspects and encourage vibrant rural communities.
‘‘But the next step is to develop that ‘big idea,’ that unique story that will set New Zealand apart internationally,’’ McIvor said.