Business as usual under Brexit transition

After the recent awful weather, I think we are all looking forward to some warmth to end the year.

Irrespective of feed, stock tend to do better with some sunshine on their back- as do most of us.

Lamb selling season is underway and with it is a growing concern about Brexit and the impact this could have on our valuable European red meat markets.

I recently read that Brexit is like trying to remove the eggs from a baked cake. An exaggeration of course but a good analogy for the complexity of this decision made by the British public.

Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Theresa May secured her Cabinet’s support for the draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union.

Importantly for our sector, this agreement – which covers a transition period ending on 31 December 2020 – states that the UK must align their tariffs and rules with that of the EU.

This means it’s status quo for our red meat exports into the UK and EU until the end of the transition period.

Under this Agreement, trade between the UK and EU will continue tariff- free with no fees, charges or restrictions on any products.

This is good news for the UK sheep and beef sector which sells the bulk of its production into the EU, but this also means trade stability for New Zealand into both the UK and EU.

This Withdrawal Agreement does need to be endorsed by both the European Council and the UK Parliament and ratified by the EU and UK, but once it has been given the go-ahead, it essentially buys breathing space for final terms of the ‘‘divorce’’ to be agreed upon.

It also gives New Zealand time to focus on maximising returns for this country’s grass-fed red meat.

Earlier this year, B+LNZ launched this country’s first generic red meat brand Taste Pure Nature.

Since then it has been all hands to the pump working with various companies to agree upon a targeted execution strategy to ensure we get the best return from our investment.

Looking back on the year, it has been both an interesting and challenging one for our sector.

While we can’t predict what Mother Nature is going to throw at us, we can be certain that our farming practices are under increasing scrutiny by our public and consumers.

Our wintering systems in particular have been flagged as being of concern to regulatory bodies and NGOs so I really urge farmers to think about how they are going to winter their stock in 2019.

This means setting up winter feed paddocks to minimise damage to our soil and water resources and having contingency plans during bad weather.

Finally, I would like to thank red meat farmers for their support this year, particularly in agreeing to a levy increase.

We have a lot of work to do to support our farmers as they do what they do best- that is growing the world’s best beef and lamb.

Have a very safe and relaxing Christmas.