Programme launched
Southern sheep and beef farmers are being invited to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s annual meeting in Timaru later this month.
The meeting to be held on Thursday March 21 was an opportunity for farmers to get an insight into some of the big issues facing New Zealand’s sheep and beef sector, B+LNZ chairman Andrew Morrison said.
Morrison appreciated it was a long way to drive to Timaru so a full day’s events had been organised either side of the annual meeting.
In the morning farmers can get an exclusive look at B+LNZ’s Taste Pure Nature country of origin brand as it launches in California.
Farmers will get an insight into how B+LNZ is tailoring its approach to get New Zealand’s naturally raised, grass-fed beef and lamb on the plates of its target market – the ‘conscious foodie’.
They will also hear from a processing company on how Taste Pure Nature will complement the work they’re already doing in market. There will be discussion throughout the day on the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector such as climate change, water quality, and biodiversity.
This will be followed by an interactive field trip to Geoff and Joy Haywards’s Mt Horrible farm, near Timaru.
The couple run a highly productive and profitable mixed cropping, sheep and beef operation.
Farmers will hear how the Hayward’s business has grown through grabbed opportunities and by utilising the skills and talents of all family members.
The Haywards, who are part of the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme, will also share their experience of working with ANZCO and Waitrose to supply a premium product to their UK consumers.
‘’I strongly encourage farmers to come to Timaru and make the most of the exciting day we have planned and to take part in our annual meeting.
‘’Beef + Lamb New Zealand is your organisation and your input in what helps us successfully lead our sector,’’ Morrison said.
The annual meeting will be held at the Landing Service Conference Centre, 2 George Street, Timaru starting at 10.30am. To register for the annual meeting and to find out more about the other events on the day visit the B+LNZ website. Alliance Group has launched an innovative mental health programme aimed at raising awareness about suicide in the workplace and make it easy for staff to seek help.
The co-operative’s ‘Mates at the Gate’ programme encourages staff to ask for support at an early stage and also educates people on the signs their colleagues might be depressed or distressed.
The programme, which is specifically tailored to Alliance’s workforce, was launched at presentations to all staff across the company’s eight processing plants and corporate offices last November.
The training introduces staff to the nature of mental health and provides practical advice about how they can assist and support their workmates.
In addition, a number of volunteers from every site are trained as ‘connectors’, whose role is to link colleagues experiencing problems to the best source of help.
Since its launch last year, the co-operative has seen an encouraging increase in the use of its Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Alliance General Manager People and Safety Chris Selbie said the co-operative was committed to looking after the safety and wellbeing of its people.
‘’We recognise that mental health is an issue that affects all New Zealanders and we wanted to do something meaningful to ensure our people had access to the right support if and when it was required,’’ Selbie said.
‘Mates at the Gate’ was about raising awareness and encouraging people to seek help early.
‘’We can offer confidential professional help to support people who need it and fund that through our EAP.
‘’But it’s also about mates helping mates and giving our people the tools to intervene early and link people to help.’’
Selbie said most of the employees will know someone who has experienced mental health issues.
‘’There is a lot of buy-in from them and we are seeing a significant uplift in people seeking help.’’
The EAP covers a wide range of mental health and wellbeing issues from anxiety and depression, personal relationships and family, financial and children concerns to stress management, alcohol and drugs and grief and trauma.
‘Mates at the Gate’ was developed and delivered by Dave Armstrong, Health & Safety Manager at Alliance’s Smithfield plant in Timaru, and Professor Annette Beautrais of the University of Canterbury, who has worked internationally developing suicide prevention programmes.
‘’We have a lot of men working for us, many in physically demanding jobs, and some men are not so good at asking for help around mental health,’’ Armstrong said.
The programme has now been rolled out to staff at multiple sites across the country.
‘’We had groups of 150 employees listening to presentations for 45 minutes and you could have heard a pin drop at every one,’’ Armstrong said.
Alliance is now looking at how it can support its farmer shareholders and encourage them to seek early intervention for mental health issues.