Live export ban may see backlash
Southland Federated Farmers president Geoffrey Young is concerned a ban on live cattle exports will cause backlash from Asian trading partners and put pressure on meat processors.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced on Wednesday that the export of livestock by sea would be phased out in the next two years.
Young exported about 70 or 80 of his heifers into live trade last winter he said, adding that exports were an outlet for farmers with excess quality stock, which would now go to the meatworks in the future. He said several thousand beef and dairy heifers from Southland were exported each year, and that it provided a valuable alternative to slaughter for Southland farmers.
New Zealand cattle was prized overseas for its quality genetics that had been built up over years, Young said, and live exports were in demand in countries building their beef and dairy herds.
These countries were also big importers of chilled New Zealand product, and he feared sales could slow in backlash to not being able to access live Kiwi cattle.
Wednesday’s announcement caught a lot of people by surprise, he said. ‘‘It seems to have come out of the blue. It looks like a small group of activists who know little of farming have once again swayed Government.’’
Live exports from New Zealand came under the spotlight in September 2020 when the Gulf Livestock 1 – which was carrying 5800 cows from New Zealand to China’s eastern coast – sank during a typhoon.
A total of 113,285 cattle were exported from New Zealand in 2020, up from 39,479 in 2019 and 16,938 in 2018.
Ministry of Primary Industries veterinarian and director for animal health and welfare Dr Chris Rodwell said the agency was unable to break these numbers down into the regions the cattle came from.
‘‘Cattle are normally sourced on the open market, and an export would normally have cattle from multiple farms across multiple regions,’’ he explained.
Federated Farmers animal welfare spokesperson Wayne Langford said he would be pushing for information on how the decision to phase out live exports by sea was made.
While he had seen ‘‘not so flash’’ footage of animals being mistreated overseas, Langford said New Zealand’s cattle exports were used for breeding, not slaughter, which meant there was a need to look after them.
‘‘This is a different scenario,’’ he said.
Langford said New Zealand’s live export cattle trade brought in $250 million last year, and while it was not as big as industries like dairy exports, it would still have a significant impact on farmers.
The Heron Report, released in October 2020, showed New Zealand exporters operated to some of the highest animal welfare standards anywhere, he said, adding that new requirements as a result of the report had further bolstered this.
‘‘There is a contractual relationship with the companies receiving livestock from New Zealand at the export destination to have minimum standards in place, and these are monitored for 30 days after arrival of the animals,’’ Langford said.
‘‘But it is true that after then, New Zealand has no control over the future welfare of those animals.’’
Langford was pleased that there would be a two-year transition, allowing farmers with commitments in place to honour those commitments, and consider their options once live exports were off the table.
O’Connor said live exports by sea represented about 0.2 per cent of New Zealand’s primary sector exports revenue since 2015.
‘‘I acknowledge the economic benefit some farmers get from the trade, but I also note that support of it is not universal within the sector,’’ he said.
Improvements had been made to the practice during recent years, but despite everyone’s best efforts, the voyage times to Northern Hemisphere markets would always pose animal welfare challenges, he said.