Plenty of hope, but no solutions yet

The Red Meat Sector Conference, held in Auckland on Monday, was very well attended by 320 people from all parts of the industry.

 

There were interesting presentations from overseas and local speakers. The former spoke eloquently about the outstanding global prospects for the red meat sector, while the latter had plenty of statistics to illustrate their concerns about sheep and beef farming debt and shrinking livestock numbers.

Cooper’s resignation signals broader meat industry frustration

Keith Cooper’s resignation from the board of Beef & Lamb New Zealand, sudden as it appeared to be, had been brewing for a time. Cooper had previously expressed frustration with farmer directors’ lack of commercial awareness, terming it naivety, and obviously believed B&LNZ was getting involved in areas it should leave to the meat companies, such as market development.

Demographics alter consumer demand patterns

Demographic changes will present challenges for the red meat sector in spite of apparently unstoppable world population growth. Several speakers at the Red Meat Sector Conference made reference to the possible effects of these changes over the next 40 years, some of which will be positive, like the growth of the Indian and Chinese middle class, and others negative.

Red Meat Sector Working Together

This week’s joint red meat sector conference in Rotorua was the first time ever farmers and processors have met at their own conference to listen and contribute to discussions on the future of their industry. On the face of it, the conference was a great success – well attended, stimulating presentations, constructive networking.

Quick wins important for sector strategy

It’s more than a month now since the release of the meat sector strategy, so I thought it was time to assess if any progress has been made since then.