Sheep and beef under threat from too much grass

This season’s excessive grass growth throughout the country except for Otago and Southland has generally been a cause for celebration among sheep and beef farmers, happy not to have to worry about drought and ecstatic about livestock prices.

More disclosure, but still no explanation of union’s financial reporting

My column about lack of disclosure in the NZ Meat Workers Union accounts two weeks ago has provoked some interesting results, but so far no formal explanation of the union’s statutory financial reporting practice.

Processing changes may not mean better capacity alignment

The meat industry will see a number of processing initiatives taking effect over the next 12 months, all of them designed to create greater efficiency for their owners. They may not necessarily lead to better alignment of capacity

Store stock keeps moving out of the north

I went to the Wellsford sale last Tuesday to get a first hand feel for how farmers are reacting to and coping with the dry weather in the north where the east coast is particularly dry. While the store market is running hot throughout the country, beef prices at Wellsford were closer to $1.85 per kilo for rising 3 year old steers, about 10 cents below the rest of the North Island. Part of the reason for this was most local farmers were there just to have a look, because they didn’t have enough grass to be buying any replacements until after it rains.