Next season looking very uncertain

Last month I took a positive look at the prospects for New Zealand’s sheep and beef producers, based on the long-term outlook in global, especially Asian, markets. I drew attention to some caveats including market access, seasonality, exchange rates, the robustness of the cool chain and fluctuating demand. But what a difference a month makes!

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Red meat prices forty years ago

We could be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed in the last forty years with regard to meat schedule setting, if not actual price levels. But an address to the Ruakura Farmers Conference in 1975 by then chairman of the New Zealand meat Producers Board, Charles Hilgendorff, gives an interesting perspective on the industry at that time.