Levy confidence

Parsons says voting by farmers over the years has shown at least 90% of them support paying the levy. “So, we are confident farmers will support our levy referendum,” he told Rural News.

Parsons confirmed there will be no change to levy rates – 60c/head for sheepmeat and $4.40/head for beef. 

Market development funding will remain $5.5 million for 2015-16. Parsons says BLNZ would have asked farmers for more money if a joint marketing initiative with the industry had gone ahead. But NZ meat processors last month rejected a proposal by BLNZ to set up a 50/50 funded market development entity for country-of-origin promotion. BLNZ had spent two years trying to gather support for the idea.

He says the proposal could have built “a really significant programme around the NZ story, but that did not eventuate so we are seeking no change to the levies”.

BLNZ will review its market development programme after the referendum. “We will go out to farmers and have a good look under the hood to see where we go with market development,” he says.

“We are doing some work; management is looking at options. After the referendum we will have a good discussion with farmers about those options.”

Parsons says there is no ill-feeling about the failure to get the joint marketing proposal off the ground.

“Clearly the meat industry has said they would rather invest their funds individually in their own brands; we respect that. There has been good discussion; we have flushed out a bunch of things that would not have been flushed out.”

Together with the market development review, BLNZ will also review its constitution after the referendum.

Parsons says the review findings will be tabled at its annual meeting in March next year before farmers make a final decision.