increase font size
Events will take place in London and Oamaru to celebrate the 140th annivesary of the first shipment of New Zealand lamb to the UK.
Celebrations will be held in London and Oamaru on 24 May to mark the 140th anniversary of the first shipment of frozen New Zealand lamb arriving in the UK in 1882.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB) chair Andrew Morrison and New Zealand High Commissioner to the UK Bede Corry will speak Butchers Hall, home of the Worshipful Company of Butchers in London.
The event, which will be attended by representatives of major UK lamb customers, will feature a welcome and performance by Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club, and a New Zealand lamb barbecue.
Meanwhile, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd will also mark the anniversaries with a dinner at Oamaru’s Loan and Mercantile Building.
Speakers include George Berry, former owner of Totara Estate, south of Oamaru, where the original shipment of lamb was processed before leaving Port Chalmers for London on 15 February 1882.
Berry, who with his wife Carol, owned the Totara Estate home farm for 50 years, will outline the story of the beginnings of the meat export trade, including the pioneering role of Thomas Brydone, Superintendent of the New Zealand and Australia Land Co.
Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association, and Nicky Hyslop, NZMB director and B+LNZ Central South Island farmer director have also been named as speakers for the Oamaru event.
Morrison says the anniversary is particularly momentous given the NZMB is also celebrating its centenary this year.
“The Meat Board was established in 1922 and while its role has evolved, the Board now oversees $2.3 billion of red meat exports to the quota markets of the European Union, United Kingdom and United States, financial reserves on behalf of the red meat sector and drives investment in industry good activities such as genetics,” says Morrison.
Sam McIvor, chief executive of B+LNZ and the NZMB, says the UK event is a great opportunity to highlight innovation and successes in the red meat sector.
New Zealand farmers are today as rightly proud of the high quality of their naturally raised lamb as their predecessors were in 1882. That first shipment was the genesis of New Zealand’s world-renowned lamb industry.
“During 2020-21, New Zealand exported over 406,000 tonnes of sheepmeat, valued at $3.86 billion, to a total of 87 countries. The sector has also made exceptional productivity gains since the 1990s. Sheep numbers have dropped but lamb export volumes have increased, and greenhouse gas emissions reduced by over 30%.”
Progeny testing at Pāmu’s Kepler farm in Southland as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme is showing that the benefits of hybrid vigour could have a massive impact on the future of beef breeding.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has reiterated calls for New Zealand to revise its methane targets after the Government's "disappointing" announcement of its revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is having another crack at increasing the fees of its chair and board members.
This year won't be an easy one for the red meat sector, says Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva.
Next month, the Beef Breeder Forum is set to give farmers an opportunity to hear about the latest developments in the beef industry.
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.
Former Westland Milk boss Richard Wyeth is taking over as chief executive of Canterbury milk processor Synlait from May 19.
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our…
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving…
