OPINION: Your old mate notes that Beef+Lamb NZ has very quietly decided to cut its losses and quit the lease on the North Canterbury-based hill country farm Lanercost.
"The Future Farm now sits outside our core business and while it is starting to generate a profit, it would require a lot more input and resources in the future to realise its full potential and really deliver for farmers as an extension tool," the farmer-funded levy claims.
BLNZ's 'softly-softly' decision to quit the 1,310ha property is a far cry from the exuberant and shout-from-the-roof-tops ways it announced its decision to lease the property back in 2018.
At that time, chief executive Sam McIvor told levypayer BLNZ was "putting your money where our mouth is", while chair Andrew Morrison said the organisation would be "judged on performance".
Apparently the judge's decision is in and it's a big, fat fail!