Down in the Deep South, where the two meat cooperatives originally evolved, in these difficult times some sort of merger should be easily put into effect.
The latest effort to bring the parties together has a certain youthful feel about it – as if those driving the endeavour are learning as they go. This merger mission, known as Meat Industry Excellence (MIE), has been similarly promoted many times before and after several close calls is quietly put back on the shelf. (Have you ever wondered what happened to the red meat strategy?)
This exercise has all the familiar hall-marks of those that have gone on before. There is little that is new. However there is no doubting the sincerity of the promoters.
I know all of them well, just as I know well the chairmen and chief executives of Silver Fern Farms and Alliance. I’m sure all parties want the best outcome for the New Zealand meat industry, especially with the dairy industry breathing down their necks.
The Meat Industry Excellence group says they want a meat industry working together to maximise returns for farmers and allow industry profitability. They want an industry that follows best-practice, efficient processing and strong marketing all rewarded appropriately. Basically they want efficiencies from the farm gate through to the consumers’ plate. These are noble and not unreason-able requests, but would take a huge effort and cost to implement. They are not exactly brand-spanking new ideas.
The MIE’s first meeting in Gore attracted an estimated 1000, exceeding expectations. The success of that meeting may have prompted some of the bloodletting that followed and the resignations of some of the initial founding leaders.
The main area of disagreement appears to be the timing of meetings with the processors. The chairmen from Silver Fern Farms and Alliance were at the meeting and sat together. It was emphasised the cost of closing a works was about $250 million. Any merger would mean closures and a likely total bill of about $600 million.
The SFF and Alliance chairmen asked the audience who was going to pay. They emphasised discussions between both their cooperatives and other industry players were on-going. These had considered all aspects of potential mergers.
One of the positives of the gathering was the relative youth of those running the campaign. Those leading MIE have the potential to be leaders of the future. This exercise may well struggle – especially with some of their leaders moving on.
But the farming communities have had a chance to assess their abilities in some real life action. Most of our present leaders are reaching the end of their careers. It’s inevitable the coming decade will see many new faces taking over top rural-related positions.
The MIE will give them a great chance to be ready when the call comes. The opportunities will escalate when the ‘baby boomer’ bulge hits retirement.
As one of my mate’s, who has climbed the producer board ladder, said, there were few soap boxes left for aspiring leaders. In his day the electoral college was a brilliant tool to identify up and coming talent.
The electoral college had elected members throughout the country who came together several times a year to select directors for the meat and wool boards. Without something like an electoral college, there were few opportunities to become well known.
Even if MIE fails initially, its day will come and along the way several farming leaders will have made their mark.
• John Stirling is a south Otago farmer who formerly was agricultural editor of the Otago Daily Times.
