Friday, March 29, 2024

YEAH RIGHT: Farmers’ behaviour undermined MIE work

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Are farmers cunning business people, schizophrenic or just people who want to have their cake and eat it too?
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I found myself asking this question after reading on page five of our January 16 issue about the behaviour of farmers selling their animals for slaughter.

It said a feature of the reducing market share of the co-operatives over the last few years was that it was happening at the same time as the farmer-led Meat Industry Excellence campaign to increase farmer-ownership to a strong, controlling level.

Now, the point of that was, of course, to increase prices farmers got for their stock.

A big feature of those speaking on the MIE circuit was commitment and loyalty to the co-ops.

No one spoke out against those ideals.

But it seems clear actual farmer decisions on who processed their stock were moving in the other direction.

I attended the standing room only Feilding meeting and saw pictures of the equally packed Gore meeting where farmers whole-heartedly backed the MIE campaign.

They all put their hands up when asked if they wanted more money for their meat.

But, sadly, few were willing to put those same hands in their pockets when it came to financially backing the campaign.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand did put some money in the pot and unfairly copped a lot of flack when it correctly reflected its members’ behaviour and refused to put more in.

While farmers were attending meetings and saying they backed the MIE campaign their behaviour was telling a different story and, in fact, undermining the campaign.

No wonder the meat companies gave little encouragement to MIE. They simply had to look at their books to know the campaign, while generating a lot of noise, wasn’t gaining traction.

And no wonder the MIE stalwarts got frustrated.

It must be a hair-pullingly maddening prospect for anyone trying to figure out what farmers want.

And it’s a surprise really.

Farmers pride themselves on being blunt, straight-forward, down to earth characters not given to subterfuge or underhand tactics.

Perhaps it was a case of mass political correctness – all those farmers putting up their hands, nodding their heads vigorously and giving vocal encouragement to those volunteering to act on their behalf – because they believed they had to be seen to be saying the right things about the meat industry.

It would be kind to think they all just got carried away with the crowd, swept up in the moment with the exciting prospect of better returns despite farmers insisting they are rugged individualists who can think for themselves and don’t want anyone else doing it for them.

I’m inclined to the former, that it was a form of political correctness. Farmers wanted to be seen by everyone to be saying the right thing and making the expected approving noises while all the time knowing they would carry one exactly as they have done for years.

That traditional behaviour involves another double standard where farmers shop around for the best price while expecting the co-ops to pay top procurement dollar then follow it up at the end of the season with a dividend.

Can farmers really not see past the next cheque? Perhaps they can’t look forward as far as the end of the financial year let alone the future of their industry.

We are now in a world where we are more and more often being told selling stuff relies on trust, image, perception, ethical behaviour. The social licence to be allowed to continue farming also depends on those values.

But what hope is there if farmers are conning each other and maybe even themselves.

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