A lamb producer of 60 years, Macaulay had grave concern over the quality of NZ lamb.
“Due to some extremely bad eating experiences lately I am most concerned about the continual decline in the quality of our lamb.
“Many people I have discussed this issue with lately share the same view, with some saying they will not eat lamb again – it’s like chewing on baling twine.”
Macaulay said the quality of lamb being served in restaurants was not doing NZ lamb’s reputation any good at all.
“There is no doubt in my mind what we need to do and need to do very quickly.”
Macaulay wanted the cut-off for ram lambs set at March 31. After that they would be classified as mutton regardless of when they cut their teeth, which could be as late as November.
“Ram lambs that have mated and then go back into the food chain should not be happening.
“Unless the definition of lamb is changed to actually mean lamb we are doomed, it’s that simple,” Macaulay said.
Macaulay challenged Beef + Lamb NZ to address the issue.
“B+LNZ collects $30 million in levy from us. You question why, as while we get glossy brochures to tell us how good they are doing with strategies like the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP), farmers haven’t seen a benefit yet – none of us, for all the money being spent.”
Macaulay said the industry had become obsessed with leanness and was now paying the price.
The GR system of grading was developed in the 1970s by Ernie Greville, the Meat Producers Board chief supervising grader from 1958 to 1983.
Lamb carcases were deemed to be too fat and the grading system was changed to measure subcutaneous fat, which became the basis for farmers’ payments.
To reduce the fat, many more ram lambs were left as rams at tailing instead of being castrated.
“But we went too far initially in our quest to negate fat and we now know from experience that a hard back and loin means that the animal is not ready and will not become a great eating experience.
“This is being exacerbated by the large numbers of rams going through the system as lambs.
“Costs are beating us as we get bogged down with bureaucratic nonsense.
“It’s just becoming a talk fest and if we don’t fix some of this work very soon I see no future in the lamb industry,” Macaulay said.
Federated Farmers meat and fibre chairman Rick Powdrell said the industry needed to get together and make collaborative decisions based around consistent science.
“The quality of the product is key. This has been a topic tossed around for a long time. It is certainly on the radar and I am looking for a suitable forum to raise it.
“At the end of the day to solve this the whole industry needs to be prepared to back the findings and run in the same direction,” Powdrell said.
And there was frustration among producers that a hogget market had never been developed.
“The value of hogget as a product, that’s another one to put in the pot,” he said.
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said the eating experience of lamb was high on the organisation’s priority list.
“There is a lot in the eating quality aspects of lamb and it is well recognised people are working on it,” he said.
Meat companies were identifying traits that would influence the eating experience and change was expected “over a period of time”, McIvor said.
He acknowledged it was a complex industry-wide issue that would be addressed through the red meat story and the work of the RMPP.
Meat companies had acknowledged that some different standards might be needed for product at different times of the year, particularly for the eating experience.
From the B+LNZ Genetics (BLG) perspective, McIvor said Alliance had told sheep breeders two years ago that the animals were too lean.
Since that point BLG had increased its focus on meat quality and was also working on collecting information on meat quality traits.
BLG had also brought in B+LNZ ambassador chefs to talk to the sheep breeders about meat eating quality, McIvor said.
