However, I would venture to say much of the decline in sheep farmers fortunes can be laid fairly and squarely on the direction the sheep industry has taken since its establishment and, more specifically, it took back in the 1980s when, at the behest of then Finance Minister Roger Douglas and co, and with the blessing of sheep farmers, the Meat and Wool boards were dismantled, whereas the, dare I say it, socialist dairy farmers decided that a united, co-operative dairy industry would serve them best, culminating in a single processing and marketing company, Fonterra, and kiwifruit farmers chose to form a single marketing company, creating Zespri.
While I am not saying the performances of Fonterra and Zespri have been all beer and skittles, at least the two industries have gone to the marketplace as united industries, creating market clout and succeeding in building outstanding, world-leading, food-producing companies delivering increased returns against tough international competition.
Both the dairy and kiwifruit industries could have gone down the path of multiple individual companies going it alone, much like the meat and wool industries did.
In comparison, the fortunes of the meat industry have gradually slid into an abyss with individual processing companies spending megabucks over the years on infighting and acquisitions to obtain market share at any price rather than the objective of maximising prices and, with no overarching generic meat promotion, all at the expense of the meat producer.
The worst aspect can be seen in the quota system because for many years each meat company’s only goal has been to fill its quota while totally ignoring other markets.
Well, the chickens have come home to roost well and truly with the industry continuing in freefall and sheep numbers nosediving as any land suitable for dairying and other land use is lost to the meat and wool sector.
In the meantime, many millions of dollars have been spent on futile attempts to reform the meat industry with the latest attempt by the Meat Industry Excellence group being thwarted by producers deciding their only hope at breathing some life into the corpse was to pin their flag to the Chinese flagpole.
Let’s hope that this back-to-the-future return to overseas ownership, albeit 50% at this point, of Silver Fern Farms is not the beginning of the end.
I would suggest the MIE proposals would have been more palatable to farmers if they had promoted the formation of a single-desk meat marketing co-operative jointly owned and funded by meat companies and farmers, tasked with marketing all products and doing promotion, product development and market research.
That would have left the meat companies to concentrate on what they are good at, sourcing and processing livestock.
A co-operative marketing strategy could have produced an outcome much like the NZ Dairy Board before the formation of Fonterra.
This way, competition in the same marketplace by competing meat companies would have been avoided with an effective promotion campaign and greater control of prices.
I believe farmers would have seen the benefits of such a change and considered the option much more seriously rather than the MIE proposal of going straight to the Fonterra model of one meat company being all things to the meat industry.
That brings me to the forgotten product – wool.
From the leading income earner for farmers to a product which has become a by-product hardly worth removing, wool has suffered most from the reforms of the 80s.
It pains me greatly to see the wasted opportunities that have occurred since the wool industry fell apart with the demise of the Wool Board with its extensive research and development and widespread promotion of the highly successful WoolMark brand and many other initiatives.
Wool is such a magnificent fibre that has so many uses from clothing to carpeting to insulation yet very few people outside growers know about its features.
Wool would be worth four or five times what it is today if only there had been a modicum of investment in promotion and research and development over the last 30 years.
Let’s take for example the carpet, furnishing, curtains and insulation industries.
How many people know that in a house fire most people die not from the fire but from the toxic fumes generated from products made from synthetic materials?
Wool does not produce those fumes, has low levels of flammability and burns very slowly. These facts have been known for many years but how many people around the world know this? It should be shouted from the rooftops and be the number one consideration when buying these products.
And how many times have you heard the lie, believed by most urban dwellers, promoted by animal activists PETA, that to produce a woollen product the sheep must die and when was the last time that you heard of the insulation benefits from wearing wool or the benefits of woollen baby clothing as opposed to the synthetic rubbish that is on the shelves?
The worldwide baby clothing market alone is worth billions of dollars.
The reality is that people who have money and care for their family’s welfare are prepared to pay top dollar for clothing and other products. They should be told about the benefits of wool. Just look at how well the Icebreaker branded clothing sells.
But leaving it up to individual processors to promote the benefits of wool on their own has resulted in a fragmented industry with no investment in a generic campaign.
What is needed to change these misconceptions is a jointly owned industry and farmer funded wool promotion organisation with Primary Growth Partnership funding tasked with promotion and research and development.
You may well ask, is it not too late for such radical changes?
Sadly, I fear, thanks to the greenies, animal activists and the lack of foresight over the last 30 years, unless it changes, the once-proud sheep industry powerhouse that built the nation will be reduced to a mere cottage industry and theme park for tourists, with most of the hills planted in forestry, much like parts of rural Europe today.
