The NZ$64m Red Meat Profit Partnership has been described as the “most comprehensive collaboration” ever to be undertaken across New Zealand’s red meat industry.
Half of the programme has been funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI’s) Primary Growth Partnership (PGP), with the remainder by industry. So far, co-investors include Alliance Group, ANZCO Foods, ANZ Bank, Beef + Lamb New Zealand (on behalf of sheep and beef farmers), Blue Sky Meats, Greenlea Premier Meats, Progressive Meats, Rabobank and Silver Fern Farms.
“The red meat sector is such an important contributor to our economy, and I’m excited at the potential of this market-led programme to lift productivity in the sector and provide valuable support to farmers and others involved,” said MPI director-general Martyn Dunne.
The programme will run for seven years and comprise four core projects aimed at researching the requirements of farm businesses, developing and supporting beef and sheep farmers, capturing and benchmarking key business data and developing technical resources.
“The Red Meat Profit Partnership will enable more consistency in farm performance and profitability, through assisting farmers to extend their capability based on best practice information and resources, sharing information, and providing suitable tools and support,” said Dunne.
“The level of interest by the red meat sector shows the importance it places on ensuring the sustainability of the sector and the commitment to this exciting PGP programme.”
The Red Meat Profit Partnership will now appointed a general manager, establish structures and initiate the first project. Partnership independent chair, Malcolm Bailey, said work was “already progressing”.
During the programme, pilot schemes will be run across New Zealand, with farmers, processors and advisors trailing techniques and best practice.
“We will also immediately begin developing common data standards for the sheep and beef sector. This will support the easy transfer and consistent analysis of data between the many new, data-driven farm management tools appearing on the market,” said Bailey.