Meat group gets on big processor boards

Photo / Nicki Harper

Meat Industry Excellence, the group formed to improve the performance of the meat industry, now has representation on the boards of two of New Zealand's biggest meat processors after elections last week.

Dunedin-based Silver Fern Farms said in a statement today that shareholders had elected MIE candidates Dan Jex-Blake of Gisborne and Richard Young of Gore to the board through a postal vote. The unsuccessful candidate was David Shaw. The voter turnout was 26.76 per cent of eligible voters, up from 16.70 per cent in the previous election in 2010.

Chairman-elect Rob Hewett said the increase in voter turnout reflected the understanding of a need for real reform across the industry.

"We are acutely aware of the need to keep up momentum for reform and we saw the increased farmer turnout at this election as a key indicator of farmers' desire to support the co-operative," Hewett said in a statement.

"The MIE group members' election platform was well aligned to the Silver Fern Farms board's own vision - in particular their call for farmers to support co-operatives and farmer ownership, so we take great heart in that farmers have voted for such a movement and we look forward to increased farmer support at an operational level," he said.

Hewett said the board was investigating options for change but said the next step was to increase the numbers of farmers exclusively supplying their co-operatives.

MIE-backed Don Morrison, of Gore, was elected to the Alliance board at last week's annual meeting in Dannevirke. Alliance chairman Murray Taggart, from Oxford, who had retired by rotation, was re-elected.

About forty-nine per cent of eligible votes were exercised in the Alliance directors' election, up substantially from the last election.

The board elections were seen as being a possible turning point for an industry grappling with overcapacity issues.

This season's lamb kill is expected to be sharply down on last season's, due mostly to last summer's drought, but also because of changes in land use.

Southland's Alliance and Silver Fern - both farmer-owned co-operatives - account for just over half of the industry.

Both companies have in the past been merger prospects but an attempt to marry the two in 2008 failed.

The industry, which has over the years been overshadowed by a very strong dairy sector, is estimated to have lost about $200 million last year.

Alliance reported an operating profit of $10.9m for the September year, after suffering a $57m loss the previous year.

Silver Fern Farms, which holds its annual meeting on Wednesday, has hired consultants PwC to undertake a review of the company after it suffered a $28.6m loss for the September year.