Wool merger bid explained at Hawke's Bay meetings

Primary Wool Co-operative chairman Richard Young. Photo / Supplied

SUP11082021jamesparsons Wools of New Zealand chairman James Parson. Photo / Supplied

More than 100 Hawke's Bay farmers have attended three meetings on a nationwide roadshow ahead of a vote on merger plans for grower-owned Primary Wool Co-operative and Wools of New Zealand.

The roadshow started last week and meetings were held in Wairoa and Havelock North on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, ahead of a night meeting in Masterton.

A dozen more meetings will be held in the South Island next week, with about 2100 farmers being encouraged to support the proposal in a vote in November.

There is particular interest in Hawke's Bay, where the Primary Wool Co-op was established 47 years ago and where it has a base in Hastings in a joint-venture with Carrfields, known as CP Wool.

PWC chairman Richard Young and Wools of NZ chairman James Parsons are attending all of the meetings along with staff.

Heading south after Wednesday meeting, Parsons said about 30 attended the meeting in Wairoa, 60 in Havelock North and 50 in Dannevirke, the Havelock North attendance impressing Central Hawke's Bay farmer Sam Robinson, saying it was good by modern standards.

Parsons said people were "coming in a bit sceptical, but neutral and open-minded", with good thought-out questions, and knowing something had to happen to get the wool industry flourishing again.

"I guess we take the view that, if nothing happens, nothing will change," he said.

Robinson, who dates his wool harvesting back to "the great wool debate of the 1970s", said: "I think it was well-received. I'd be surprised if it doesn't go ahead."

The proposal is to merge PWC, owned by about 1400 farmers and founded by a group in Hawke's Bay 47 years ago, and the Canterbury-headquartered WNZ, which was established about 15 years ago and owned by about 780 farmers.

PWC chair Richard Young, who is also chair of CP Wool, says it's an important proposal that has the potential to re-establish wool "not as an ingredient but as a consumer-focused branded product satisfying the needs of New Zealand customers".

Parsons said that, in the first roadshow meetings last week, grower support had been "very strong" and several said it would be the most exciting wool proposal for New Zealand wool in the past 30 years, during which time the national sheep flock has been cut by more than half.

The new strategic direction focuses on delivering better outcomes for farmer shareholders and growers, with cornerstone being the manufacture and sale of affordable woollen carpets for New Zealand homes that compete with synthetic carpet on price.

The farmers will have the opportunity to endorse the proposed merger between grower-owned export and marketing company WNZ and Primary Wool Co-operative to form a fully integrated supply chain business, the chairmen say.