Listen: Rod Slater celebrates National Lamb Day

National Lamb Day is usually celebrated on February 15th, as that was the day in 1882 when the Dunedin left Port Chalmers for London with a cargo full of frozen meat.

However this year National Lamb Day takes place today, on May 24th.

Chief executive of Beef and Lamb New Zealand Rod Slater caught up with The Country's Jamie Mackay for a chat about National Lamb Day and how people are celebrating it.

Slater reveals he will be driving down Auckland's Queen Street with a giant lamb chop as part of the "Lamb and Three Vege Tiki Tour". Meanwhile, Wairarapa farmers Matt and Lynley Wyeth have launched an initiative called "Invite a Townie to Dinner," to help bring town and country together.

So why has National Lamb Day been moved to May? The Dunedin may have left
Port Chalmers on February 15th but it arrived in London 98 days later on May 24th - miraculously only one carcass was deemed unfit for consumption.

This day is seen as the start of New Zealand's export industry.