Meat levy vote ahead - but what about wool?

The wool flies, but no one's flying with a wool levy proposal. Meanwhile, the sheep meat and and beef levy referendum is well under way. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay farmers have the chance to find out more about Beef + Lamb New Zealand's work at a series of meetings amid the six-yearly referendum on the beef levy that keeps the organisation afloat.

Voting opened on June 1 and ends on July 9, with farmers deciding on whether they want B+LNZ to continue to exist, funded by compulsory levies on sheep meat and beef.

The industry is confident of a successful referendum, following levy support of over 84 per cent in one-farmer one-vote referendum in 2015.

A wool industry levy was dumped by growers and larger enterprises in a referendum in 2009, leading to a name-change from Meat and Wool NZ to Beef + Lamb NZ the following year. A bid to resurrect the wool levy failed at a referendum in 2014.

The first of the sheep meat and beef meetings in Hawke's Bay was in Dannevirke yesterday (Wednesday). Others will be in Wairoa on Tuesday, at the B+LNZ Genetics Sheep Breeder Forum in Napier over the following 2 days (June 23-24) and in Waipukurau on June 28.

B+LNZ chairman Andrew Morrison said it was important farmers know what's on offer before voting, and that the organisation has planned an "ambitious programme" to support its farmers over the next 6 years, and during its roadshow will put out its new farm plan for farmers covering water, climate change, biodiversity and soils.

"We will be investing in genetics to improve farmers' productivity but also to reduce their environmental footprint," he said. "We'll be attracting, training and retaining people across the sector. And we'll be ramping up the Taste Pure Nature country of origin brand across our global markets."

He said farmers now have an opportunity to decide if they want B+LNZ to continue to exist to deliver the programme, but a "no" vote would mean no organisation left "solely dedicated to working on behalf of sheep and beef producers".

The Ministry for Primary Industries confirmed the last step to initiate a wool levy was the 2014 referendum. "We are not aware of any further moves towards staging a wool referendum," a spokesperson said.

The referenda are held according to the Commodity Levies Act 199 which allows establishment of industry bodies, or initially an informal group, to initiate a levy referendum.

It details a process of consulting with potential levy payers to test whether there is sufficient grower interest to progress a levy proposal and if there is to develop the proposal to the stage of an incorporated society or a company to initiate a levy referendum.

It would be aimed at forming a representative body, such as Meat and Wool as it was, or the New Zealand Wool Board, which was established in 1944 and dissolved in 2001.
The outcome was the establishment of Meat and Wool NZ, but the wool industry has, apart from fine-wool merino sector, struggled.

A Wool Industry Project Action Group was formed out of the 2018 Wool Summit leading to a report last year promoting change and growth, particularly in the strong wool sector common to Hawke's Bay.

A group of farmers told Hawke's Bay Today they believe there is a will to establish a representative body, but amid current low prices for strong wool many would struggle with a levy as an added cost.

The group offered hope, saying: "The increasing shift back to using natural and environmentally sustainable materials is a significant opportunity to further grow our wool sector and continue to innovate with new uses for wool."

"Over the next decade, the New Zealand wool sector should commit to capturing the hearts, minds and values of consumers who love natural, sustainable materials," the report said.