Name change signals new era

Name change signals new era

The change of name for Meat & Wool New Zealand to Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ) became official today and the organisation has signalled a renewed commitment to help make sheep and beef farming more profitable.

B+LNZ Chairman, Mike Petersen said this would be achieved with more focus on delivering farmers the tools and services that will help them improve their bottom line.

“A number of initiatives are being developed that will be more focussed on extension to encourage greater uptake of research results. We are also looking to our farmers on the Sheep and Beef Council to play a greater role in bridging the gap between grass root farmers and the organisation.”

“This is a new way of doing business and we have re-organised Beef + Lamb New Zealand so we can get closer to farmers. The new regional structure is providing a stronger base from which to make that connection and transfer new information to the farm.”

Specialist extension managers have been appointed in each of the B+LNZ electorates and they are working closely with the farmer Directors and local Sheep and Beef Councils.

“We understand that regions have varying needs and different farming systems and so we are looking at an approach that takes that into account.

Mr Petersen said each electorate would be allocated its own budget and would be able to choose the activities and initiatives from a ‘toolbox’ of research and best practice information that will include Monitor Farms, Demonstration Farms, Farmer Initiated Tech Transfer (FITT), Wormwise parasite workshops, Land Environment Plan Toolkits and forage assessment through ForageMaster and FeedSmart.

“What’s different in the toolbox are some new initiatives like Demonstration Farms that we will be rolling out in coming weeks. There will also be ongoing development of new tools, to ensure that the offering is fresh and relevant for the issues on both a regional and national basis.”

Mr Petersen said while farmers had faced some challenging years with rising costs, an unfavourable exchange rate and extreme weather patterns, the opportunities for the sector were real.

“Our strength as a meat exporting nation is in the positioning of our quality meat products in the mature markets of Europe, the USA and Japan. The future also points clearly to the real growth opportunity in the emerging markets of China, India and the ASEAN group of countries in South East Asia.

“Getting it right on-farm sets us up to make the most of those opportunities.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media