Backing for live sheep exporting

Press, 19 August 1983, Page 19

Backing for live sheep exporting

New Zealand could be losing out on $lOO million annually by not exporting live sheep, according to the Sheep and Cattlemen’s Association.

Seemingly paradoxically, the association believes that the throughput of lambs at freezing works would be increased by live sheep exports and not decreased.

The South Island director of the association, Mr R. J. McKee, who has made a study of the potential of the live export trade, has said that for every 800 old ewes exported live, there would be an extra 1000 lambs to kill in their place. If some live sheep were exported, the remaining sheep would have more feed at a time when it was difficult to get stock into freezing works. The remaining ewes would have a lower death rate and higher

lambing percentage, according to Mr McKee. After attending the Sheep and Cattlemen’s Association annual conference in Wellington, the new CanterburyWestland branch chairman, Mr Frank Smith, of Rakaia, said live exporting was tailor-made for old ewes.

The concept must have a trial, he said. The potential return from live sheep exporting would be a shot in the arm for the whole sheep industry at a time when it was most needed. He said the modern livestock carriers were very well equipped and had a very low mortality rate. Old ewes would be subject to less stress by being exported alive than being kept on farm with poor feed. The potential markets were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India.

The whole issue of live sheep exporting was raised recently by the assistant general manager of the Meat Board, Mr Allan Frazer, and the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Maclntyre. Mr Frazer said at the Ruakura Farmers Conference that New Zealand would be doing itself a “grave disservice" if it didn’t explore the export of live sheep again. He said the Meat Board was under pressure from some Middle Eastern buyers to begin the live trade. Later the Minister told the annual Dominion conference of Federated Farmers that the time was right to try limited shipments of specialised types of live sheep to the Middle East.

The Meat Workers Union remains implacably opposed to any resumption of live sheep exporting.