First live sheep deal in 9 years

Press, 12 October 1985, Page 16

First live sheep deal in 9 years

PA Wellington New Zealand’s first live sheep deal in nine years was clinched on Thursday. Wrightson’s New Zealand livestock director, Mr Ross Hansen, said his company finalised a contract to supply a Waikato-based livestock exporter, New Zealand Agricultural Exports, with up to 300,000 ram lambs for the Middle East. Mr Hansen declined to give the value of the deal, clinched a fortnight after the Government lifted the ban on live sheep exports. He said shipments would start next autumn but he did not name the port of departure.

Wrightsons would subcontract parts of the order to Dalgety Crown, Williams and Kettle, Reid Fanners, and the Southland Fanners Co-operative, he said. The lambs must be entire, long-tailed, and without earmarks. He urged fanners with suitable lambs to get in touch with one of the five companies immediately. The shipments might be controversial in some quarters, but the sheep industry desperately needed to sell some of its surplus production that appeared from last year’s results to be unsaleable in the usual frozen form, he said.