Meat schedule 'costing farmers’

Press, 24 December 1985, Page 2

Meat schedule 'costing farmers’

PA Wellington The new lamb schedule released by meat companies will cost farmers more than $lOO million a year, says the chairman of Auckland Federated Farmers’ meat and wool section, Mr Stanley Philips. ■ For the first time farmers had a comparison between the schedule offered by the Meat Board and the proprietary companies, he said yesterday. "It shows on average the

prices released by the companies are 10 per cent below the board’s schedule and appear not to take account of the recent devaluation in the New Zealand dollar,” he said.

“This means the schedule is at least 15 per cent below the realistic price, considering all circumstances.” An average PM lamb was valued at $15.67 farmgate on the board’s 90 per cent advance schedule. That lamb was now valued at

$15.82 at the company’s full schedule, Mr Philips said. If the fanner opted to take a company 90 per cent pool the value of the lamb to the farmer was $12.97 a head. Therefore on a true comparison the company price was $2.70 a head below the price offered by the board in spite of the dollar’s sharp fall. The companies should be in an even stronger position if rumours were true that the Government had pro-

vided financial guarantees to them.

“My only conclusion is that the companies are not performing and that Federated Farmers and Meat Board’s position on marketing is correct and the Government, through the Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing, Mr Moore, has made a wrong decision which will cost fanners in excess of $lOO million in a full year,” Mr Philips said.