Farmers seek to secure lamb prices

Press, 18 February 1989, Page 4

Farmers seek to secure lamb prices

By

DAVID LUCAS

Meat companies have been challenged by a farming leader to “put their money where their mouth is” and offer farmers forward contract prices for all lambs.

Mr Kelvin Coe, chairman of North Canterbury Federated Farmers’ meat and wool section, said yesteday that meat companies had suddenly found all sorts of reasons why farmers should mate ewes in the coming season. The companies were predicting better prices to farmers and there was talk of 13kg lambs worth $26, he told a meeting of his executive. Waitaki International had estimated that farmers might get a 20 per cent

lift in price. But he urged farmers to treat the advice from meat companies cautiously and to do their own sums before putting rams to the ewes.

If the meat companies were confident in their predictions of better times for next season, then they should offer forward contracts for lambs, not just for specialist grades at the shoulders of the season but also for the main grades at the peak. By calling for forward

contracts Mr Coe said he was testing how sincere the companies were in their claims of better prospects ahead.

The chronic state of the meat industry will be the subject of a closed meeting of farmers’ representatives in Christchurch on Monday. Called by Federated Farmers, the meeting will be attended by meat and wool chairmen and electoral committee members from the northern part of the South Island, as well as Meat

Board representatives. Yesterday’s executive meeting approved a remit from the Cheviot branch calling for the federation and the Meat Board to take urgent measures to establish an integrated management and control structure for the industry.

The remit, put forward by a Cheviot farmer, Mr Bob Hewitt, was referred to the executive’s meat committee to come up with proposals on how to achieve such a structure.