Mark Wynne: Alliance Group Chair talks proposal to shut Timaru meatworks

The Alliance Group says a drop in our livestock numbers is behind a proposal shut a Timaru meatworks. 

It's called an all-staff meeting today to announce a proposal to close its Smithfield freezing works.

It would stop sheep meat, calf, and night shift venison processing after this season, and remaining venison at the end of the year, at the latest.

Group chair Mark Wynne told Heather du Plessis-Allan there's been a change in how farmers are using their land.

He says the fundamental reason is declining livestock and in particular sheep - and the flow on effect that is has on the processing industry. 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good afternoon. Alliance Group is planning to close its meat
processing plants into Maru. There is some consultation that's planned,
but if the decision is made as expected, six hundred
jobs at the meat processing plant will go Mark. When
is the Alliance Group chairman high Mark? Hey, why are
you having to do this?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, just before we go to that, I'd just like
to say, you know, express our empathy with staff that
have impacted in the impact in the local community. This
is a really tough day for them. But the fundamental
driver behind the reason is declining livestock numbers in New
Zealand and in particular sheep, and the fall on effect

(00:40):
that that has on the processing industry. And in this
case Alf's in the field site. We can blame the trees,
not entirely, No, there are numerous factors. You know, if
you go back to humans have been farming for a
very long time and land use change has always been
a part of that and used to be very famous

(01:01):
for our sixty million sheep and then in the early
two thousands a lot of sheep farms converted into dairy.
More recently, definitely trees and the carbon farming and the
policy settings around that has had had an impact. But
you know land use change in the North Island if
you go dairy farms are being impacted by the switch

(01:22):
into kiwi fruit. So there's the economic drivers that farmers
face every day and that drives land use change.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Okay, do you imagine that this is going to be
the end of it or is it a trend that
you will continue to see and therefore you will have
to shut more places?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, I think at a national livestock flow level, the
trend is likely to continue. So economic return on farm
is poor. If you look at sheep are a dual
purpose animal, both will and meat. Wool has been in
doldrums for a very long time and meat at the

(01:59):
moment we have been in the downside of the commodity cycle,
hopefully at the bottom and starting to climb back up again.
The economic return that a sheep and beef farmer can
enjoy is always compared against alternative land uses, and right
now the policy settings on carbon farming are a very

(02:19):
attractive return for farmers, and so you've seen hundreds of
thousands of hips move out of sheep and beef or
livestock farming and into permanent carbon farming. And that trend
is likely to continue.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, what do you think happens to these six hundred people?
Do they go to Australia, do they go on the
doll do they go into other available work?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, I think that's going to be a personal choice
and stage of life and skill sets and opportunities. It's
going to be very tough whatever choice they make in
terms of re employment. Inside the Alliance Group, we have
very few opportunities and our closest planters are just outside
and Maruse. It's a few way away, So I think

(03:03):
it's going to be pretty tough for most of them.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Mark, thank you very much, appreciate your time this Mark Winn,
Alliance Group Chair.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.