BULLETIN ISSUE 15: Autumn 2017
VALUE-ADD ROOM COMMISSIONED In our summer newsletter we informed you of our new processing room. This room is designed for further processing our products into retail-ready packs. We are pleased to report that the room has now been commissioned and is up and running! The latest technology from Germany has been installed (pictured) and allows for state-of-the-art packaging options. Not only steak cuts but diced and minced beef will be portion packed and shipped overseas ready for sale direct to the consumer. This option allows us to capture more of the value of our great beef products before they are sent offshore which translates into higher prices for our suppliers.
Just before the new year started Greenlea quietly launched a new website. The new site (same address of www.greenlea. co.nz) is dramatically different from our previous site as we look to become a more customer and consumer facing brand. While we are passionately proud of our plants that incorporate all the latest technology, we respect the fact that not everyone is comfortable with the ‘process’ of turning beast into beef. We have tried to retain our pride in our story
and our culture while promoting the great attributes of New Zealand-grown grass fed beef. The new site is also easier to navigate as it directs visitors via tabs for ‘FARMERS’ and ‘CUSTOMERS’. All the forms that you might be looking for can be found under the ‘FARMER’ tab. You call still log in to the Supplier Portal from the HOME page. Have a look around the site and see what you think! We are also very proud to be the first New Zealand meat processor to offer you a booking App. The App can be downloaded from either Google Play or the Apple Store. Once you add your farm into the App, you can easily notify your livestock buyer of stock bookings directly from your mobile.
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BOBBY CALF WELFARE REGULATIONS – 2017 Last year the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) enacted new regulations under the Animal Welfare Act covering young calves. For the 2016 season four regulations came into force that included requirements around age and fitness for transport, maximum transport times, emergency slaughter, and transport across the Cook Strait. Calves MUST be at least four days old prior to transport to either sale or slaughter. This season additional regulations will be enforced as of 1 August and 1 February. The first of these regulations is the requirement to have a loading facility on farm so that calves may walk onto transportation “by their own action”. The intent is that the calf walk onto the truck under its own power and is not to be lifted, carried or thrown onto the truck. This regulation is effective from
August 1. The second regulation is also enforceable from 1 August and states that calves must have access to shelter before and during transportation and also at points of sale or slaughter. The shelter must be clean, dry, suitably ventilated and provide protection from adverse weather. Finally, calves must be fed within 24 hours of slaughter as well as within 2 hours of notified pickup. The regulation requires processors, such as Greenlea, to have a system in place with our farmers that allow us to verify with our auditors that this standard is being achieved. This regulation was effective from 1 February of this year. You are encouraged to talk to your Greenlea livestock buyer if you have any questions about these requirements.
MUDGEY’S COLUMN Well, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? This Christmas/New Year break was a cracker! I’ve always said that 10 days this time of year can feel more like a month out on farm. Longer, warmer days can certainly change the situation rapidly. Here we are with an autumn newsletter that is jam packed with exciting new innovative ideas and a few new rules and regulations. Value add, new website, booking App, bobby welfare regulations, trim and weight standards, dairy/beef TB levies … yes, it never stops. The team here at Greenlea are always looking and thinking of new exciting ideas or ventures to extract more value for you our suppliers. When you think about it, that product you produce could be twelve months to two years in the making or a cull cow at five or so years. You feed it, water it, and care for it. Then it’s a truck ride to your processor of choice, and all of your hard
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work is now out of your control. Must be great knowing you’ve chosen the ‘friendly face in a cut throat industry’; the processor that invests huge amounts of money in its people and process to deliver the best results to you, our farmer partners. Now talking autumn let’s hope it hurries up and arrives. Our friends in the North and East Coast are bloody dry. On top of all this we also have to face plenty of other issues out of our control … a US dollar consistently well into the 70 plus range (thanks President Trump!) and in the Waikato, Healthy Rivers. Plan Change 1 could have huge implications going forward on farming and all related businesses. Remember it’s a crazy old world that is changing rapidly … Trump is President and foreign ownership is in the New Zealand meat industry and increasing rapidly. But you are in great hands supporting a New Zealand family run operation that is committed and growing its business year on year in a challenging industry.
DAIRY OR BEEF? On August 1 of last year the differential TB slaughter levy came into effect. The rates are now $13.00 or $6.30 per head for dairy and beef cattle respectively. It is no surprise to us that this change has caused a number of problems and raised many questions. Greenlea and the MIA lobbied strongly against the differential being collected at slaughter, but our objections were overruled by other stakeholders. Determining whether an animal is “dairy” or “beef” will depend on the information in the NAIT system that corresponds to the animal’s NAIT tag. Each NAIT location is registered within the system with a primary production type … dairy, beef, venison, velvet or trophy. An animal that was first tagged on a dairy farm will have a default production type of “dairy”. For this reason, a number of Friesian bulls that should be categorised as “beef” are being charged the dairy levy.
white face steer/heifer) that are reared for beef, you need to change the production type FOR EACH ANIMAL. You can do this at the same time that you accept the receiving movement. How do you do this? 1) Log into your NAIT account. 2) Click on ‘Registered Animals’. 3) Click ‘View’ next to each animal. 4) In the ‘Animal Details’ section, click ‘Edit Details’. 5) You can then change the Production Type. If you have been charged the incorrect levy, contact OSPRI directly to lodge a complaint. They can be reached on 0800 437 243.
WHAT should you do? If you buy animals off a dairy farm or that originated on a dairy farm (e.g. Friesian bulls or
CARCASS TRIM & WEIGHT STANDARDS In our winter 2015 newsletter we explained Greenlea’s participation in the Meat Industry Association (MIA) carcass trim standard known as SureTrim. This programme is a voluntary trim standard for bovine and ovine carcasses. The standard is the maximum that is allowed to be trimmed off the carcass prior to grading and weighing. The full trim standards can be viewed on the MIA website (http://www.mia.co.nz/industry_ information/trim_standards/index.htm). Compliance with the standard is routinely audited by on-site Ministry for Primary Industries veterinarians. Greenlea has further expanded the programme at both our Hamilton and Morrinsville sites to incorporate a compliance standard
for grading tare weight. The tare weight procedure is manually completed each day prior to production and is also routinely checked each day by our trained quality assurance personnel. The scale is ‘tared’ or set to zero when the carcass hook is added. When a hook is not present on the scale, the weight should be negative. In addition to our own QA checks, MPI conducts routine, unannounced audits. Their audits include trimming, tare weights and a check that correct carcass weights are being transferred to the farmer’s actual paid statement. Our aim is to provide complete assurance and transparency to our suppliers around carcass trimming and weighing.
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- Commem0rating -
30 YEARs of Philips Search and rescue trust