BULLETIN ISSUE 25: Spring 2019
MAKING SENSE OF THE NONSENSE By Tony Egan
Reflecting on all the debate about carbon emissions recently, I wondered if I had joined the fat twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee speaking to Alice: ‘The time has come,‘ the Walrus said, To talk of many things: Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax – Of cabbages and kings – And why the sea is boiling hot – And whether pigs have wings.’ With this nonsense in mind, I had a go at reducing my methane emissions by the required 10%, but soon realized that this is easier said than done, after all methane is a gas that likes to get out! I must confess that this required considerable effort … I went blue in the face … I crossed my legs … and I ended up producing a reasonable amount of nitrous oxide instead. I can now see why they are targeting gross emissions and why nitrous oxide is a much bigger problem than methane. The experience did add a little something extra to my Healthy Rivers submission (but then that is another story). Others are saying we must stop blaming Rotorua and plant trees … that we should accept being 10% smaller is not quite as embarrassing now that the Greens have made it an achievement. With all this going on, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were at a ‘mad hatter’s tea party’! And
farmers must be wondering if there is a method in all this madness. How did they become the solution and New Zealand the savior of the world? It’s hard to see the wood for the trees, when the industry associations can’t even seem to agree. The Feds are like the Cheshire cat keen to watch and offer sage advice from the sidelines while Beef & Lamb are in the thick of it having a go. Poems are prone to deeper meanings that belie a deeper truth. Alice had to make sense of the nonsense to achieve a happy conclusion. In many ways we are on a similar journey, we know climate change is real, and we know carbon is the cause. We know the world needs agriculture to play its part in finding a solution, and we know we need to do this with some urgency. Like Alice, we need the journey to continue if we are to solve the riddle and Greenlea wants to play its part. This starts with more support planned for our buyers and farmer suppliers and a commitment to sensible solutions. As some year twelve Agribusiness students said to me the other day … my generation can lead, follow or get out of the way!
IS MEAT OBSOLETE?
PART 1 IN A SERIES
IS MEAT OBSOLETE?
In our previous issue, Tony Egan, our managing director, took a light-hearted look at the ‘state of our nation’. He tries again this issue to ‘make sense of the nonsense’. What all this signals, and what you will all be very well aware, is the volume of noise, the degree of activity and the level of angst in the agricultural sector is growing. The meat industry is not alone in feeling the increasing pace of change and the pain of disruption. We’ve all heard the predictions … 10 billion people on the planet by 2050 and a global temperature increase that will surpass 2oC if we don’t do a lot with extreme urgency. With all this occurring around us, you must ask yourself the question “is meat obsolete?” Certainly, the vegans will answer in the affirmative. And we have yet to
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find a way to appease them. However, vegans aside, we are extremely optimistic about the role of meat in a changing world. While there may be paradigm shifts in global eating habits, we believe that our story, our truth about the way we farm, will re-position our products as luxury items that are highly desirable to conscious foodies around the world. There are essentially three broad arguments against meat: environmental costs; animal welfare; and nutrition. Over the next three issues of the Bulletin, we will examine each of these potential disruptors to our industry and discuss how we believe New Zealand can position itself to turn these arguments into our advantages in the global food market.
MCDONALD’S BEEF SUSTAINABILITY GOALS McDonald’s is one of New Zealand’s largest beef customers purchasing significant volumes of manufacturing meat for its international restaurant chain. As one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, they are committed to using their scale to help ensure sustainable supply chains. McDonald’s defines sustainable sourcing through what they call the three ‘E’s: ethical practices, environmental protection and economic viability. They are currently focusing on six priority products: beef, chicken, coffee, fish, fibre-based packaging and palm oil. The World Wildlife Federation identified these products as having “the greatest sustainability impacts … and where there is the most potential to create positive change.” [McDonald’s website] In 2011, McDonalds was a founding member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, and since this time countries supplying beef to McDonald’s have formed their own Roundtable. New Zealand has also
been on this journey and hopes to formally establish a Roundtable later this year. McDonald’s has set ambitious goals for 2020, and by the end of next year, they intend to source a portion of their beef from suppliers (farmers and processors) participating in sustainability programs. This goal includes their top 10 beef sourcing countries: the U.S., Australia, Germany, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, France, New Zealand, the U.K. and Poland. Together these countries represent 85% of McDonald’s global beef volumes. Greenlea, together with Silver Fern Farms and ANZCO, are collaborating with McDonald’s to develop a proof of concept for sourcing and verifying sustainably produced beef. It is intended that this pilot will include both processing and farming sustainability standards. Rest assured that Greenlea are working to make sure that these standards are fit for purpose and appropriate for the New Zealand farming situation.
MUDGEY’S COLUMN Well, if that was winter, with a bit of influence from global warming, then bring it on!!! My hay shed is still half full, the bailage is still stacked under the trees, there’s no mud in the gateway, and cattle are shiny in the coat and doing as well as corn-fed rats!! Certainly, a mild, relatively dry winter with a hint of spring in the air already. Fingers crossed the weather continues to be agreeable with calving and lambing in full swing in many regions. The winter’s certainly been kind processing-numberswise with cattle flowing at a steady rate over the last few months. Put this down to a mixture of reasons: store cattle being buyable in the yards and some cattle killed early with great trading margins achieved. No one ever went broke taking a margin early. Dairy cows also kept coming … was it a desire to generally reduce herd size or perhaps AB not as tried and true as a good dose of healthy bull-power? We
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have also seen a flow of Bovis-type cattle in the system with the majority being traced to 20-month-old Friesian bulls. This is bound to have an impact on both the early store market and October/November kill pattern. I’ve covered a lot of miles in the last couple of months chasing cows for grazing; unfortunately, most of these later ones being beef cows exiting the hills to be replaced with trees. Personally, not that happy with the land use change, but with the glass half full, think of the opportunity of a well-bred beef dairy cross weaner calf to market later in the season. Kill schedule levels: the money is great, don’t get too greedy, if the cattle have weight, they should be on a truck. Remember, most prime fatteners are margin traders. Not a lot of sense in waiting for another 10 cents of $30-odd if, while you are waiting, the store market lifts another $100! Keep trading, take your margin and move onto the next mob. Dairy farmers rear 15-20 good Friesian bulls or beef cross calves and get your Greenlea agent to place them for you. Not a bad option for a little extra income. Also with mating just about to start after replacements, think about a good beef bull. Going forward, the industry will require good dairy beef cross calves.
DID YOU KNOW? INSATIABLE CHINA In July, for the first time in Greenlea history, China became our largest export market over-taking the historically dominant United States market. Under current conditions it is difficult to foresee anything other than further growth to this market, and it is worth mentioning that this result has taken place within the last five years only, since our plants became approved for China. Greenlea supplies close to 200 different product specifications to our Chinese customers covering all parts of the animal from steers, heifers, cows, and bulls including offal products, bones, beef cuts, and trimming. China takes 43% of the chilled beef that Greenlea exports, and this figure represents 35% of the total New Zealand beef shipped to the market. Our network of customers have promoted the Greenlea brand exceptionally well, and our product is widely respected and sought after to the point where we receive almost daily enquiries from interested Chinese importers, many of whom have seen or experienced our products. Greenlea’s largest customer is based in Shanghai, and his business covers a full range from running a chain of steak bar restaurants, to secure counter space within hypermarkets, to over 100 wet-market butcher shops and further distribution. Given the importance of this market we make regular visits to learn how the market operates and what more we can do to assist our customers. Relationships have been developed from Chairman and Managing Director level down to the sales team with our key partners in the market. These visits are usually reciprocated at least once per year and generally result in new products being added to our supply list. Greenlea is enthusiastic about the further potential of this powerhouse market and the competitive tension it has created for New Zealand beef exports.
Everyone knows that all cattle sent for slaughter are required to have a NAIT tag (we hope!!). Many farmers will also be aware that animals arriving without a tag result in a $13 fine. However, what many farmers are not aware of are the downstream implications of an untagged animal. Due to market access requirements, all product from an untagged animal must be excluded from the EU and China. The implication of this market restriction results in the loss of $75 to $110 (depending on cattle class) in carcass value per animal.
Coming Soon to the
GREENLEA BUTCHER SHOP Over the next few months, we are planning to launch a “farmer supplier only” page on the Greenlea Butcher Shop online shop. Interested suppliers can set up an account to access this page where we will have special meat prices for our farmers. Additionally, we are making available the option to convert livestock sales into a store credit on the online store. We can also arrange for farmers who have store credit with Hamilton Wholesale Meats to switch their credit to the Greenlea Butcher Shop. Please be aware that due to the perishable nature of our product, we cannot deliver to all addresses. We do have numerous delivery options for those at rural delivery addresses that are difficult to reach overnight. We hope to announce the launch of the farmer online shopping page in our next issue.
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Keep Your Local Rescue Helicopter Moo-ving Greenlea Flight for Life is open to anyone with cattle that requires processing. 1. You choose how much you want to donate - 1/2 a beast, one beast, two beasts or a set dollar value 2. Inform your Greenlea Sales Agent 3. Greenlea will process your dairy or beef cattle and arrange for 100% of your donation to be forwarded to the local Rescue Helicopter
½X
1X
2X
Half a donated beast could help fund the purchase of any one of the following:
One donated beast could help fund the purchase of any one of the following:
Two or more donated beasts could help fund the purchase of any one of the following:
ipads for navigation
Winch harness
Pilot and crew helmets
jackets
Flight vests for crew
Winch cable
VENTILATOR
strker stretcher
To donate a beast to the Rescue Helicopter that flies over your farm, visit www.greenlea.co.nz/about/greenlea-rescue-helicopter or contact your Greenlea Sales Agent on 0508 GREENLEA
The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter is dedicated to serving the central North Island community 24/7, 365 days of the year. Thank you to Greenlea Premier Meats and their farmers for continuing to support the lifesaving service of the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter. You’re helping us touch the lives of many people.
Discover more and donate today | 0800 11 10 10 | info@rescue.org.nz rescue.org.nz | @rescuehelicoptersNZ | @rescuehelicoptersNZ