December 2013 saw some changes for our meat industry with three new directors for our co-operatives and an attempt by Alliance to buy Blue Sky Meats. Time will tell if these new directors will be able to have enough influence to push the industry towards consolidation. Something I am all for.

Another thing I would like to see is better accuracy in forecasting our lamb prices. This would certainly be of help with our farm budgets and planning. I guess this will be somewhat affected by forward orders for lamb.

Speaking of sales I did find in a recent article that of 2012-13 exports, to China 131,000 tonnes and 74,000 tonnes to the UK. The article also went on to say that the average value from China was $4,800/tonne, $9,000 from the EU and $11,500 from the US! Interesting figures. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get the Chinese to pay the same for lamb as the Yanks, like they do for beef!

At the Beef & Lamb meeting early in 2013 on the Primary Growth Partnership, there was some interesting information presented. This was regarding kilograms of meat killed per hectare and profits from the 2009/10 season. They told us that the top 20% of Sheep Farmers received $94.23 per head, hung up 103kg of meat per hectare and made a profit of $522.01 per hectare. Looking at these figures I think it would be fair to say that you will comfortably in the top 20% of Sheep Farmers if not the top 5%.

It was with great pleasure that Mum, Dad, Bronwyn and I attended the second Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards in August. At last, the Sheep Industry is beginning to recognize success and celebrate it.  Not something we are used to. It was brilliant that it was held in Invercargill! Hopefully, we can keep the event here in good old Southland.

It was really great to see not just genetics but production and innovative businesses rewarded for their many years of efforts often over several generations of farm management. It was especially delightful to see the couple that worked with Mum and Dad to develop the TEFRom Breed receive their award on stage. They like us have moved to the second generation of management with all the challenges that entails. Not least of which juggling the farm operation and a growing family. However, we are proud to be continuing in the business Mum and Dad developed and are pleased to be able to provide you with top genetics to enable your farming enterprise to prosper.  Like Dad, we continue to work towards producing high performing, low input sheep for you with proven results that matter on the farm. We do this by having close genetic connectivity with other sheep breeders farming in different environments and using different management techniques.

Looking at the Alliance ViaScan result for both our Romney’s and TEFRom’s the loin and legs are well into the nineties with the shoulders being back a bit from that. However, I am reluctant to lift the shoulder result too much as shoulder size correlates quite closely with ease of lambing. Something I’m sure you find important.

We enjoy working with you to select Rams for your farming operation and we look forward to catching up in the next few weeks.  

Regards, and here’s hoping for gentle rain and warm sun at your place,
Grant & Bronwyn

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