All but one of the 23 jobs being lost at Meat and Wool New Zealand are based at the board's Wellington head office.
The restructuring will affect nearly 20% of the farmer-funded organisation's workforce and was announced yesterday following the decision by farmers to end the payment of a levy on wool, worth about $6.4 million a year.
The 23 job losses would come from administration, finance and farm services.
Seven new positions would be created, three of those in Wellington: people and capability manager, people and capability adviser, and accounts payable and receivable.
New roles based in Canterbury and Manawatu were research manager, uptake manager, research project manager and a part-time beef genetics co-ordinator.
Meat and Wool NZ chairman Mike Petersen said the failed wool levy vote in the recent referendum had prompted the organisation to look at all its activities and decide what its focus should be.
Farmers had given a mandate for continued investment in sheep meat and beef and Mr Petersen said that was where the focus would be.
The new structure would be organised under business units of farm, market and people, with fewer people in Wellington and "a stronger presence in the regions".
Research and development would be included in the farm business unit, with an increased focus on delivering new science and technology to farmers.
The organisation's regional staff would be structured by Meat and Wool electorates to work alongside farmer-directors.
"More focus on extension will be achieved with the separation of this activity from the farm survey work," Mr Petersen said.
"The same number of staff will be involved, but they will specialise in either extension or survey work, rather than trying to split their time fifty-fifty as they do now."
Mr Petersen said farmers had told the board they valued the independence of its economic service and this had been kept intact.
Human resources, skills and education have been amalgamated into the people business unit, and although still to be completed, market development could be delivered through a separate entity, jointly funded and governed with the meat industry.
The board was still to decide how and what information it should collect on wool, following an end to the levy.
Mr Petersen promised a greater focus on communicating with farmers, another concern raised during referendum discussions.
• Alliance Group directors Doug Brown (Oamaru) and Murray Donald (Winton) have been returned to the board table unopposed.
The duo retired by rotation, but unlike two years ago when organised opposition saw candidates contest director elections at both the Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farm meat co-operatives, there has been no such competition this year.
The Alliance annual meeting is being held in Invercargill on December 18.
