Resolutions to be considered at special meetings of the two Southern meat co-operatives are designed to avert a collapse of the sheep-meat industry, South Otago farmers were told yesterday.
A member of the Meat Industry Action Group executive, Stephen Cullen, told a meeting of 30 farmers at Balclutha yesterday that executives at Alliance and Silver Fern Farms were not talking constructively with each other and he feared the industry was on the brink of collapse.
The action group was rallying support ahead of shareholder-initiated special meetings of the Alliance Group on September 5 and Silver Fern Farms (SFF) on October 7, where remits designed to get companies talking about the future of the industry, and ultimately to get industry consolidation and improved profitability, would be voted on.
Action group chairman John Gregan said the 11 resolutions compiled by it were not binding and were split into two parts, the first to get the boards of the two co-operatives talking and the second to make them accountable by standing for shareholder re-election, should there be no progress.
He said "resounding" Yes votes for the remits at next Friday's Alliance meeting was crucial as failure would make it pointless to hold the Silver Fern meeting.
Ultimately, the action group wants what it calls a National Champion, an NZ meat entity that procures, handles and markets 80% of the NZ meat kill, and a merger of the two co-operatives would be its foundation.
Mr Gregan said a forecast 23% drop in this season's lamb kill could force other meat companies to join that entity, especially if co-operative supplier-shareholders were loyal and starved the other players of stock.
If Silver Fern shareholders voted to merge with rural servicing company PGG Wrightson, that could be an obstacle to a merger with Alliance, Mr Gregan said.