Mr Hyland, a Waikato agribusinessman and principal adviser to Meat Industry Excellence, feared New Zealand could lose control of 30% of the industry to foreign control unless it ''wakes up very, very quickly''.
Addressing last night's launch of a report commissioned by MIE, entitled Pathways to Long-Term Sustainability, Mr Hyland said the industry and co-operatives lacked any kind of plan.
A comprehensive and strategic direction that clearly captured the provenance of the ''NZ Inc'' story was needed.
''Do this and farmers will buy into the revitalised hope that their industry just may be able to turn the corner.
"Do this and there is an outside chance we can begin the rationalisation process,'' he said.
More than $400 million in net gains in the first five years were estimated if Silver Fern Farms and Alliance Group were to merge.
Plant rationalisation across ''the big four'' - Alliance Group, Silver Fern Farms, ANZCO and AFFCO -would deliver huge cost savings.
Not only those operators, but the entire industry would benefit, through greater throughput efficiencies following closure of some plants, he said.
''Big Red'' - a concept that enabled companies to place redundant plants or those that should be closed into a holding company for subsequent liquidation and disposal - and chain licensing - a concept that ensured all existing slaughter or processing chains must be licensed with a central body - supported by a statutory moratorium on new capacity, alongside committed supply, provided the framework for the industry to finally drive the change desperately needed, he said.
''But critically, it provides New Zealanders with a New Zealand solution,'' he said.
The solution must drive up both processor profits and lift farm-gate returns and farmer profitability significantly.
There was strong support among farmers for change.
A MIE survey of red meat producers last year found that almost three-quarters of those surveyed supported restructuring towards a more substantial co-operative structure, Mr Hyland said.
The authors of the report hoped it would provide the ''genuine catalyst'' for informed debate resulting in a consensual, as well as non-adversarial approach, that would be of future benefit to farmers, processors and all associated stakeholders.
MIE also hoped the information and opinions arising from the report would generate constructive debate and signal the beginning of the reform process that would deliver tangible and enduring benefits to the majority of industry stakeholders, he said.
