When it comes to the future of New Zealand's red meat sector, ''somebody has to make the move'', Meat Industry Excellence principal adviser Ross Hyland says.
Mr Hyland, who was co-author of the recently released Pathways to Long Term Sustainability report, commissioned by MIE, has been attending meetings in the South this week.
The Waikato-based agribusinessman has been speaking mainly about the report and possible next steps regarding industry reform.
The report, which suggested extensive plant rationalisation, said more than $400 million in gains was available over five years, from a merger of Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farms, and more than a billion dollars in savings could be realised from a rationalisation process involving Silver Fern Farms, Alliance Group, Anzco and Affco.
The report had ''really opened up the debate'' and that was what it was designed to do, Mr Hyland said.
One of the biggest challenges was getting farmers to read it and, more importantly, to understand the implications or jeopardy of doing nothing, he said.
''If farmers wish to retain any kind of control, then they have to step up to the plate and find a way,'' he said.
If a new entity was to deliver within three years, farmer shareholders would need to commit 100% of their stock for three years.
When it came to the next steps, somebody had to make the move. Adopting a ''last-man-standing'' approach was dumb, he said.
Companies needed to ''stop playing the waiting game'' and take control of the consolidation process before that option was taken away from them.
Silver Fern Farms had already ''opened the door'' for consolidation.
The question was whether farmers wanted to make a commitment to a farmer-owned industry or were prepared to sit back and potentially let foreign ownership and, possibly, long-term control, take over.
International investment bank Goldman Sachs was appointed last year to investigate funding options for the company, aiming to raise $100 million in new capital.
Overall, there had been an ''extremely good response'' from the industry to MIE's report, Mr Hyland said.
While Alliance Group had disagreed with some of the figures quoted in the report, he encouraged the company to ''put the data out there'', saying it owed that to its farmer shareholders.
Being involved in the quest for industry reform had been a big challenge and the depth of resistance ''across the board'' was difficult to understand at times, he said.
Halfway through the financial year, SFF earnings were ahead of the corresponding time last year, inventory was below this time last year and so was the company's debt, chairman Rob Hewett said in an update to farmers this week.
