BULLETIN ISSUE 9 : Spring 2015
Greenlea strongly supports the recent Beef + Lamb initiative to see more dairy calves reared for the beef industry. Even prior to this programme being announced, Greenlea was initiating a programme of work with one of our bull suppliers to look at genetics of his best performing animals. Dairy-Beef integration would offer a number of positive outcomes for both the dairy and meat sectors. 1) Dairy farmers - Dairy calves sired by beef bulls are worth more; and therefore, can provide additional income to the dairy farmer
2) Dairy industry – channelling more surplus calves into the beef industry is a better outcome for these calves 3) Calf rearers/finishers – proven beef genetics should equal faster growing, better quality, and therefore, more valuable animals 4) Meat industry – New Zealand never sells as much beef as it could! Should you consider changing your breeding strategy?
MYTH VS REALITY It is well known that New Zealand exports of beef into the United States are restricted by quota. Quota is the amount of product that can be sent to a specific market in any one calendar year. Despite this trade barrier, in most processing years, New Zealand does not fill its full quota allowance. 2004 was the last year that the available quota was exhausted. As at 31 August of this year, New Zealand had used 89% of its USA beef quota of 213,000 metric tonnes. Considering the on-going high cow kill, it is extremely likely that NZ will fill its quota access prior to the shipping cut-off of early December. Diversification and storage options will be considered by all companies and each may have differing strategies over
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the next 3 months. China is one option for diversification. China is now clearly New Zealand’s second largest beef market representing 13% by volume of sales and 12% by value over the past 12 months. These volumes represent more than double the next biggest markets of Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Greenlea’s two plants were approved for export to China in August 2014, and our first sales to the market were concluded and shipped in October of last year. Greenlea is now exporting over 90 different products to China.