New Zealand wool boss to talk to UK producers
Sheep and beef farmer Mike Petersen, Director and Chairman of Meat and Wool New Zealand, will be attending the British Wool Marketing Board’s Annual Conference in Bradford this month to discuss the production and marketing of wool in New Zealand.
"I’m looking forward to meeting UK wool producers and will be explaining how we’ve re-organised our wool marketing system," said Mr Petersen who farms 1200 hectares and finishes over 10,000 lambs and around 1000 cattle a year on two holdings in Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.
Mr Petersen has been actively involved in the restructuring of the New Zealand meat and wool marketing system. He is also Director of the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and the Wool Industry Network.
During the BWMB’s annual conference on November 19th he will take part in discussion workshops with regional committee members of the board.
Frank Langrish, BWMB chairman, commented: "Recent years have seen major changes introduced into the way wool has been marketing in New Zealand - none more controversial than the virtual abandonment of a formalised wool marketing structure similar to that which operates in the UK.
"Wool marketing in New Zealand has always been different in that producers, being much larger, tended to sell their own clip direct from the farm either through the auction system or to private merchants.
"The amount of wool sold at auction has fallen to much less than 50% and the price of cross-bred wool has been on the downturn for the last decade.
Mr Langrish said that New Zealand also decided - upon the advice of management consultants - to cease spending any money on wool promotion.
"This decision was made on the assumption that there was no correlation between promotion and the price of wool. But now, after eight years of falling cross-bred wool prices, it has been decided to re-introduce wool promotion.
"Sheep numbers in New Zealand are falling far more rapidly than here in the UK, so it will be enlightening to find out how that’s being dealt with under the country’s new wool marketing system."
