A New Book to Celebrate New Zealand Meat Board Centenary
Mick Calder spent most of last year co-writing “Meeting Change – The New Zealand Red Meat Story 1997 – 2022” with long time meat industry colleague Ali Spencer. The book was
commissioned by the Meat Board to celebrate its centenary concentrating on the past 25 years of change in one of the country’s significant export earning and employment sectors.
This new book tells a fascinating tale of a period of complex and myriad changes within the Meat Board and its various industry good aliases, alongside the progressive reorganisation of the New Zealand meat industry production, processing and marketing operations.
There have been spectacular improvements in productivity, development of world leading farming practices through science and insights, cultural shifts and earning social licenses in the farming sector. The book also records the increasing collaboration between farming and processing groups, and shifting trade flows for New Zealand meat exports from west to east; all during a period of volatile political, cultural and economic change and uncertainty.
The earlier history of the Meat Board has been recorded in “Golden Jubilee” edited by Dai
Hayward which covers the first fifty years and “Meat Acts – The New Zealand meat industry 1972-1997” written by Mick Calder and Janet Tyson.
Following on, this publication tells the story of the transformation of the statutory interventionist Board of the previous 75 years into a distinctly successful industry good organisation, Beef and Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), which provides numerous facilitating and advisory services to producers. The notable move to greater collaboration with other industry bodies has also been a marked feature of this era.
Sheep numbers dropped precipitously from 45 million in 1997 to 26.8 million today as sheep and beef farms converted to dairying and life style blocks or were overtaken by the carbon priced attraction of forestry. But levy funded R&D promoted improvements in feeding, breeding and lambing performance to moderate the decline in production levels.
The book reports on the efforts of many to restructure the industry to overcome the pressures of declining stock numbers, processing overcapacity as well as revisiting the clashes of perceptions, personalities and politics which torpedoed those conceptual and perhaps grandiose proposals. It similarly records demise of the Wool Board, the ill-fated merging of meat and wool activities and eventually the farmer decision to cease funding industry good activities.
The free trade agreement with China opened up marketing options for an extensive range of meat products and by-products which allowed exporters to trade away from the more traditional markets and to secure improved prices.Chilled gourmet lamb and beef cuts, an increasing market for grass fed “natural” beef, and innovative processed products provided improving returns to both processors and producers. Red meat export earnings more than doubled and reached record levels in 2021.
The 404-page book is fully indexed and includes well over 190 photographs, cartoons and
illustrations. It will be published in June this year. Enquiries/orders http://www.meetingchange.nz
Note to editors
- “Meeting Change: the New Zealand red meat sector story 1997-2022”, Ali Spencer and
Mick Calder. Published June 29, 2022. - Mary Egan Publishing. NZ Meat Board/B+LNZ Ltd
- Pricing: Hardback $69.99 (ISBN: 978-0-473-60979-5), Softback $49.99 (ISBN: 978-0-473-60980-1) A 10% discount is available for orders received prior to the publication date.
- Further information and distribution at https://meetingchange.nz.
Contact: Ali Spencer ali@spencerpr.co.nz DDI: 021 344 286.
Mick Calder mick.w.calder@gmail.com DDI: 021 438 941 - A photo of the authors is available on request.
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