Grave time for sheep industry: AgResearch CEO 

Source: ONE NewsSheep sales

Sheep farmers seem to have lost some of their nerve and enthusiasm in the wake of two years of low returns, AgResearch chief executive Andrew West says.

"It is a grave time for the sheep industry," West said on Thursday.

Two seasons of low prices for lambs had "severely dented" the confidence of sheep farmers, he said.

At the same time beef farmers - many of whom also farmed sheep - had suffered as domestic United States policies caused fluctuations in meat prices that affected the viability of their farms.

Strong wool had also continued its steady decline.

But West said last season had produced good prices for lambs, a reasonable return was predicted for this season, and beef was perhaps also looking up in the short-term.

"As a first step to recovery we need to instil greater confidence in the future of red-meat and strong wool," he said.

Lamb was a supreme product and sheep needed to remain a dual-purpose animal for meat and wool if it was to compete with cows and forestry for a share of the available pastoral land.

Meat and Wool NZ should promote a New Zealand appellation for red-meat and wool, because it represented the farmers who owned the land growing that produce, and they had the greatest stake in such branding, he said.