Meat and Wool stirs up farmers to vote 

Source: ONE NewsSheep sales

Meat and Wool New Zealand chairman Mike Petersen has made an eleventh-hour call for sheep and beef farmers to cast their votes in the sector's levy referendum.

Voting closes at 2pm on Friday and so far only about 6,000 of the 20,000 eligible farmers voted, according to electionz.com which is managing the poll.

"These numbers show a low level of participation so far, and I urge farmers to make sure apathy does not decide the final outcome," Petersen said.

Meat & Wool NZ must hold a referendum every five years under the Commodity Levies Act and the referendum asks farmers to agree to the organisation's plans for the next five years.

The plans include research and development, skills and education, market development, information and analysis and market access and the referendum follows three months of consultation, including 70 meetings around the country.

Petersen last called on farmers to vote earlier this month, when he was backed by Agriculture Minister David Carter, who said it was critical that farmers delivered a "clear mandate one way or another."

The industry board slashed $8 million from its proposed spending in the run-up to the vote, and has offered to tap historical reserves for $26 million to gain matching research funding from the Government for innovation.

The changes were made after farmers signalled a lack of support for levies as high as $6 for cattle and 80c for sheep.

In the new plan, the board is proposing to work within a total annual budget of $36-37 million, down from the $39-46 million range in the original discussion document