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Andy West - Source: ONE News -
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The wool sector voted away its collective access to research and development in last month's referendum on industry levies because too many small sheepfarmers voted against paying a levy, says a science leader.
"If we want our red meat and wool industries to be more than a cottage representation in the future then we need to amend the Commodity Levy Act so that it the vote is taken on stock units alone," said AgResearch CEO Andrew West.
Woolgrowers on lifestyle blocks and cottage-industry sized farms should have some of their voting power taken away in industry referendums on producer levies, said West, head of the Government's biggest science company.
A vote by a minority of woolgrowers last month axed the wool levy paid to industry-good body Meat and Wool NZ.
In a vote weighted according to their livestock numbers, woolgrowers voted for the continuation of the levy by 44,193 to 35,968 - a split of 55.1% in favour, and 44.8% against.
But the levy also required a majority endorsement in a second poll on the basis of one-farmer, one-vote, which was lost: 2,794 farmers (45.76%) were in favour, and 54.2% against.
The levy of 4c/kg, reducing later to 3c/kg, would have been provided $6.4 million of funding for Meat and Wool NZ - and it planned to pick up another $5 million of taxpayer funding.
The rejection prompted Agriculture Minister David Carter to express concern that those farmers had not thought through the implications for the sector.
"Not to support the continuation of a wool levy is disappointing and will create difficulties for the industry," said Carter.
"The result ... effectively leaves the wool industry without a mandated industry-good body at a time when this is desperately needed."
West said that fewer than 40% of the nation's sheep farmers voted down the levy, and many of those were people with small flocks.
He called for only bigger woolgrowers to get a say in such decisions so that the vote reflected the views of those with the most "skin in the game" and of a professional industry.
The meat and wool industries suffered from the dichotomy of serving large - almost corporate - farming enterprises all the way through to the lifestyle blocks which voted against the various levies.
"The dairy industry is not exposed to this hobby farm element," West said.
He said voting figures showed the most disaffected large-scale sheep farmers were in Southland.
"Perhaps this is because they are cheek and jowl alongside their considerably wealthier, carpet-bagging dairy farming brethren, and have been correspondingly disillusioned with their own industries," he said.
