Latest news with #SilverFernFarms
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Local Legends: Ria & Gerald Schouten
PHOTO: NICK BROOK The first Silver Fern Farms Clutha Leader Local Legend for August is for Ria and Gerald Schouten. "They do so much for the local Dutch community, especially the elderly," their nominator said. "They drive them to appointments and support them, helping to get personal belongs from home, do washing, visit them at home and ensure they are safe and well." The Schoutens came to Balclutha after emigrating from the Netherlands in 1982 with a family group of seven. "There was a Dutch Club which kind of ended as everyone got older and the children and grandchildren grew up Kiwi," Mr Schouten said. "But we always looked out for each other and still do. "Small communities help each other."
Scoop
13-07-2025
- Scoop
PETA Slams ZQ ‘Ethical' Claims After New Sheep Slaughter Investigation—Animals Improperly Stunned, Throats Slit
As part of a multipronged endeavor to lift the curtain on New Zealand's horrific and shameful wool industry, PETA Asia-Pacific has released its new undercover investigation into severe animal suffering at a sheep slaughter house belonging to Silver Fern Farms, which buys sheep from farms that raise them for food or wool, including ZQ-certified farms. The damning undercover footage shows workers using head-only electrical stunning ineffectively on sheep before severing the animals' necks with a blade, which left the sheep still conscious, as shown by their twitching ears and tense heads. A veterinary professor of animal welfare who reviewed the footage noted that the movement of sheep's ears and tense heads suggested that the 'stunning was sometimes inadequate' and that it holds a risk of consciousness and suffering. The footage casts a shadow on ZQ's claim that it offers 'the world's leading ethical wool.'
Otago Daily Times
10-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Local Legends: Food-Hub
PHOTO: NICK BROOK Silver Fern Farms and The Clutha Leader are really showing some extra leg this week with a bonus roast for Local Legend Food-Hub staff and volunteers (from left) Vivienne Fiddes, Diane Schnarr, Chris Shaw, Lee-Anne Michelle, Jessica Michelle and Sharon Grellet. The team took a moment away from their massive midwinter food drive to pose with the prize and planned on sitting down together to share the lamb leg feast after Every Can Counts concluded this week. "Silver Fern Farms do a lot to support us and the whole community, and this is lovely," Food Hub and Clutha Budget Advisory Service manager Lee-Anne Michelle said. "I think I might cook it and bring it in cold, everyone can bring in a salad or side, and we'll take an afternoon off to enjoy it."
Scoop
27-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Uncertainty For Meat Workers As Plants Grapple With Low Livestock Numbers
Meat plants across Aotearoa are struggling to match low volumes of livestock coming through with staffing levels. New Zealand's national sheep flock and dairy herd have continued to decline in recent years, impacting the flow of livestock into meat works. However, this has also created a competitive environment for farmers, some of whom were earning record prices for their stock, exacerbating the challenge of profitability for meat companies. Consistently declining livestock numbers saw red meat farmer-owned cooperative Alliance Group close its Smithfield processing plant in Timaru last year. Major red meat processor, Silver Fern Farms' chief executive, Dan Boulton told the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit in Ōtautahi this week, that the organisation was pulling thousands of seasonal workers off the chain to match capacity with the supply of livestock. "We're holding on tight. We're having to reduce capacity," Boulton said. "We have about 3,000 of our workers on seasonal layoff right now, which normally would be running full steam as we work through the back end of the cow season." Taking capacity off, particularly for night shift workers, helped to reduce and control operating costs, but created issues of uncertainty. "We're trying to attract workers into our sector and that uncertainty around [the] workforce is a real challenge." He said the beef kill was down 4 percent in 2024 and the lamb culls down 9 percent, creating procurement tension among the different companies. "Clearly a big challenge, and so on one hand we've got fantastic market returns and that's bringing profitability back into the sector, but we can't underestimate some of the livestock volumes and where they've landed particularly in the last 18 months. "Those are some big adjustments that the New Zealand processing sector has to make. So clearly, we have a capacity imbalance, that's through the media and that's creating a little bit of uncertainty." Through 2024 Silver Fern Farms recorded a $21.8 million after-tax loss, following a $24.4m loss in 2023. Competitor, co-op Alliance Group reported an after-tax loss of $95.8m for the year ended September, just over half of which accounted for the redundancies associated with Smithfield's closure. Meat Workers Union national secretary Daryl Carran said company profits were being affected by the record prices farmers were getting for livestock because the environment was very competitive. He said the low livestock numbers in farming, which the union had warned meat companies about for years, were particularly acute for larger companies. "Every year we're losing sheep farmers." Curran said realigning capacity with the reducing livestock numbers was vital to the sector's sustainability. "We've recently told one company to rationalise capacity because the numbers just aren't there anymore. "We have too many sites considering the stock we have available." Curran said further plant closures were likely in future, and meat companies should work together to address the processing network. StatsNZ figures showed the national sheep flock had fallen 21 percent in the past decade to 23.6m sheep. The ratio of 22 sheep per New Zealander in the 1980s was now down to 4.5. Dairy cattle also fell by about 13 percent or 860,000 over the decade with the national herd now 5.8m. However, beef cattle numbers were holding steady at 3.7m.
RNZ News
27-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Uncertainty for meat workers as plants grapple with low livestock numbers
Photo: Meat Industry Association Meat plants across Aotearoa are struggling to match low volumes of livestock coming through with staffing levels. New Zealand's national sheep flock and dairy herd have continued to decline in recent years , impacting the flow of livestock into meat works. However, this has also created a competitive environment for farmers, some of whom were earning record prices for their stock, exacerbating the challenge of profitability for meat companies. Consistently declining livestock numbers saw red meat farmer-owned cooperative Alliance Group close its Smithfield processing plant in Timaru last year. The former Smithfield meat processing plant site, Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Tim Brown Major red meat processor, Silver Fern Farms' chief executive, Dan Boulton told the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit in Ōtautahi this week, that the organisation was pulling thousands of seasonal workers off the chain to match capacity with the supply of livestock. "We're holding on tight. We're having to reduce capacity," Boulton said. "We have about 3,000 of our workers on seasonal layoff right now, which normally would be running full steam as we work through the back end of the cow season." Taking capacity off, particularly for night shift workers, helped to reduce and control operating costs, but created issues of uncertainty. "We're trying to attract workers into our sector and that uncertainty around [the] workforce is a real challenge." He said the beef kill was down 4 percent in 2024 and the lamb culls down 9 percent, creating procurement tension among the different companies. "Clearly a big challenge, and so on one hand we've got fantastic market returns and that's bringing profitability back into the sector, but we can't underestimate some of the livestock volumes and where they've landed particularly in the last 18 months. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon "Those are some big adjustments that the New Zealand processing sector has to make. So clearly, we have a capacity imbalance, that's through the media and that's creating a little bit of uncertainty." Through 2024 Silver Fern Farms recorded a $21.8 million after-tax loss , following a $24.4m loss in 2023. Competitor, co-op Alliance Group reported an after-tax loss of $95.8m for the year ended September, just over half of which accounted for the redundancies associated with Smithfield's closure. Meat Workers Union national secretary Daryl Carran said company profits were being affected by the record prices farmers were getting for livestock because the environment was very competitive. He said the low livestock numbers in farming, which the union had warned meat companies about for years, were particularly acute for larger companies. "Every year we're losing sheep farmers." Curran said realigning capacity with the reducing livestock numbers was vital to the sector's sustainability. "We've recently told one company to rationalise capacity because the numbers just aren't there anymore. "We have too many sites considering the stock we have available." Curran said further plant closures were likely in future, and meat companies should work together to address the processing network. StatsNZ figures showed the national sheep flock had fallen 21 percent in the past decade to 23.6m sheep. The ratio of 22 sheep per New Zealander in the 1980s was now down to 4.5. Dairy cattle also fell by about 13 percent or 860,000 over the decade with the national herd now 5.8m. However, beef cattle numbers were holding steady at 3.7m. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
