New Zealand’s Meat Board has announced that weekly stock kill reports of meat and wool will become monthly from December 20 and will cover activities from the previous month. This change has been blamed on new legislation by New Zealand Meat Board Act 2004 which releases meat companies from the obligation to release weekly slaughter figures.

Meat & Wool New Zealand Chairman Jeff Grant said “This has not been what Meat and Wool New Zealand would prefer because clearly there is a demand for this information to continue. However, under the legislation, parties can’t be forced to continue supplying this information if it is not essential to quota management.”

The announcement has upset many farmers who say they will lack an essential part of the information needed to analyse price movements and market trends.

The same situation exists in Australia, where weekly slaughter data provision is voluntary and where 95% of processing companies choose to release the figures.

 

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