Latest news with #DanBoulton
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.
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Reductions market-driven: SFF
Silver Fern Farms says its focus on emissions reduction is driven by what its customers and markets want. "It's not about the Paris Climate Accord or domestic methane targets. It's wholeheartedly driven by the markets you need to be in," chief executive Dan Boulton told shareholders attending yesterday's annual meeting of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative in Dunedin. Many high-value customers were addressing their own emissions reduction targets while many farmers were also implementing changes on farm to improve efficiencies and reduce emissions. Some might call it woke, but the company's view was that given New Zealand farmers' track record of environmental progress and efficiencies, it would be "irresponsible to walk away from it", he said. Customers were willing to invest in new ways of achieving targets and they were not interested in domestic debate around historic land use change in New Zealand, or that New Zealand contributed only a small percentage of global emissions. "They are only interested in what is in their supply chain," he said. Silver Fern Farms invested $9.1 million in AgriZeroNZ over the last two years, and held a shareholding of about 7.59%. That investment represented about 0.1% of total revenue. Customers in markets who made public commitments represented about 20% of its revenue and that was growing, he said. The investment in AgriZeroNZ was about options to meet that market driver without compromising key market advantages. There were a range of tools AgriZeroNZ was investing in which would go through rigorous testing. Some farmers might not be open to that "direction of travel" and it would not be forced on them. Many would be happy to accept it. He made no apologies about creating options for farmers to make sure they stayed aligned with what the markets wanted, he said. It was about finding solutions and options to address customers needs — to ensure the company maintained market access and its highest-value customers — and make it cost effective and easy to implement on-farm. Earlier this year, Silver Fern Farms announced a $21.8m net loss after tax for the year ended December 31, a $2.6m improvement on last year's result. Revenue was down $144m to $2.6 billion, ebitda was up $16.3m to $32.7m and capital expenditure was more than halved, down to $52.5m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative, which jointly owns Silver Fern Farms Ltd with Bright Meat Group, recorded a net loss after tax of $10.9m, up from last year's $10.7m loss. Mr Boulton reiterated it was disappointing to post a loss but, without greater cost control and commercial discipline, the result would have been significantly more unfavourable. Looking at the year ahead, livestock volumes were materially lower than expected and the industry had adjusted by removing capacity earlier than was typical. Lamb kill was back 8%, predominantly in the South Island, and national beef kill was back 6% for the season to date. It would be the second consecutive challenging winter for processors, which created downstream challenges, and action and leadership was needed across the industry to address structural issues. Improved pricing was expected to stay around for the foreseeable future and that pricing had been rebuilding confidence in farming, as farmers looked to expand and buy more land. "Coming into this year, we are a fitter, more resilient Silver Fern Farms," he said. Protein demand would outstrip supply for the year ahead and growing concern around food security provided significant opportunities for New Zealand to leverage. "There's a lot to be excited about if you're a producer here in New Zealand," he said. Last year, Silver Fern Farms Co-operative bought a 12.5% stake in Woolworks for $18.486m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative chairwoman Anna Nelson yesterday said better wool returns were essential for the overall viability of sheep farming. Asked about any potential conflict of interest with outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett being chairman of Woolworks, she said an extensive due diligence process was followed "with Rob firmly out of the room".
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Cutting emissions market-driven: SFF
Silver Fern Farms says its focus on emissions reduction is driven by what its customers and markets want. "It's not about the Paris Climate Accord or domestic methane targets. It's wholeheartedly driven by the markets you need to be in," chief executive Dan Boulton told shareholders attending yesterday's annual meeting of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative in Dunedin. Many high-value customers were addressing their own emissions reduction targets while many farmers were also implementing changes on farm to improve efficiencies and reduce emissions. Some might call it woke, but the company's view was that given New Zealand farmers' track record of environmental progress and efficiencies, it would be "irresponsible to walk away from it", he said. Customers were willing to invest in new ways of achieving targets and they were not interested in domestic debate around historic land use change in New Zealand, or that New Zealand contributed only a small percentage of global emissions. "They are only interested in what is in their supply chain," he said. Silver Fern Farms invested $9.1 million in AgriZeroNZ over the last two years, and held a shareholding of about 7.59%. That investment represented about 0.1% of total revenue. Customers in markets who made public commitments represented about 20% of its revenue and that was growing, he said. The investment in AgriZeroNZ was about options to meet that market driver without compromising key market advantages. There were a range of tools AgriZeroNZ was investing in which would go through rigorous testing. Some farmers might not be open to that "direction of travel" and it would not be forced on them. Many would be happy to accept it. He made no apologies about creating options for farmers to make sure they stayed aligned with what the markets wanted, he said. It was about finding solutions and options to address customers needs — to ensure the company maintained market access and its highest-value customers — and make it cost effective and easy to implement on-farm. Earlier this year, Silver Fern Farms announced a $21.8m net loss after tax for the year ended December 31, a $2.6m improvement on last year's result. Revenue was down $144m to $2.6 billion, ebitda was up $16.3m to $32.7m and capital expenditure was more than halved, down to $52.5m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative, which jointly owns Silver Fern Farms Ltd with Bright Meat Group, recorded a net loss after tax of $10.9m, up from last year's $10.7m loss. Mr Boulton reiterated it was disappointing to post a loss but, without greater cost control and commercial discipline, the result would have been significantly more unfavourable. Looking at the year ahead, livestock volumes were materially lower than expected and the industry had adjusted by removing capacity earlier than was typical. Lamb kill was back 8%, predominantly in the South Island, and the national beef kill was back 6% for the season to date. It would be the second consecutive challenging winter for processors, which created downstream challenges, and action and leadership was needed across the industry to address structural issues. Improved pricing was expected to stay around for the foreseeable future and that pricing had been rebuilding confidence in farming, as farmers looked to expand and buy more land. "Coming into this year, we are a fitter, more resilient Silver Fern Farms," he said. Protein demand would outstrip supply for the year ahead and growing concern around food security provided significant opportunities for New Zealand to leverage. "There's a lot to be excited about if you're a producer here in New Zealand," he said. Last year, Silver Fern Farms Co-operative bought a 12.5% stake in Woolworks for $18.486m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative chairwoman Anna Nelson yesterday said better wool returns were essential for the overall viability of sheep farming. Asked about any potential conflict of interest with outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett being chairman of Woolworks, she said an extensive due diligence process was followed "with Rob firmly out of the room".
