NZ Meat and Wool Funding: Meat & Wool slashes projects in wake of lost levy
November 9th, 2009
Meat & Wool has taken the inevitable step to tighten its budget after wool growers voted to dump their funding levy. Chairman Mike Petersen says the adjustment is required given the drop in funding. The biggest projects for the chop are the $2.5m spent on its wool technical support and enterprise programme and a $1m reduction in market development of lamb in the UK and Europe. Agriculture Minister David Carter says it is “a good opportunity for farmers to realize the diverse nature of projects Meat & Wool is involved in and have now cut.”
Carter says “I personally think they are substantially worse off.” The Minister is awaiting the report back of the Wool Taskforce he commissioned to come up with options for moving forward. He aims to reconvene industry representatives early in the New Year. He says “I would hope to see some commitment from these people, who had spent quite a bit of time sniping at each other, to work collectively.” At the summit Carter called at Parliament in the wake of the no vote, attendees told him it was too soon, or too raw, to contemplate proposing a fresh vote on the wool levy. It’s still a possibility, though Carter says “there’s lots of ifs and buts.”
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