Forum aims at better market understanding

A joint forum of sheep farmers from the United States, Australia and New Zealand could allay suspicions the groups have of each other and could prove a lucrative development in complementary marketing, says a farm lobbyist.

Ian Corney, chairman of Federated Farmers' meat and fibre section, said Australian and New Zealand farmers were dealing with largely the same issues.

During a two-day meeting in Melbourne with the Sheepmeat Council of Australia he found the carcass weights of Australian lamb were around 22-30kg - making them ideal for families of four - while cuts from the 15-17.5kg New Zealand lambs were more suited for one to two people. Corney said this provided potential for the two industries to complement each other in developing markets.

"The key difference is that we export a lot more stuff into Europe - and obviously the European quota was something we would protect pretty strongly.

"But they export stuff into America and are trying to organise a joint forum between the American farmers, Australia and us."

Carcass weights in the US were similar to those in Australia.

The proposed tripartite forum would primarily allow farmers from each of the nations to better understand the objectives of their counterparts.

- NZPA