Sheep problems are a global issue

UK sheep farmers may be feeling downtrodden at the moment, but their colleagues in New Zealand are facing many of the same production challenges, according to Mike Petersen, chairman of Meat and Wool New Zealand.

Speaking to Farmers Weekly during a farm visit hosted by the Marches region of the NSA, Mr Petersen said anthelmintic resistance and pressures from more profitable sectors were common in New Zealand, too. “Resistance to benzimidozole (white) and macrocyclic lactones (clear) drenches is widespread. However, resistance to combination drenches appears to be holding up well.”

The best of worm control in future was likely to be a gene marker which has been discovered, he added. “This marker for internal parasite resistance has been found to reduce parasite burdens by about a third.”

Mr Petersen says the industry is reducing by about 5% a year, largely because of pressure from both arable and dairy farming. “There are plenty of farmers selling their flocks to take on better opportunities or talking of doing it and that is placing more pressure on the markets.”

In the current economic climate every producer in the world is losing money on lamb, he reckoned.

But for New Zealand producers the next challenge was likely to come in the form of increased environmental controls, he said. “It’s likely environmental controls with us will soon mirror those in the UK, with some farmers already neeeding a permit to farm around watercourses and lakes. There are already large blocks of land with nutrient restrictions in place.”

Additionally, water requirements would also be an issue in the near future as urban and rural needs began to conflict and the urban perception of farming changed, he explained.

Meanwhile, UK producers present asked Mr Petersen to explain how New Zealand lamb was generally so consistent, he said he believed it was largely due to the national flock being based on one main breed, the Romney. “Also what you have to remember is that we only export about half of our production into the EU, so we sell to suit market requirements.”