Lamb suppliers look to Uruguay as a backup

The country's two largest meat companies are investigating sourcing lamb from Uruguay to supply their markets outside the New Zealand lamb season. Silver Fern Farms management visited the South American country about three months ago and Alliance officials were there recently, with company representatives understood to have met Uruguayan farming leaders reports The ODT. However, it appears the two southern South Island co-operatives were working independently on the project, potentially adding further to meat industry fragmentation and competition. With New Zealand sheep numbers falling 9.9% and 3.4% respectively in the past two years and markets demanding year-round supply of chilled lamb, companies have had to start looking elsewhere for supplies. It is understood Silver Fern Farms (SFF) was looking at forming alliances with Uruguayan farmers rather than following the model of New Zealand dairy investor New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU), which has bought 20 farms and was converting them to New Zealand-style dairy farms. Neither SFF chief executive Keith Cooper nor Alliance chief executive Grant Cuff were available yesterday, but Alliance has previously commented publicly that it was looking for complementary lamb supply from South America. Meat and Wool New Zealand chairman Mike Petersen applauded the initiative, saying food-producing companies needed to look globally, as Fonterra and Zespri had.