Let's get this show on the road. That's the message from Wool Partners International (WPI) chief executive Iain Abercrombie ahead of a roadshow that will deliver detail many sheep farmers say has been lacking thus far. While exact dates were not confirmed when Abercrombie spoke to Rural News, he says they are likely to be towards the later half of March and run into April. He says the roadshow will be staged at 20-25 different venues around the country so it should be coming to a town near most farmers. "˜Organising something like this is a big undertaking. It takes a huge amount of time and travel. We want to hold as many as possible without visiting every sheep farmer around the country. Abercrombie says he has had a pretty good response from farmer groups he has spoken to already. "˜There's a lot of confusion out there, not helped by the number of acronyms and a lot of misinformation. But once you communicate with people they feel a lot happier. "˜The only way to get the message across is face-to-face, as stories can get quite twisted in the media. But we're not going to lie and mislead people. We think if farmers have the facts in front of them then they'll make the right decision. "˜When I explain the integrated supply chain and how it will work people are pretty supportive.' Abercrombie admits to being not entirely surprised by Elders' recent announcement of a deal it has signed with US carpet manufacturer CCA Global. However, he says while he supports any initiative that gives better returns to the farmer he warns against viewing it as a done deal at this stage. It's a difficult thing to pull together and they've got a hell of a lot of work in front of them. We're fortunate that at WPI we already have some of the infrastructure in place.' Abercrombie says part of the WPI strategy is based on the premise that Wools of New Zealand gives it a competitive advantage "“ the brand is important as it's used by 122 manufacturers across four continents. "˜So it's already well established in the market,' he says.
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