MIE is encouraging support for the co-operative model. McCarthy says this includes urging sheep and beef farmers who don’t supply their co-op to become involved again and consider supplying – even just a small percentage of their kill.
“The most important thing is for farmers to become more active in their co-ops because of the cornerstone role they will play in achieving a sound industry strategy for the future. One critical aspect of farmers getting more involved with their co-ops was voting in elections for farmer-elected directors on the boards, and participating in annual meetings.”
McCarthy says the candidates MIE has endorsed for this rotation of director elections are all staunchly pro co-op. They are committed to strengthening their co-operatives to lead industry recovery, he says.
“Farmers are more than merely suppliers to these co-ops. They are also shareholders and owners and they need to exercise their rights and responsibilities to ensure the viability of farming in the future.
“Fears about risk of loss of supply were no reason to hold back a proper debate about consolidation and integration. The key to a successful transition lies with us, the farmer suppliers. It is up to us because we can control and participate in the whole value chain or we can be price takers in perpetuity.”
McCarthy claims farmers have a choice. “We can continue to support the status quo or we can vote for change. We can vote for a model that captures and retains value for farmers as opposed to leaking it.
“It makes no sense, when we are on the cusp of the biggest protein opportunity in our farming lifetimes, to do nothing and watch our sector shrink its way to success.”
