Hon Jim Anderton

Member of Parliament for Wigram

Progressive Leader

9 December 2009 Media Statement

Our lean meat reputation at risk

Stall-based farming where cows can be kept in boxes for 24 hours a day, eight months of the year will undermine New Zealand’s reputation for free-range, lean and healthy meat, says Opposition Spokesperson for Agriculture and Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton.

“When I was minister of Agriculture in the last Labour-led government, I went to Korea and Japan to advocate for our pastoral farming techniques.

“There was huge interest in our ability to produce lean meat that was healthier than the high fat content meat produced in Japan and Korea.

“Many in those countries know their own meat is unhealthy and there was genuine interest in our approach to natural animal husbandry”, Jim Anderton said.

“There was an acknowledgement that New Zealand creates a high quality healthy product, compared to their own meat.

“I saw grain-fed cows in stalls. They were some of the fattest cows I have ever seen. Some of them died of heart attacks, they’re so fat and of course they get no exercise.

“It doesn’t make any sense to casually throw away our clean, free-range, lean meat reputation for the sake of keeping cows in stalls on a few farms in the Mackenzie Basin.

“It only takes a few negative stories to reach the international consumers, and our reputation is at risk,” says Jim Anderton.

Three companies in New Zealand have recently sought resource consents for sixteen new dairy farm developments in the Mackenzie Basin, with nearly 18,000 cows to be housed in cubicle stables.

Cows would be confined in the stalls for 24 hours a day for eight months of the year.

ENDS

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