Entries open for 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Competition

Entries are now open for the 100% New Zealand (NZ) Bacon & Ham Competition, and top butchers are encouraging their peers to enter. From the tastiest rasher to the most succulent slice of ham, the competition attracts butchers and retailers nationwide who will put their craft to the test on July 10.
The 100% NZ Bacon & Ham Competition celebrates New Zealand’s finest cured pork products and helps customers identify and appreciate home-grown, sustainable bacon and ham. It supports New Zealand’s pig farmers, who raise pork solely for the local market.
This year an exciting new category has been introduced -- the 100% New Zealand Innovative Pork Product. Butchers will be given the chance to display their most inventive pork product, whether it’s skin on, skinless, boneless, bone out, cured or pickled. Entrants will be judged on the commercial viability of the product, whether the product is logical in its production, its appeal to the market place, practicality for cooking and serving and the all-important innovation.
An independent panel of 33 judges - leading chefs, food connoisseurs and master butchers - will blind-taste each entry to select the best bacon and ham. Judging under international rules focuses on aroma, texture, appearance, saltiness, sweetness and overall tastiness.
The Independent Meat Processors in Christchurch took home last year’s 100% NZ Bacon of the Year award. Owner Tom Coughlan says the win has made a huge difference to their business. The winning butchers value the increased exposure and business opportunities that come from being a winner in the competition.
Back for a fourth year, the Peoples’ Choice Award 2015 will give the public a chance to “TXT-tovote” for their favorite bacon- and ham-making butcher using 100% NZ pork. Look for the Peoples’ Choice Award posters at your local butcher now. All entrants to the 100% NZ Bacon & Ham Competition are given automatic entry into the Peoples’ Choice Award. Entries for the 100% NZ Bacon& Ham Competition close on June 19.

BEC Feed Solutions opens New Zealand trading arm

BEC Feed Solutions Australia has opened a New Zealand trading arm, BEC Feed Solutions NZ.
The move was prompted by New Zealand's rapidly developing animal production market and thriving dairy industry, which has seen a 70% growth in dairy production over the past 20 years. This, coupled with the dairy industry's growing preference for supplementary feeding over a solely pasture-based system, provides a sound platform for BEC to officially enter the New Zealand market.
Specializing in high-quality, innovative animal nutrition products, including premixes, feed additives, supplements and feed commodities, BEC Feed Solutions NZ will service the dairy industry plus New Zealand's calf rearing, horse breeding, pig, poultry, dry-stock and companion animal sectors.
Brett Antonio, managing director of BEC Feed Solutions Australia, says the company is well-placed to supply the needs of modern agricultural production in New Zealand.
"New Zealand's animal production industry is growing rapidly, with over 953,000 tonnes of compound feed produced in 2012 and 35-40% of owner-operated dairy farms now opting for a supplementary feed system. With two dedicated full-time manufacturing plants, sound distribution capacity, leading quality assurance and over 25 years' industry experience, we are perfectly positioned to service the New Zealand market," Antonio said.
BEC Feed Solutions NZ will be managed by a dedicated New Zealand-based technical team, with a collective 20 years of experience in animal nutrition and health, ingredient procurement and related regulatory controls.
BEC Feed Solutions Pty. Ltd. is an independent family-owned company located in Brisbane. Its mission is to become the leader in the supply of nutritional advice, premixes, feed ingredients and feed commodities to the Australian, New Zealand and international agricultural markets. With the addition of its New Zealand trading arm, BEC Feed Solutions now operates in three countries: Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

New Zealand pork industry working to ease concerns over imported raw meat

After the Supreme Court of New Zealand dismissed the New Zealand Pork Industry Board's legal challenge to stop the import of pig meat from other counties, the board says it will work with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to allay any fears of biosecurity risks associated with imported raw pig meat. The Supreme Court in late December dismissed the board's appeal to stop the MPI allowing raw pig meat into New Zealand through its import health standards for pork.
The board, which spent nearly NZD1.8 million (US$1.5 million) in legal fees, opposed these standards because they allowed countries with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) to export raw pig meat into New Zealand.
Board chairman Ian Carter said he was very disappointed with the decision, but added the board was coming to terms with the decision and its implications. The board plans to meet with MPI to devise strategies that would minimize any biosecurity risks associated with imported raw pig meat, according to reports. Those discussions would continue into 2014.
In order to minimize the biosecurity risks associated with imported raw pork products, Carter urged consumers to buy pork products made in New Zealand. He said New Zealand pig farmers had to maintain high standards of biosecurity on their farms and properly dispose of waste pig meat.
Carter said it was still unclear what the court's decision meant for the long-term viability of the industry's commercial sector. 

New Zealand pig farmers want to suppress audit results

A leaked e-mail suggests that New Zealand pig farmers are attempting to suppress the results of a Pork Industry Board audit conducted earlier this year.
The communication, written by the veterinarian who carried out the audit, said there will likely be a number of farms requiring corrective action and that those actions could cause embarrassment for the farmers and the industry if they were made public. As a result, alternatives to current procedures were suggested, including making the complete documentation available only to the appropriate farmer and the person conducting the audit. In that case, the Board would only be notified of "pass," "fail" or "pending corrective actions (unspecified)" designations. The bulk of the information would remain exempt from the Official Information Act and, consequently, from the public eye.
According to Board Chief Executive Sam McIvor, many farmers had requested that results remain private before they would agree to the voluntary nationwide audit. He said the key is to balance the interests of the farmers with the interests of the public. "There does have to be some trust and the customers need to be able to trust that we have the processes in place," said McIvor.
Members of Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE) have said they will go to the Ombudsmen's Office with a formal complaint if the complete audit results are not released. "It obviously shows that they're not transparent," said SAFE Spokesman Hans Kriek about the leaked e-mail.
According to the e-mail, the audit has been put on hold while the pork industry seeks legal advice.