After attending LambEx over the past week, Chair of Headwaters Simon Saunders says New Zealand cannot rely on its premium-lamb reputation as Australia’s scale, government investment, and research move ahead.

“We cannot sit on our laurels,” he says.

“They’ve got scale, they get massive investment from their government, and they are innovating in their R&D.

“I think in many areas they are a long way ahead of us.”

Australian sheep farmers face similar pressures as New Zealand on land-use change, parasites, climate, and labour.

“Some of those Australian farmers, their innovation and the way they were dealing with these challenges is pretty impressive.”

He says mandatory eID is behind their on-farm gains.

“Farmers are now really starting to look at and innovate in how they can actually use it as a tool to really drive performance.”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.