Ban impacts business

A business built around livestock exporting to China is concerned about their future if the ban on livestock exports from New Zealand is upheld.

China prefers to import New Zealand cattle, but the majority come from Australia, Uruguay and Chile as well. But with the ban on livestock exports approaching, there will be more losses to New Zealand’s export trading sector than will be felt in China.

“If they can’t get stock from New Zealand, they will get it from elsewhere with lower animal welfare standards,” says Alex Feng of Beefgen, a New Zealand business that was established to target the Chinese markets for livestock, genetics and beef.

Establishing relationships

BeefGen identified the opportunities to trade with China through long-established relationships and aligned values.

It has been an exciting venture but they are deeply concerned about the livestock export ban and hope the government will consider changing their position.

“Exporting livestock is our main income stream, we are working hard to get the other parts of our business up and running but when we set out we had all three in our sights,” Alex says.

They source livestock from New Zealand farms that meet the requirements for the Chinese buyers and manage the entire process including stock management and logistics such as sourcing the ships and people to complete the voyage.
It has been an exciting venture but they are deeply concerned about the livestock export ban and hope the government will consider changing their position.

“Exporting livestock is our main income stream, we are working hard to get the other parts of our business up and running but when we set out we had all three in our sights,” Alex says.

“We have spent a lot of time building our relationships with China.”

“It can be hard to get established as there is a lot of money involved with importing large shipments of cattle but there is a lot of demand for sound quality cattle to breed and establish their herds,”

- Alex Feng

Mitigating concerns

BeefGen believes livestock exporting should continue with extra provisions to mitigate risks and concerns. Although through their relationships, they have been able to keep a close eye on their exported animals throughout their entire life in China and on visits they are always impressed with their condition.

“I can see in small villages, with smaller family farms, they might have lower animal welfare standards, but these places aren’t importing cattle,” Alex says.

“The places doing the importing have professional teams, with veterinarians on site 24 hours and good machinery so I don’t see any animal welfare issues or a reason to ban the sector entirely.

“And how often do we hear of farmers being investigated by the SPCA or MPI here in New Zealand, we can’t judge the majority on a minority group.”

Photo: Hesige farm

Alternative options

As it is only sea travel that is being banned, there are opportunities to explore air travel. But planes can only take 400 cattle maximum compared with the boats that are able to take up to 16,000. And when there are fewer animals to dilute the costs it becomes an expensive exercise.

“It will only be the higher end animals being transported by plane since only small numbers can go, the costs certainly outweigh the benefits for the average situation.”

The BeefGen team are hopeful the ban on livestock exports will be overturned but in the meantime, they are working on their contingency plan to get the other parts of their business working.

“It is worrying to think of the bigger picture, what will happen with all the extra animals here in New Zealand, as livestock exporting was indirectly helping reduce unwanted livestock and bobby calves here.

“Exporting is a true value-add on product for farmers that want to be involved, and we are sad that the door might be closing forever.”

This story was first published in the November 2021 issue of Dairy Farmer magazine.