12 Aug 2014

Maori farmers to get a boost

7:36 am on 12 August 2014

The red meat industry body and the Federation of Maori Authorities are teaming up to deliver targetted programmes to Maori sheep and beef farmers in a bid to lift productivity and profitability.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand and FoMA have established two new roles - and they'll be responsible for delivering tools and services to Maori farmers.

Beef + Lamb chief executive Scott Champion said Maori farmers made up a significant proportion of the industry.

"We think it's probably in the order of about 20 percent of the sheep and beef farming land," he said.

And many of the corporations and other enterprises involved were looking to improve their productivity and grow their sheep and beef businesses.

"In terms of the core of a lot of what we do it is about supporting that sort of activity," said Mr Champion.

"Generally, across the business, we're looking at how we become more targetted in supporting different farmers and different farmer groups and this is really another iteration of that approach."