Silver Fern Farms Limited, a red meat company, reported a $21.8 million after-tax loss for the year ending December, with its revenue declining by 5% to $2.64 billion.
The company experienced a $24.4 million after-tax loss in the 2023 financial year, following a record profit of $189.3 million in 2022.
Silver Fern Farms processes approximately 30% of New Zealand’s lamb, beef, and venison, supported by over 16,000 farmer partners and employing up to 6,000 staff during peak season.
The company operates 14 sites nationwide and began 2024 with a balanced supply, demand, and processing capacity. However, later in the year, livestock flows experienced a sharp decline, including an 8% year-on-year drop in beef volumes during the second half of 2024.
“We actually had really good livestock volumes in the first half of the year and great processing efficiencies through our plants,” chief executive Dan Boulton said.
“We started the year with some pretty depressed market pricing, which was not that helpful, and that’s contributed to our revenue decline.”
While acknowledging the result was “clearly disappointing”, he noted that strong prices for farmers have contributed to boosting their confidence.
“We’re looking at record farmgate returns today and near-record market pricing.”
“So pretty much all the market upside that we saw in the back half of the year was all being paid back to farmers – and that hurts our bottom line.”
Boulton said farmgate returns had increased by 25% to 30% compared to the previous year and were now above the five-year average.
He said he expected the flow of livestock would stabilise and return to typical levels throughout 2025.
According to Boulton, there was strong demand across its markets spanning approximately 60 countries and regions. He also highlighted that China was beginning to recover and the United States was performing well, especially in the beef sector, where exports grew by 15% in volume.
Red Meat Export Growth in 2025
In a previous report, the Meat Industry Association highlighted that New Zealand’s red meat sector had a strong February, with exports totalling $1.1 billion—a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
According to the association, the United States remained New Zealand’s largest export market for red meat, with exports rising 32% to $339 million. Exports to China also grew by 5% to $278 million.