Primary Growth Partnership

The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) has co-invested, alongside the New Zealand Government through the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), to drive innovative thinking in production science. 

NZM has partnered with MPI on two Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programmes: the New Zealand Sheep Industry Transformation (NZSTX) project and W3 – Wool Unleashed.

NZSTX

The production science component of NZSTX was about engineering a shift in New Zealand sheep production. Our objective continues to be helping New Zealand sheep growers produce fit-for-market, multi-purpose sheep, with high value wool, meat and co-products produced for premium markets. NZSTX was firmly focused on growing the New Zealand fine-wool industry for a more profitable future.

“The PGP initiative is about partnering with and enabling programmes like NZSTX to deliver significant benefits for New Zealand,” said former Primary Growth Partnership Director Justine Gilliland. “It’s about our future as a country and we are excited by the significant breakthroughs in breeding, animal health and nutrition that are expected during the life of this programme”.

W3 – Wool Unleashed

The W3 – Wool Unleashed programme includes a number of projects focused on New Zealand sheep farming's social licence to operate. That is, our ongoing ability to access global markets for premium products, such as our wool fibre and meat.

With ever-increasing consumer access to real-time information about where products come from and how they are produced, this work is about ensuring that New Zealand's sheep farming practices continue to align with consumer expectations for a premium product.

While the wider W3 – Wool Unleashed programme is focused on the New Zealand strong-wool industry, the outcomes from these 'social licence to operate' projects will benefit the whole New Zealand sheep farming industry, including fine-wool sheep growers.

More information about PGP can be found on the PGP website.