A poll by meat company Silver Fern Farms has found little farmer support for a proposed merger with competitor Alliance.

Silver Fern publicly mooted the idea two weeks ago, but won little support from its rival, which has long maintained joining forces makes no commercial sense.

Silver Fern then went to its stakeholders, but just 517 farmers out of many thousands responded.

Chairman Eoin Garden says he isn’t worried by farmer apathy, so long as Alliance is willing to keep talking.

“It typifies the fact that farmers are heads down, tail up on their farms, they’re very good at what they do and they leave the responsibility to industry-wide issues to somebody else.”

Alliance has indicated it will discuss the merger idea with suppliers at its annual meeting next month, but Eoin Garden is doubtful they’ll push the idea too hard.

“We’ve got to change strategy, and this is what we’re talking about, it’s the future of the industry. I’m not interested in what Alliance or Silver Fern Farms might have done in the past, this is the future.”