The departing head of the Meat Industry Action Group (MIAG) has fired a parting shot at the sector.

Chairman John Gregan, who has long milked cows alongside his sheep and beef operation in South Canterbury, has sold his sheep to fully convert to dairy. 

MIAG has long lobbied for industry reform, backing an Alliance-led processing and marketing venture, and a failed merger plan for Alliance and Silver Fern Farms.

The future of the group is now up in the air, John Gregan says the liklihood of future progress is almost non-existent.

“It’s definitely possible, but we’ve been hearing this from them for four or five years, and we’re still no further ahead.

"Alliance are probably the blockers here. Silver Fern Farms do look like they want to merge, but Alliance will argue that’s probably because Silver Fern Farms have a pretty weak balance sheet. They’ve got far too much over capacity and they’re in strife, thus they’d be looking to merge.

"Alliance are doing fine relative to the other meat companies, they’re rewarding their suppliers far better, therefore they see no need to merge, taking on Silver Fern Farms would be a backwards step.”

SIlver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper says the Action Group is dead in the water, and Federated Farmers should drive any future reform.

"If farmers want to make a difference and have a more sustainable sector, they need to mobilise and start to change. The fact that MIAG have dissolved, they’re only one group, and I think time has proved them to be ineffective. There’s other bodies there, Federated Farmers springs to mind.

"They’re an organisation with structure, which was lacking in MIAG, I think in the end it was beyond their capability"