16 | Taranaki: Hāwera Silver Fern Farms REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Kim Newth Hāwera investment paying off Hāwera Silver Fern Farms is firmly embedded in the South Taranaki community. DOMESTIC | FARMING INDUSTRIAL | INSTRUMENTATION Proud to be supporting Silver Fern Farms - Hawera Factory Scales • Weighbridges • Hoppers • Concrete Plants • Loadcells ScaleLogic – Accurate Solutions in Measurement We specialise in supplying leading edge technology, along with repairs and maintenance of: Weighbridges, Weighing scales, Filling & Dosing systems, Tank & Hopper weighing, Redesign of weighing equipment and everything else weighing related! From Instrument Calibration toWeighing Solutions and Calibration of Laboratory Balances, Food and Factory manufacturing, Concrete plants,Weighbridges and many custom applications involving loadcell supply and design, we have everything you need in one place. 06 347 2253 | sales@scalelogic.co.nz | www.scalelogic.co.nz This year’s annual mid-spring shutdown at Hāwera Silver Fern Farms facility in South Taranaki was put to good use with the installation of new meat belts that will be safer to operate and easier to clean. With repairs and maintenance also done in the shutdown, the plant will be operating at its best in the busy months ahead. That’s according to site manager Scott Lamplough, who says there has been significant investment by Silver Fern Farms in the plant over the last few years, with $3m allocated to repairs and maintenance and another $4m to capital upgrades. “A lot of that goes back to the community through local contractors and suppliers who come and help us do that work.” Capital investment is supporting safe practice with the introduction of equipment such as guardian bandsaws and new skinning machines with safety cut-offs to help prevent injuries. Significant investments have also been made to upgrade ammonia and stormwater systems. “As well, we were the first plant in New Zealand to have a robotic knife sharpener. We’ve had that for a year now and it’s brought a big improvement in health and safety with a 25 per cent reduction in injuries like wrist sprains, as well as improved performance. We’re getting an upgraded one in December, and the programme is being rolled out to the other large beef sites with six new machines ordered.” The Hāwera plant first opened as a pork processing facility for TH Walker in 1942, before commencing beef processing in 1970 under the name ‘Lowe Walker’. Richmond purchased the site in 1998 and then sold it to PPCS in 2005. The site was then rebranded as Silver Fern Farms in 2008. Scott has been with the plant for 20 years and is not the only long-serving local. “We’ve got a couple of people here who started in the plant’s first week back in 1970! We have a good staff culture and have won Silver Fern Farms’ plant of the year award multiple times over the years.” Silver Fern Farms produces 30% of all New Zealand lamb, beef and venison in partnership with 16,000 sheep, beef and deer farmers, across 14 plants and is achieving over $2.5b in annual sales to over 60 countries. At the local level, that production translates to jobs and regional prosperity. The Hāwera plant employs 630 people through the peak season of December to June, processing close to 1000 animals a day. “We spend $30m on wages a year and are the second biggest employer in South Taranaki.” Scott says a recent highlight at Hāwera was having the plant’s emergency response team (ERT) win Silver Fern Farms’ inter-plant ERT competition, cancelled in the previous two years because of Covid. “It’s held over two days and is very demanding. Winning this competition is good news for everyone to come back to as the plant starts up again.” Hāwera Silver Fern Farms’ facility is fully halal approved and produces a full range of beef cuts for supply to domestic and global markets. Hāwera supplies chilled trim meat for burger patties for New Zealand and Australia. Since 2016, the plant has been processing blood from cattle to supply chilled plasma to Proliant’s Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) manufacturing facility in Fielding. BSA is used in pharmaceuticals, diagnostic tests, vaccines and medical research. The plant processes various other products too, such as tendons, bones and pericardium material, for medical and surgical applications. Scott says Hāwera Silver Fern Farms is firmly embedded in the South Taranaki community and supports local raffles and school fundraising with meat pack donations. During Covid, the plant donated meat to alleviate hardship in the community and is making ongoing donations to the nationally based charity, Meat the Need’. “We also sponsor a number of rural events and recently our site won an internal sustainability competition for $1000 which was donated to Saint Mary’s Community Garden.”
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