Gerry Eckhoff this week contacted the Otago Daily Times to express concerns about emails received by some farmers on Wednesday that invited them to participate in a reference group workshop made up of a ''random sample'' of suppliers.
The former Central Otago sheep and beef farmer said he emailed Silver Fern Farms seeking clarification about the workshops. In his reply, Mr Cooper said the company had reviewed its shareholder base and supply profile ''and selected a number of people to participate in this first round of workshops, as we have done previously for focus groups as normal course of business''.
Mr Eckhoff, who chaired a meeting in Gore on Monday attended by nearly 1000 farmers who supported a mandate for change in the industry, said the overwhelming message was farmers wanted to be treated the same.
They did not want special deals and they wanted to be able to gain trust and respect from the co-operatives.
While Mr Eckhoff applauded the company for engaging with its shareholders, the real issue was that companies needed to engage with all their suppliers, not just selected ones, he said.
It might be a coincidence holding the workshops after Monday's ''hugely successful'' meeting, ''but it does stretch credibility''.
''The word `selected', it's like the words `special deals'. The farmers hate it,'' he said.
When contacted, Mr Cooper said it was intriguing that people like Mr Eckhoff believed they had a right to ''ask us anything'' when they did not have an interest in the company, or were not farming.
''Part of the problem with the dysfunctionality of the meat industry is caused by people carrying on like this,'' he said.
The company communicated with its suppliers and when suppliers decided to forward that communication to the likes of Mr Eckhoff ''no wonder we don't have a more functional sector'', he said.
Silver Fern Farms had been forming focus groups for 18 months and Mr Eckhoff was ''drawing a long bow'' thinking it had anything to do with the meeting on Monday.
The idea was to get around all the company's main suppliers in small focus groups over a two-year to three-year period. The core purpose was to talk about how the company could do things better operationally.
If Mr Eckhoff was a supplier and shareholder, he would have known about it. As he had no interest in farming or Silver Fern Farms, he had no right to ask the company anything, Mr Cooper said.
Yesterday, Meat Industry Excellence Group spokesman Allan Richardson, of West Otago, said there was support for industry change from farmers supplying the four largest meat companies.
An analysis of farmers who attended the Gore meeting showed 48% supplied Alliance Group, 31% Silver Fern Farms, 9% Affco and 4% Anzco. Smaller companies made up the balance, while 15% of farmers supplied more than one company.
It was significant that all farmers, regardless of which company they supplied, were unhappy with the current situation existing in the meat industry, Mr Richardson said.
Further meetings were planned in Canterbury and the North Island as it was important to get a New Zealand-wide mandate, he said.
