Are you ready for National Lamb Day?

National Lamb Day is going from strength to strength and there has been plenty going on in the run-up to the festivities. 

Parliamentary BBQ 

On Tuesday 11 February, The Country with Jamie Mackay broadcast live from the Parliamentary BBQ hosted by Minister of Agriculture Todd McClay.  

Well over 80 MPs from across all political parties attended including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Minister Seymour and members of the Government’s agricultural team – including Minister Hoggard, Minister Patterson, and Minister Grigg. Also in attendance were farmers and industry representatives. 

It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our sector and kick off National Lamb Day celebrations.  We partnered with the Meat Industry Association and AgProud to pull this together.  

The Prime Minister took to social media to talk about how New Zealand lamb is the best in the world. His video has been widely watched with over 1.4m views globally: PM at NLD BBQ.

If you didn’t manage to listen live you can hear the recording here: The Country National Lamb Day at Parliament.

Also check out the posts and videos from the event on our social media channels: Facebook,Linkedin,Instagram, and X.

"It was great to see our nation’s leaders getting behind National Lamb Day and recognising the hard work of those behind our world-class lamb production,” says Rowena Hume, B+LNZ General Manager, Insight & Communication. 

“While the day was about celebrating our sheep and beef farmers and the significant contribution our sector makes to the New Zealand economy, it was also a good opportunity to talk to MPs about our key policy priorities, particularly the need to amend New Zealand’s methane targets,” she added. 

Promotional campaigns  

Awareness of National Lamb Day across the country is really growing. We are delighted that FMG and Rabobank have come on as principal partners and they have given a major boost to promotion of the day. 

Nearly 1,000 BBQs are currently registered to be held around the country on 15 February. There’s still time to get involved – go here to register your BBQ. 

We have a range of promotional campaigns running on The Rock, Coast, and Hauraki radio stations with meat pack giveaways, lamb recipe competitions and more! There are also radio and online adverts, along with activity in Farmers Weekly and a cooking feature in the Sunday Star Times. 

Social media campaigns have taken a lighthearted approach with the FMG Valentines Day video with Olivia Caldwell and Julia Jones's 'National Lamb Day' zoom call. 

Farmer stories  

We’ve featured farmers Hamish Best at Conscious Valley, Hamish and Simon Guild at High Peak Station, and Emma Crutchley at Puketoi Station, as part of our farmer stories for National Lamb Day.  

The Conscious Valley story featured across a range of titles on the Stuffplatform – the number one news website in New Zealand. 

Read Hamish’s story: Wellington farmer doing it his way for National Lamb Day.

The High Peak Station story featured on the NZ Heraldwebsite. 

Read the full story: High Peak Station Hamish Guild on sustainability, succession and National Lamb Day.

Emma Crutchley was featured in The Country's Fast Five this week, where she reflected on the story of that first shipment of frozen lamb in 1882 and how the resilience reflected on that voyage is something we need to continue embracing to meet today’s challenges.  

A big thank you to our Lambassadors 

A big shout out to all our Lambassadors, many of whom are B+LNZ Farmer Councillors, and for everyone spreading the word about National Lamb Day. We really appreciate your hard work and hope you celebrate tomorrow by raising a well-deserved lamb chop. 

Remember when posting on your social media channels to use the hashtag #nationallambday 

If you need more inspiration, check out the National Lamb Day website.