Over almost a quarter-century, Cros Spooner has played a big part in shaping Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
As Chief Operating Officer, much of his work may not have been visible to farmers but they have certainly benefited from his efforts to establish clear and consistent business processes.
Cros is retiring after 23 years with B+LNZ and its precursors – a period of huge change for the beef and sheep sector which has required the industry good organisation to respond to the evolving needs of farmers.
He joined in October 2003, shortly after the August 2003 referendum that paved the way for the establishment of a single industry-good organisation that in 2004 would be named Meat and Wool New Zealand.
He came with strong links to the rural sector, having grown up in Wairarapa and his mother’s family were sheep and beef farmers near Whangarei. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Christchurch, and held senior finance and management roles with Wrightson, Regal Salmon and Riverlands (now ANZCO).
He was appointed as General Manager Quota and Economics for Meat and Wool New Zealand, where his initial focus was on improving quota management methodology. It proved to be a three-year project to review allocation mechanisms, to improve process and communication with quota holders and exporters, and ensure quota holders funded quota administration activities operated by the New Zealand Meat Board
He also introduced a more rigorous process for new entrants wanting to access quota, requiring a detailed business plan to ensure any allocations were utilised.
Cros recalls this as a tense period but one that reinforced for him the importance of process management. The result was a much more settled and transparent quota regime including a new way to earn a quota through recording production history.
He also led a major innovation to merge the Meat and Wool Boards’ Economic Service (established in 1954 as a stand-alone business unit) back into the new industry-good organisation, Meat and Wool New Zealand, which he recalls as a big change for that team.
In 2007 Cros took over finance, corporate services and human resources for Meat and Wool New Zealand, plus management of the research consortia Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium (PGgRc), Ovita (which evolved into B+LNZ Genetics) and Catapault Genetics. He also handled finance for Deer Industry New Zealand.
The following year, Catapault Genetics was sold to Pfizer which Cros counts as one of his greatest achievements.
Preparing for the 2009 referendum was a challenging time for Cros and Meat and Wool New Zealand, as it was clear that any continuation of the wool levy was at risk. Wool funded 50 percent of all sheep-related activities so the organisation needed to prepare for major changes to its structure.
As a result, Meat & Wool planned for four years of levy increases which was a big ask of meat farmers at the time but was successfully adopted.
Losing the wool levy was tough but it paved the way for many changes, including a name change to Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd in 2010 to reflect the new way of doing business as a meat-only organisation.
There were also improvements in how the organisation worked with farmers, notably through the establishment of the extension team network. Meat and Wool New Zealand was strongly Wellington-centric in the early 2000s, so putting B+LNZ people into the field and in front of farmers really resonated, Cros says.
Another change was the devolution of budgets to the regions where the spending could be directed by Farmer Councils.
It was during this period that Cros oversaw the move to bring technology provision in-house, followed by the 2014 transition to the Cloud. This put the organisation in a good place for a seamless transition to remote working when Covid struck in 2020.
By the time of the 2015 referendum, B+LNZ was in a good place, with farmers endorsing the value of its activities.
What has stood out for Cros over the years is the passion of the people that work at B+LNZ and across the sector. He is confident his work has brought discipline to the organisation, to ensure the passion is harnessed into manageable priorities.
He has enjoyed the variety of work but feels the time is now right for him to retire.
He says the long-term outlook for sheep and beef is better than it’s ever been. While it will need to be resilient to withstand geo-political shocks, as we are currently experiencing, and climate change impacts, the fundamentals are strong.
What are his plans for retirement? Firstly, a trip to Japan in April, then a long break through winter, planting trees on his Wairarapa block, fishing, duckshooting and spending time with his family, including four school-age grandchildren in Christchurch and Opotiki.
We wish Cros and his family all the best for a happy and healthy next stage.