The Meat and Wool New Zealand industry board -- which has a significant number of directors appointed by meat companies -- says it's pleased agriculture officials have not dictated a "plan of action" for the meat sector.

"Farmers and industry, not Government, are best placed to make commercial decisions about their future," Meat and Wool NZ chairman Mike Petersen said.

He was welcoming publication of Meat: The Future a 90 page report in which the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry yesterday identified challenged facing the meat sector, and called for debate on its future.

The foresight report provided an analysis of the sector and looked ahead 10 to 15 years, laying out scenarios for how it may be shaped in 2023.

Mr Petersen said it was "vital" that the industry was repositioned to take advantage of trends toward high quality natural products, rising protein prices, growth in developing nations and declining global sheep numbers.

But he conceded that as a sector, "the meat industry has not successfully addressed recurring problems and put in place better planning for the future". The MAF officials said in the report that poor performance by the meat industry may be to blame for the low profitability of sheep and beef farming - in addition to drought, fluctuating commodity prices and a high exchange rate.

"Many people also believe that the industry has been systemically underperforming," MAF said.

But Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie, representing meat companies, rejected suggestions the sector was "broken".

The association produced its own foreword for the MAF report, and said meat companies had "some difficulty" with any "suggestion that the meat sector is broken or systematically underperforming".

Instead, it suggested the sector provided a textbook model of a free, competitive market, though there was a problem with the relatively low returns from meat and wool compared with dairying.

"While we undoubtably have a major challenge in the form of land use change ... it is not logical, or fair, to infer that our sector's people or culture of structure or have created that relativity of returns".

Mr Petersen said some fundamentals indicated the future was bright for the meat industry, and the industry board was promoting a "whole of sector" strategy aimed at a cohesive industry that is innovative, supplies world leading products and delivers viable returns.

It was seeking support from farmers for Meat and Wool NZ to lead the wider industry.

Agriculture Minister David Carter said change was both necessary and desirable. "With land prices no longer buoyant, the days of low-margin sheep and beef farms getting by on capital gains from land values alone are over, for the time being," he said.

Mr Carter was pleased by the importance given in the report to investment in research and development. But he warned that change in the meat industry would only be lasting if it was driven from within the sector.