Silver Fern Farms is planning to close its plant in Fairton, near Ashburton - which would make 370 people redundant.

Murray Mcfall has dedicated 25 years to Silver Fern Farms' meat processing plant near Ashburton. Now, without warning, he's facing redundancy.

The proposed closure of the company's Fairton plant will leave 370 people without jobs. The plant's employees were told there would be two weeks of consultation before a final decision was made.

Mcfall, 62, said the writing was on the wall. "The company had run itself into the ground."

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ Murray Mcfall worked at Silver Ferns Farms for 25 years. He was axed on Wednesday.

Staff had been left in limbo as communication from management had halted and, although there were rumours, nothing was ever confirmed, he said.

READ MORE: Silver Fern Farms almost certain to close Fairton plant - union

"We never got told anything. There's been very poor treatment; it's been pretty awful to work there and a lot of people are pretty upset.

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton says the company has not yet committed to selling the Fairton site.

"You've been there years and years and then bang, all of a sudden you've got to go."

Mcfall and his wife, Susan, gave over four decades of work to the company between them. After 20 years, Susan McFall left last year when the hours started to dry up. The couple saw the place go from "very good, to very, very bad".

"Slowly but surely it got worse, there was less and less work and it drove a lot of people out," Murray Mcfall said.

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ Workers leave Silver Fern Farms' plant in Fairton, near Ashburton, after being told the company plans to shut it down.

He was not surprised by Wednesday's announcement. He had expected it for over a year, but it was still a big blow and with limited work available in Ashburton, he was trying to figure out what to do next.

"We'll stay here, it's our home. Once you're settled somewhere, you won't just pack up and leave it all, but I'll have to find something, you can't survive on air," the trained butcher said.

"Some people are in a much worse situation."

Some staff were saddened by the news, some were angry. Others were keen to move on and looked forward to their redundancy cheque.

The company expected 230 roles to become available at plants around the country, mostly in Belfast, Pareora and Hokitika, when the new season commenced.

The decision to close follows a tough time for Silver Fern Farms. Its share price tanked in January following the announcement of a $30 million loss for the previous year.

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ About 370 people are affected by the proposal.

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton said the closure was due to a "significant decline in processing numbers over the last 10 years".

"Fairton was consistently processing over 1 million lambs prior to 2010. Last season, we processed under 500,000 lambs," he said.

"This year that has continued to decline and we processed just over 325,000 in a six-month seasonal operation."

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ A two-week consultation will be held before a final decision on the plant's fate is made.

Silver Fern Farms told its new business partner, Chinese firm Shanghai Maling, that it intended to close the Fairton plant last year. Shanghai Maling passed that information on to its own shareholders.

The information was not passed on by the company to its New Zealand shareholders, nor was it passed on to workers.

Hamilton told Stuff in June last year that the company had no intention to close any of its 19 plants.

GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ Silver Fern Farms says it expects about 230 jobs will be available at its other sites next season, but 370 will be affected if the Fairton plant closes down.

The Overseas Investment Office approved a deal in September last year for Shanghai Maling to take over 50 per cent of Silver Fern Farms by providing a $261m cash injection.

Hamilton said the information discussed with the Chinese shareholders was hypothetical, so Silver Fern Farms did not see a need to share it with New Zealand shareholders.

"If there was a commitment, obviously we would have shared that with our shareholders, but there was no commitment."

MARY-JO TOHILL/STUFF Hundreds of workers at Silver Fern Farms' Fairton plant near Ashburton are expected to lose their jobs.

Meat Workers' Union Canterbury secretary Bill Watt said some of the workers were resentful about the fact Chinese shareholders were told of the possibility of Fairton closing first.

The Fairton site sits on a large reservoir of fresh water, next door to Lot 9 which the Ashburton District Council attempted to sell off to a private bidder last year.

The mysterious bidder intended to open a water bottling plant, but the deal was met with fierce opposition from the community and the council pulled the pin.

In September, Silver Fern Farms sold some of its Belfast site to Rapaki Natural Resources.

"We gave them all the rights related to that piece of land and what they chose to do with that afterwards I have no idea," Hamilton said.

The Fairton site would not be converted for water bottling, but the company would have no say in what it was used for if it was sold, he said. The company had not yet committed to selling the site.

"I'm not sure how that would become our responsibility, to worry about [what] someone subsequently does to the site and their relationship with the council."

Hamilton would not say if the company had received any interest from potential buyers.

Ashburton Mayor Donna Favel said the conversion of many farms from sheep to dairy had increased employment in the district, but that had "taken its toll" on sheep meat processing plants like Silver Fern Farms.

"I hope that if people lose their jobs at Fairton and live in the Ashburton district, they will be able to remain here. Ashburton . . . is always in need of skilled labour."

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said closing the Fairton plant was a "disgraceful way to treat loyal staff".

"[Wednesday's] news rams home not only the price of unfettered foreign ownership but this Government's unwillingness to stop meat processing slipping into foreign control. Half the industry is either foreign-owned or heading that way so we are at the tipping point."