New Zealand First says the Board of Silver Fern Farms is telling industrial sized porkies designed to scare its shareholders into again backing a Chinese takeover of their co-op.

Party Leader and Northland MP Winston Peters says how dare Silver Fern Farms board chairman Rob Hewett say to media the co-op's financials aren't good when less than one year ago, his board had no clue they'd end up with an 86 per cent improved profit and slash debt by 18 per cent.

'Do these people only attend board meetings to eat the biscuits? What's more, Mr Hewett's board and advisors said last year that things were so dire the co-op faced an immediate risk of receivership or liquidation. Funny how in 2016 those two words are missing from his vocabulary about tough times.

'If shareholders want another reason why this deal is bad now and would be diabolical later, it is China's ugly reaction to steel dumping.

'Fonterra and Zespri are being held by the ‘short and curlies' and Silver Fern Farms' board wants to put its shareholders into the same bind.

'What would Chinese control do for our largest beef market - the United States?

'Yet while Mr Hewett is at it, maybe he can explain the $7m fund ‘to meet the co-operative's directors' fees and related costs into the future.' Or why half of a co-op worth $627m, is actually being sold for $50m?

Winston says Rob has not been straight with shareholders or workers.

'Given a near mythical $261m sum the media have swallowed like Kool-Aid, may or may not appear, until after the Chinese control all major decisions including the Board itself.

'Shareholders need to also ask themselves this - do they trust the Chinese Communist Government, for that's who this gutless board wants to hitch them up to,” Winston says.

Source: Winston Peters' Office.