Wellington, July 2 NZPA - Analysts are querying predictions of more than $100 million in financial benefits from the merger of PGG Wrightson and meat cooperative Silver Fern Farms.

On Monday the two companies released a $220 million proposal under which PGG Wrightson would buy a 50 percent stake in Silver Fern.

In September, the 9000 Silver Fern farmers will vote on the deal, with a 75 percent majority needed to allow the cooperative's constitution to be changed.

The two companies said an evaluation of their proposal had identified prospective short term gains of more than $60m a year, with longer term financial benefits ranging up to $110m a year.

"It's very easy to quantify synergies but to actually realise them is another thing," The Dominion Post today reported Forsyth Barr analyst John Cairns saying.

"You only have to go back to the merger of PGG and Wrightsons. They talked about synergies, but I think we're still waiting."

First NZ Capital analyst Andrew Mortimer said: "The quantum of those synergies look massive ... but how achievable are they is the question."

Given the experience of the PGG-Wrightson merger, scepticism over the promised synergy gains would be widespread, he said.

Silver Ferns chief executive Keith Cooper said early reaction to the proposed partnership with PGG Wrightson has been positive but farmers need more information, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

The first of 10 meetings due this week was held by the cooperative in Christchurch yesterday and was attended by about 100 farmers.

"We had a good series of questions and we didn't have anybody speaking against it," Mr Cooper said. "Obviously they need a lot more information of course.

"The general tenor of the meeting people said that finally we've got leadership in the industry and a strategy."

Owen Poole, chairman of Southland-based cooperative Alliance Group, said the proposal could potentially act as a platform for wider industry rationalisation.

"Farmers will have to reconcile their desire to own and control the industry against the potential for aggregation but with a hybrid or corporate ownership," Mr Poole said.

"Alliance would, as is their style, go out and talk to our own owners and ask them how they wish to proceed."

Affco chief executive Stuart Weston said the company would watch developments with interest but was frustrated at the failure of earlier initiatives.

"We'll look for Alliance going in first before we believe anything more because twice bitten three times shy," Mr Weston said.

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