Shearers sharing their skills – Sally Rae:
Ryan MacLean came to New Zealand last year “to learn how to shear a sheep and grow grass”.
The young Scotsman arrived in October to work for a Napier-based shearing contractor before heading south in January to work for Warren White, of Waimate Shearing.
From a sheep and beef farm, Mr MacLean (20) has always wanted to be a farmer and he also enjoyed shearing.
The aim of his New Zealand trip was to increase his tally. . .
Why farmers pay higher interest on loans – Stephen Franks:
Specialist farm lending can be very profitable. Competition does not seem to wipe out the premium farmers tend to pay compared to other mortgage lending. It has puzzled economists from time to time.
Andrew Little’s stupid threats reported on Stuff this morning remind me why good farmers pay too much for their mortgages. I suspect he has just helped ensure more years of super-profits for farm lenders.
I’ve seen no recent study, but the farm sector interest margin was estimated to average over half a percent over many years when I was a lawyer for various farm financing institutions and a director of Wrightson and its finance company arm. . .
Fonterra ‘needs to be good corporate citizen’ – agribusiness professor:
Waikato University professor of agribusiness Jacqueline Rowarth says farmers are concerned about the way Fonterra is treating the suppliers. Prof Rowarth says the farmers want their co-operative to be a good corporate citizen.
There have been suggestions that by cutting supply costs, Fonterra will be able to fund additional interest-free loans for farmers.
“This is ridiculous. Farmers do not want an interest-free loan,” says Prof Rowarth. “They want Fonterra to do a good job as a corporate citizen, as a marketing and processing arm, for its good product.” . .
No Bailouts – Offsetting Behaviour:
Low dairy prices bite harder in New Zealand than elsewhere; dairy is a bigger part of our economy than it is elsewhere.
Riding the milk roller coaster:
Dairy farmers are being urged to take a second look at their budgets against the background of a plummeting payout.
Fonterra now is forecasting a $3.90 payout per kg of milksolids, $1.75 below the average cost of production, and there’s fears that next season may be just as bad.
Farmers, who have already gone through their budgets to make savings, are being urged to get together with one another and farm consultants, to see what else they can trim.
Dairy farmers who move now stand more of a chance of riding out the milk roller coaster’s latest descent further into the trough, said Hayden Dillon New Zealand’s head of corporate agribusiness for accounting and advisory firm Crowe Horwath. . .
Predicted Growth Will Provide Challenges for Marlborough Wine Industry:
The Marlborough wine industry is so optimistic about the future that predictions are for an increase in producing vineyards of nearly 25 percent in the next four years.
But with that growth will come challenges, according to a Wine Marlborough, New Zealand Winegrowers, and Marlborough District Council labour market survey.
Undertaken last year, the survey shows that the industry is set to grow by 6,444 hectares by 2019/2020. Currently Marlborough has a total production area of 23,619 hectares, the predicted growth will take those productive hectares up to 29,270 – a 24 percent increase. . .
Fourth Grand Finalist Confirmed in FMG Young Farmer of the Year:
Tony Dowman is the fourth Grand Finalist to be named in the 2016 FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
Tony is a 30 year old Farm Business Manager who took first place at the East Coast Regional Final in Dannevirke on 12 March.
Mr Dowman went home with a prize pack worth over $10,000 including cash, scholarships and products and services from FMG, Massey University, Ravensdown, Meridian Energy, AGMARDT, Silver Fern Farms, Honda, STIHL and Vodafone. Tony also won the Massey University Agri-growth Challenge, Silver Fern Farms Agri-sports Challenge and the Ravensdown Agri-Skills Challenge.
The last time Tony competed in the Contest was in 2012. . .
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