Free workshops to bolster farmer financial skills
Free workshops are being offered around the country to help farmers take more ownership of their farm business finances.
The change of government is rattling farmer confidence, according to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey.
The survey last month found the number of farmers expecting the rural economy to improve in the next 12 months has fallen to 29% (down from 46% last quarter), 49% were expecting similar conditions (up from 42%) and the number expecting the rural economy to worsen rose to 16% (up from 8%).
Dairy farmers’ confidence fell to +18% -- from +50%.
Rabobank New Zealand general manager for Country Banking, Hayley Moynihan, says the survey found farmers in all sectors more pessimistic about the expectations for the rural economy than in the previous quarter, largely because of worries about the recent change in government.
“Of the farmers who thought the rural economy will worsen over the next 12 months, government policies were cited by 80% as a key reason,” says Moynihan. “With a change of government comes uncertainty about the impact of policies on NZ’s agricultural sector.
“During the election campaign, each of the three parties that now make up the government indicated they wanted to make changes to how NZ’s rural economy was operating.
“These results indicate that farmers have some concerns about what these potential interventions could mean for the performance of the rural economy.”
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
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