$150B farm succession challenge looms for NZ agriculture
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
New Zealand milk production has stayed stronger for longer than anticipated, matching the exceptional prior-year comparables will become more difficult beyond Christmas, says Rabobank's quarterly report.
Many New Zealand farmers are also entering the second half of the season with below-average soil moisture levels, making pasture growth susceptible to any dry spells.
Rabobank says the slow recovery in international dairy prices that started in August 2012 continues through Q4, but failed to regain strong legs.
Upward pressure on prices was created in part by the first contraction in milk supply in export regions since early 2010.
The fact that this contraction failed to generate a stronger rise in prices suggest that consumption was weaker than anticipated and key buyers have accumulated solid forward coverage.
Milk production growth in key export regions is expected to continue to fall below prior-year levels through the first half of 2013, the report says.
While current buyer inventories will provide temporary protection from supply shortages, the market will inevitably tighten further if there is even a modest improvement in demand for imports from key buying regions – which appears highly likely.
But the timing and vigour of the market peak has likely been pushed back and will be softened by a weaker economic outlook than envisaged three months ago.
The challenges of high-performance sport and farming are not as dissimilar as they may first appear.
HortNZ's CEO, Kate Scott says they are starting to see the substantial cumulative effects on their members of the two disastrous flood events in the Nelson Tasman region.
In an ever-changing world, things never stay completely the same. Tropical jungles can turn into concrete ones criss-crossed by motorways, or shining cities collapse into ghost towns.
Labour's agriculture spokesperson Jo Luxton says while New Zealand needs more housing, sacrificing our best farmland to get there is not the answer.
Profitability issues facing arable farmers are the same across the world, says New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
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