LONG DRY SPELL BADLY ERODING RURAL CONFIDENCE
FARMERS are the least confident they have been in four years after a lack of rain over winter slashed production forecasts, a poll shows.
Sentiment is weak across all states and all sectors, including beef, sheep and grain, according to agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank.
Rabobank says the drop in mood in its latest quarterly survey is unsurprising given it follows high levels of confidence during the past year, and many farmers are entering spring with limited soil moisture reserves.
Australia has just endured its second-driest June on record, leading to downgraded winter crop prospects and cattle and sheep farmers putting animals on the market earlier than expected.
According to Rabobank, 51 per cent of farmers expect the next 12 months to bring similar conditions to the previous year.
The percentage of farmers expecting the agricultural sector to worsen over the next year increased to 27 per cent from 10 per cent in the previous survey.
“With the season front of mind for many, 50 per cent of farmers nominated dry conditions as a major reason conditions were likely to deteriorate over the next 12 months – nearly double the 28 per cent with that view last quarter,” Rabobank said in a statement yesterday.
Concerns over dry conditions were especially heightened in the cropping sector, where the national wheat crop is forecast to reach 22 million tonnes, down from last season’s record 35 million tonnes.
Rabobank’s Country Banking Australia national manager Todd Charteris said early August rainfall had brought relief to some areas.
But conditions were still very dry in Western Australia’s central and northern cropping regions and across much of Australia’s eastern seaboard. Victoria and northern Tasmania have benefited from good rainfalls over the past few weeks.