Fieldays in shape for a record-breaking event
A bubbly year ahead for farming should provide a boost in foot traffic and get tills ringing at New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays.
Fonterra and other dairy companies have lifted their milk price forecast while red meat and horticulture returns were expected to be above average for the new season.
Waikato University professor of economics Frank Scrimgeour expected to see more foot traffic from younger farmers such as sharemilkers and contract milkers at Fieldays after many of them stayed away from last year’s event to avoid spending.
He said there was justified confidence in the sector, given how prices were tracking. ’’My gut feeling is that if the weather’s good there will be a record amount of foot traffic, so there’s reason for optimism there.’’
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said there was a healthy outlook for all of the farming sectors. Dairy was the latest to turn around with its revised forecast of $6.15 a kilogram of milk solids for the 2016-17 and opening forecast of $6.50/kg for the new season. Farmers could expect healthy cashflows for this season as a result. It all pointed to a big change in confidence from last year, when Fonterra’s opening forecast was $4.25/kg for the 2016-17 season, he said. However, there would still be some caution among farmers because of the amount of debt many had incurred over the past few years, he said.
As a result, many farmers will focus on getting their financial situation under control first. Already, deposit growth had lifted and lending growth had slowed, which showed farmers were paying off debt, he said.
‘‘Getting their financial house in order will be a key priority for a number of dairy farmers, but there will still be greater confidence and that’s likely to translate into a stronger Fieldays than last year.’’
Waikato Federated Farmers president Andrew Mcgiven said the dairy industry’s lift in fortunes was great for Fieldays and the economy.