Farmers positive after hot summer
Wallets are open and tills ringing as the spending drought is expected to end at this year’s Central Districts Field Days, farmers say.
Buoyed by a higher dairy payout, along with good prices in the drystock and horticulture sectors, and warm weather, the agricultural expo attracted a healthy crowd through the gate for day one yesterday.
Some imposing sites dominated the racetrack at Manfeild, Feilding, as thousands of curious farmers worked their away around the makeshift canvas city.
Rangitı¯kei sheep and beef farmer Bill Wells said the outlook was getting better for central North Island farmers, with the hot summer behind them.
Although temperatures had spiked, it had rained intermediately.
‘‘So the grass never died off like in a drought, but feed has been hard to come by at times. We’re doing pretty well now.’’
Horowhenua dairy farmer Anthony Whale had recovered from the dairy disaster of 2015 and was ‘‘having a nosy’’ around some new spraying equipment for his 200-hectare operation.
He came to the event with three other farmers, who were in relatively high spirits, despite the majority still suffering from the hangover of poor returns.
Although they are still consolidating and paying off debt, they are ‘‘cautiously optimistic’’ as payouts rise to $6.30 a kilogram of milksolids, up from less than $4 two years ago.
The group was wary six months into the Labour and NZ First coalition Government, but it was too early to predict exactly how it would play out for the agricultural industry. ‘‘It’s all very fickle at the moment,’’ Whale said. ‘‘It’s a Government with bold ambitions, but whether they can deliver what they promise is another thing.’’
The first thing the Government needed to do something about was a worker shortage, Whale said.
There were many hard-working New Zealanders on dairy farms, but they were tempted away by better-paying jobs, he said.
Hawke’s Bay orchardists have also experienced problems finding pickers, resulting in the declaration of a regional labour shortage last week.
C-dax managing director Greig Shearer said it was a far more positive field days than last year for the sprayer manufacturing company.
Low payouts for milk and wool forced farmers to halt spending on a lot of new equipment last year, with C-dax feeling the pressure too.
When farmers suffered, so too did suppliers and manufacturers, Shearer said.
Business had picked up by 14 per cent over the past 12 months, however.