‘Invest in improvements’

Photo: Charlotte Curd/Fairfax NZ Farmers wanting to invest in their farms should focus on areas that have the biggest potential for improvement, according to an agribusiness adviser.

The bigger the difference between current and potential production, the bigger the potential return on investment, Sully Alsop, of Masterton, told about 200 farmers at Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Big Day Out at Aotuhia Station in inland Taranaki last week.

Alsop said that if subdivision was lacking, fencing should be the priority, because it gave farmers the ability to manipulate feed.

Fencing allowed better allocation of feed, improved pasture utilisation and quality, and led to better lamb survival and higher weaning weights, he said. ‘‘But the least profitable thing to do is put in fences and open the gates.’’

Areas with superior soil type, aspect and topography but with a phosphate level of less than 12 and/or a pH level of less than 5.4 should be the next priority, he said, with the application of superphosphate and/or lime.

Once the fencing and fertiliser were right, farmers should focus on bringing more land into production. ‘‘The best returns come from areas that are currently producing at the lowest level.’’

While renovating steep hill country could provide positive returns, it also represented high risk, Alsop said. ‘‘It’s not called ‘spray and pray’ for nothing.’’

Historically, returns of 0-3 per cent came from expanding a hill country business, he said.

Alsop also told the audience that succession was looming as a big issue for hill country farmers.

‘‘Fewer farmers’ children are going into farming, but young people not off farms are taking up farming as a career.

‘‘Getting young people into farming and hill country development are intrinsically linked.’’

Getting into farming without inheriting a farm required hard work, and less-developed farms were more attainable, he said.