Tourists are bringing more money than grazing cattle

NEW ZEALAND farmer Ian Diprose used to count on the dairy industry for most of his income. Today, he relies on tourism.

As plunging milk prices push dairy farms into the red and hurt rural businesses, Diprose and wife Joy are making more money accommodating tourists than other farmers’ cows.

That’s because their grazing property in Waikato, New Zealand’s dairying heartland, is about 16km from Hobbiton, a lifesized imitation of Bilbo Baggins’ Shire created for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.

“A lot of the people who come through here are Hobbitoncrazy,” said Diprose, 73, whose De Preaux Lodge in Matamata offers bed, breakfast, a home-cooked meal and an authentic New Zealand farm experience for NZ$175 (R1 862) a night. “In our little town, we have something like 30 cafes or places to eat, because of the tourists coming through.”

The Diproses started offering accommodation five years ago as a hobby to augment income from agisting cattle. Today, it’s their main business.

Four out of five dairy farmers in New Zealand, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, will operate at a loss this season, as the global slump in milk prices enters its third year, according to the central bank. That’s curbing farmers’ spending and damping economic growth, even as a tourism boom helps to soften the blow. – Bloomberg