OZ farmers left behind

Bennett said at the National Fieldays that dairy farmers in Australia had not captured farmgate returns to the same extent as in New Zealand in the last year and, as a result, confidence was lower.

"After improved seasonal conditions and a return of irrigation supplies, Australian dairy farmers are still pondering what it might take to capture the much-talked-about food demand explosion - particularly in Asia," he said.

Confidence is down following recent price outlook for the 2013 season, which could see returns in export production fall by around 10% to 15% in 2013.

"While dairy farmers in southern states have been able to produce surpluses over the past two years that allowed debt reduction and consolidation, it has not been enough to stimulate investment and demand for expansion," Bennett said.

Bennett added that land prices in all dairy regions in Australia appeared to have softened somewhere between 5% and 20% and that it would take an improvement in farmgate prices (which could still be driven by a lower AUD), and continuing good seasons, to help turn things around.

Agriculture is extremely important to the economies of both countries, and is one of ANZ's priority global sectors.

Bennett said his visit to the fieldays was a great opportunity to connect with ANZ New Zealand colleagues.

"ANZ is the biggest banker to agribusiness in Australasia, and we want to continue to leverage our skills and knowledge in agriculture and link up our business on both sides of the Tasman.

"This will help us to better support our clients doing cross-border trade both here and throughout Asia-Pacific."