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Feds president Katie Milne.
News that farmers are feeling the pressure from banks is unsurprising.
Read: Banks put screws on farmers.
Dairy News reported Feds president Katie Milne saying at National Fieldays this year that the mood was sombre.
Andrew Hoggard recalls that when he visited various Fieldays bank sites it was apparent that a couple of the banks didn’t have much interest in being there. Others had downsized their sites and were not touting hard for new business.
ANZ’s head of agri, Mark Hiddleston, said at that time that the Reserve Bank’s increased capital proposal would either restrict the availability of capital or raise the cost of capital.
Today his view is backed David Tripe, professor of banking at Massey University.
Tripe says the new rules mean that generally the banks are going to be pressured to hold a higher percentage of capital reserves. To do this they will have to either increase their returns on lending substantially or cut back on the amount of lending.
“The lending they will cut back on is the lending that is less profitable, which for most of them is agriculture.
“What has tended to happen in the past is that people have been very enthusiastic about farming without regard to the concerns of doing it. The new Reserve Bank rules will give the banks a new focus on the returns from any new lending.”
Tripe says less money will inevitably be available for the agri sector. Lending to the farming sector is no longer as easy as it was. The effect of this may be lower land prices.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
A day after the ouster of PGG Wrightson’s chair and his deputy, the listed rural trader’s board has appointed John Nichol as the new independent chair.
Tributes are pouring in from across the political divide for former Prime Minister Jim Bolger who passed away, aged 90.
The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.
Agri advisor Perrin Ag says its graduate recruitment programme continues to bring new talent into the agricultural sector.
