Tuesday, 10 September 2019 09:55

All talk, no profit for state farmer

Written by  Pam Tipa
Pāmu chief executive Steve Carden. Pāmu chief executive Steve Carden.

State farmer Landcorp (Pāmu) returned a net loss of $11 million in the year to June 30, 2019.

Earnings before tax were $34m versus $48m in the previous year.

The company has declared a special dividend of $5m, based on the one-off gain made on the sale of its shares in Westland Milk Cooperative.

Pāmu chief executive Steve Carden attributes the poor result to write-downs and drought affecting milk production and some costs of changing farm systems and diversification.

“The write-downs were quite considerable,” Carden told Rural News

The land write-down is related to a Landcorp review across the country. On the North Island East Coast land prices are up and in the South Island dairy land prices are down.

“That has led to a $47m decrease in the overall value of our land portfolioacross the country. The land valuation is a bit inconsistent with what we have seen in the past. Obviously land values fluctuate, but they do tend in farming to continue to trend upward. 

“We are seeing more of the pressure come on now with a lack of potential buyers in the market and some challenges in environmental  policies tightening up. They are starting to have a bit of an impact on land prices in some parts of the country.”

He claims the livestock write-down was not overly significant because it was to do with timing at the beginning of the year compared to the end of the year plus how many livestock are sold or retained. 

Carden says about 45% of Pāmu milk comes out of the central North Island.

“We have that big development in the Wairakei area, near Lake Taupo, and they ended up having a really dry summer and early autumn.

“They had the lowest rainfall in more than 10 years and that had an impact on production in the dairy portfolio with the concentration in that area. We had to introduce more supplementary feed than we had hoped, to offset the lack of pasture growth, so that resulted in a milk slowdown.”

Pāmu is changing its systems across the board: looking at more organic milk, A2, increasing the forestry portfolio, more intensive high tech beef systems and some non animal uses of land such as avocados in Northland.

Carden admits some of the changes in systems and investments hit the bottom line this year. 

It takes a while to make those changes and it costs a fair bit, he says.

More like this

Pāmu farm opens gate to urban visitors

For many urban New Zealanders, stepping into Pāmu’s Pinta dairy farm near Taupo last month was the first time they had had the chance to experience farm life up close.

The future of beef breeding

Progeny testing at Pāmu’s Kepler farm in Southland as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme is showing that the benefits of hybrid vigour could have a massive impact on the future of beef breeding.

State farmer cultivates talent with apprenticeship scheme

To mark International Day of Education on January 24, 2025, state farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) announced the commencement of its Apprenticeship Scheme, designed to equip the next generation of farmers with the skills, knowledge, and experience needed for a thriving career in agriculture.

Barks like a dog

OPINION: Landcorp is putting a brave face on its latest result, highlighting its progress on KPIs like climate change and gender pay gaps.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

New Holland combines crack 50 years

New Holland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction its Twin Rotor threshing and separation technology, which has evolved…

Iconic TPW Woolpress turns 50!

The company behind the iconic TPW Woolpress, which fundamentally changed the way wool is baled in Australia and New Zealand,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Double standards

OPINION: Imagine if the Hound had called the Minister of Finance the 'c-word' and accused her of "girl math".

Debt monster

OPINION: It's good news that Finance Minister Nicola Willis has slashed $1.1 billion from new spending, citing "a seismic global…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter