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While the 2012/13 season will be tough for farmers, Federated Farmers believes it is not as dire as some commentators say.
"Will some farm businesses fail as a result of lower payouts and a high dollar? Sadly, that answer is probably yes," says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers president.
"I can understand why the outlook for some is negative given a slew of farm confidence results and projected falls in income. Federated Farmers was painfully honest even before the start of this season that it would be a tough one.
"Before the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) forecasts, farm sales recorded by the Real Estate Institute had slid back to levels last seen in September 2010.
"Yet there are blue clouds appearing among the grey. Five of the last six GlobalDairyTrade auctions have been up and in the latest auction, wholemilk powder jumped 9.2%.
"This comes off an excellent production start to the new season. I have read that milk volumes are up 13% on last year and last season was one out of the box. I can say from my farm we currently have excellent growing conditions for beef and lamb too.
"That said cold weather and rain has impacted grass growth in some areas and is a concern going forward.
"After a terrible start to the new season, we are seeing wool prices slowly climb with an encouragingly high clearance rate too.
"Beef prices are holding up despite the drought in the United States. While lamb has reversed recent gains to be in the $90 range, initiatives like what McDonald's New Zealand is doing with lamb may open up new export opportunities.
"Look, this is a tough season and make no bones about it. Yet tough does not mean dire because we produce food and fibre the world needs.
"What would really help us is less pressure on the dollar. There is no quick fix but winding back government spending and paying down debt would help relieve the pressure. Combine that with a focus on the quality of regulation instead of the quantity and things will look up.
"I guess we need to look past the short term because the medium term remains bright," Wills says.
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair, Toby Williams says what the Government has effectively signed up for is a decade more of planting pine trees on productive land because that’s the only way for our country to achieve such a steep reduction.
With a record $10-plus/kgMS milk price almost locked in for this season, next season isn’t looking too shabby either.
The Director General of MPI, Ray Smith, says the growth in the kiwifruit sector is a massive bounce back.
Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick says farmers are prepared for winter grazing every year.
A steep learning curve, a very busy year and thank heavens for tractor therapy. That's how Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard described his first year in Parliament to reporter Peter Burke at his dairy farm in the Manawatu during the holiday break.
Farmlands says that improved half-year results show that the co-op’s tight focus on supporting New Zealand’s farmers and growers is working.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that discovery of a male Oriental fruit fly on Auckland’s North Shore is a cause for concern for growers.
Fonterra says its earnings for the 2025 financial year are anticipated to be in the upper half of its previously forecast earnings range of 40-60 cents per share.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is having another crack at increasing the fees of its chair and board members.
Livestock management tech company Nedap has launched Nedap New Zealand.
An innovative dairy effluent management system is being designed to help farmers improve on-farm effluent practices and reduce environmental impact.
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