Sharemilkers still feeling pressure from lenders

A fifth of sharemilkers who responded to a Federated Farmers survey say they were coming under pressure from their bank on their mortgage, with 13% not happy with their lender.

Sharemilkers own their own herds and lease land for milking from farmers, focusing their investment on livestock and equipment.

Overall, the latest Federated Farmers' Banking Survey found the number of farmers feeling under “undue pressure” over their mortgages fell from 12.1% to 10.7%, while concern over overdrafts dropped from 9.2% to 8.5%.

This follows the sharp rebound in prices since July in the GlobalDairyTrade auction. Prices for whole milk powder, New Zealand's main commodity export, have risen by about two-thirds since the winter.

Fonterra has raised its forecast payout for the season to $6.40/kgMS, including dividends.

That compares to the $4.30/kgMS paid out in the 2015/2016 season which included a farmgate milk price of $3.90/kgMS and a 40c dividend.

Some 81% of farmers who responded to the survey say they are very satisfied or satisfied with their lender, up one point on the previous survey in August.

However, Federated Farmers President William Rolleston warned the dairy industry is not out of the woods yet.

"Make no mistake, the dairy industry is still going through an adjustment of sorts and it remains the most vulnerable of all farming sectors. It's no surprise the Reserve Bank continues to highlight dairy as one of the main risks for financial stability."

Concern over farmers’ finances seems to be turning to arable, as well as the sheep and beef sector, which is dealing with drought and volatile currency movements.

"Drought, tough market conditions, and Brexit have added more uncertainty to the sheep industry and farmgate lamb prices have been affected by a persistently strong NZ dollar, especially against the British pound and the euro," Mr Rolleston says.

Earlier this month, agri-lender Rabobank said confidence in the beef and lamb sector had slumped. The bank’s general manager for country banking Hayley Moynihan blamed a range of conditions.

"Lamb prices have reached the seasonal peak, with the lucrative EU and Christmas trade now finished and returns have been about 10 % lower than last year," she says. "While on the beef side, global prices are under pressure and the beef schedule is likely to worsen in 2017."

Half of the beef and sheep farmers told Rabobank they expected their business to worsen in the coming months.

In contrast, dairy farmers recorded their highest reading for business optimism since 2013, when the dairy boom was close to its height.

(BusinessDesk)