Tag Archives: prospects
End Of Drought Boosts Prospects For NZ Land Prices
The ending of New Zealand’s drought has handed the country’s farmland market a “strong platform” for the important spring season, real estate professionals said, amid bright hopes for the important dairy sector too. Economic data on Thursday highlighted the impact to New Zealand agriculture from one of the worst droughts on record, with the sector seen shrinking 4.8% in the April-to-June period from the previous quarter, thanks largely to the impact on dairy farms of poor pasture conditions. “Dairy production was the biggest contributor to the fall, while sheep and cattle farming also fell,” the official statistics office in New Zealand, the top milk exporting country, said. However, country’s real estate institute, Reinz, flagged a “mood of optimism prevailing in the rural sector” now that rains have returned, with “kind weather” meaning that early spring grass growth is “the best experienced by many”. ‘Buoyant market’ “The livestock market in saleyards around the country is buoyant and a healthy barometer for the rural environment,” Reinz spokesman Brian Peacocke said. “Because of those conditions, the majority of farmers are in good spirits.” With less pressure to sell farms, “the net result across New Zealand is strong demand, particularly for quality, sensibly-priced property, and a current shortage of supply”. Rising prices New Zealand farmland prices in the June-to-August period were 10.3% higher than in the same three months of 2012, according to a Reinz index adjusting for location, size and type of properties sold. The unadjusted value of land sold in the period averaged NZ$21,676 per hectare, up 21% year on year. In dairy, the raw farmland value rose to NZ$32,234 per hectare, up 32% from the NZ$24,492 per hectare a year before, with sites sold typically of about 130 hectares. However, the biggest number of sales was of smaller, and cheaper, grazing properties, averaging 53 hectares, which also saw stronger growth in unadjusted land values, of 48% to NZ$16.744 per hectare. ‘Exacerbate supply tightness’ The resilience in dairy farm prices, despite a particular downturn in the sector’s fortunes because of drought, comes amid a resilience in world milk prices, which are being supported by firm demand at a time even as output in New Zealand and Australia is recovering. “Production in New Zealand and Australia is having a good start to the new dairy season, but is unlikely to be able to fully supply the market in the immediate future,” National Australia Bank said on Friday. While output growth in Europe and the US has also recovered from poor starts to calendar 2013, when production was held back by a cold spring and elevated feed prices, “most of the production in these regions will be directed at domestic consumption rather than exports”. NAB flagged the boost to prices from a decision by New Zealand-based Fonterra, the top dairy exporting company, to cut sales of milk through commodity channels in a shift to focusing on higher value products. “This is likely to exacerbate the supply tightness situation in the short term and keep prices high,” NAB said. “However, it is not clear how quickly the market will be able to respond to these price signals.” Continue reading
China, Africa to Strengthen Agriculture Cooperation
2013-08-29 12:09:54 Xinhua Web Editor: Liu Ranran China and Africa see broad prospects for future agricultural cooperation and the two sides will work to establish a mechanism to advance cooperation in the sector, said an official white paper released Thursday. “The Chinese government attaches great importance to its mutually beneficial agricultural cooperation with Africa, and works hard to help African countries turn resource advantages into developmental ones,” says the paper on Sino-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation published by the Information Office of the State Council. In recent years, Sino-African trade in agricultural products has grown quickly. From 2009 to 2012, China’s agricultural exports to Africa grew from 1.58 billion U.S. dollars to 2.49 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 57.6 percent. During the same period, China’s agricultural imports from Africa, mainly non-food items such as cotton, hemp, silk and oilseeds, saw a 146-percent surge. The paper attributes the robust growth partly to China’s zero-tariff policy adopted in 2005 for some African products, as well as Chinese enterprises’ growing investments in Africa. From 2009 to 2012, China’s direct investment in African agriculture grew from 30 million U.S. dollars to 82.47 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 175 percent. Those investment has increased grain supplies in the countries concerned and enhanced the comprehensive agricultural productivity of those countries, the paper says, citing Mozambique as an example, where 300 hectares of experimental paddy fields supported by Chinese investment yielded 9 tonnes to 10 tonnes per hectare for three successive years. The paper says the Chinese government has tried to enhance Africa’s self-reliance capacity to develop its agriculture by setting up technology demonstration centers, and sending experts to share experience in agricultural production. Since 2006, China has helped set up 15 agricultural demonstration centers in Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, Mozambique and some other countries, and is planning to establish another seven. “In the future, China will advance agricultural cooperation with Africa in all respects while ensuring that this cooperation puts both parties on an equal footing, is mutually beneficial, and advances common development,” the paper says. It will work to establish and improve a mechanism for bilateral agricultural cooperation, and strengthen Sino-African cooperation in the sharing of agricultural technologies, resource varieties and agricultural information, the processing and trade of agricultural products, agricultural infrastructure construction, and human resource training, says the white paper. China will also work to deepen Sino-African cooperation within the frameworks of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, according to the paper. Continue reading
