An “onslaught of government regulation” has seen farmer morale plummet and some opting to sell properties rather than operate under escalating legislation, a Beef + Lamb NZ report says.
The BLNZ Lamb Crop 2022 report says some farmers believe the government has created significant uncertainty, leading to concerns about the viability of the sector and rural communities.
“Sheep and beef farmers feel besieged and underappreciated for their contribution to food production, significant tranches of native vegetation, ongoing efforts to improve the environment and contribution to the New Zealand economy and society,” the report says.
In the Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty region a “remarkable number of sheep and beef” farms came onto the market in spring, particularly in the King Country.
Some farmers had decided it was easier to stop farming than to operate under escalating legislation, the report says.
“Farmers of all stages are considering exiting the industry” and there is a strong likelihood the farms could sell to blanket pine plantations.
In Otago and Southland, the number of farms sold to forestry interests is increasing, which has resulted in a decrease in sheep and beef stock units as land becomes unavailable for grazing.
“The incessant stream of regulatory change and new compliance costs continues to erode sheep and beef farmers’ confidence. A downturn in profitability will spur more farmers to consider selling to forestry interests,” the report says.
Federated Farmers Waikato president Jacqui Hahn is well aware of the increase in farms for sale in her region. It is not just beef and lamb properties, but also dairy operations.
“That is what we are seeing. Pretty much every second farm is on the market at the moment,” she said.
Hahn said it is not only government regulations that have led to a flood of properties for sale. The age of some farmers, and a lack of farm succession planning, means many are looking at options to get out of the industry.
With carbon prices so good, some are seeing a sale to forestry interests as a viable alternative, she said.
The farmer concerns come as BLNZ’s Lamb Crop 2022 report shows a 2.6% (or 588,000 head), drop in tailed lamb numbers in spring this year to 22 million head.
It is the eighth consecutive season the lamb crop has declined. The 2022 lamb numbers are 15% lower than in spring 2014, when the crop was 25.8 million.
In the North Island, this year’s decrease was 3.3% (361,000), compared to 2% (227,000) in the South Island. Drought conditions in some parts of the country were thought to be responsible for the decline, although a wet winter and spring, which included snow in October, had also affected ewe condition and lamb survivability. Southland’s lamb numbers were estimated to be down 4.7% (349,000), on the back of a drought in the region.
The number of export lambs processed in 2022-23 is estimated to decrease 1.6% to 17.5 million head.
Breeding ewe numbers at July 1, 2022 were down 1.4% on the previous year, to 16.1 million. The average ewe lambing rate for spring 2022 was 130.3%, a drop of 1.6% on 2021.
