Farmers urged to rethink future policy

Press, 3 February 1986, Page 36

Farmers urged to rethink future policy

PA Wellington Farming is at the crossroads and the system which first started in the 1930 s has now changed dramatically, according to the senior adviser of the Ministry of Agriculture in Masterton, Mr Kerry Donaldson. “What has taken 50 years to establish has now been wiped and what farmers have to do is cope with the change to survive,” he said. “At this most critical stage of agriculture, it is vital that farmers go into 1986 fully understanding their budgets and financial management, and knowing how it is going to work out. They have to manipulate their cash flows to reduce their overdraft to the minimum debt servicing.” Mr Donaldson said the Ministry had drawn up programmes to help farmers with their planning and financial management to get the best return from their farms.

They were encouraged to work with their bankers and accountants to make sound farm management decisions which would result in cash

returns. Mr Donaldson said that many farmers rarely saw their bank managers or accountants, except when they got their tax returns, and should be seeking critical financial advice.

He recommended a regular visit to the bank manager to talk about the farming programme and the cost of overdraft levels and discussions with the farm accountant on a regular review of the year’s budget. “If the cash flow programme is kept up to date, the farmer can make decisions such as when he should best apply his fertiliser,” Mr Donaldson said. “This system will make sure that the dollars earned on the farm will not be lost by lack of fine tuning of the financial side.” Mr Donaldson said farmers now had to be so much better at so many things than in the past. Farmers must adapt to breeding the type of sheep that best suit their area, as well as being marketoriented, he said. Farmers’ wool production must meet

the exact needs of the overseas market and the fanners must know the length and type of wool the market required so that they could plan shearing at the right time to get the best quality. Mr Donaldson said the same applied to crops for export market. Farmers must study which varieties were most suitable for their own district. The M.A.F. and the D.S.I.R. had looked at selections of crops which suited each area.

The old standards, such as the baking score for wheat, were no longer relevant, as half the flour produced was used for biscuit manufacture, he said.

Farmers had to reassess ground rules on agriculture which had been in existence for the last 50 years.

They were going to need a broader range of accurate, up-to-date information and would have to work very closely with agricultural advisers and study research reports in farm journals ana papers, said Mr Donaldson.