Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Drought dries up spending

By Carmen Hall
Bay of Plenty Times·
5 Jun, 2013 07:45 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Bay of Plenty dairy farmers have closed their wallets after losing an estimated $74 million as a result of last summer's drought.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason said the impact of the lost revenue was being felt across the region's economy, especially by businesses that rely on the agricultural sector.

"The small and large firms who supply the industry are often forgotten and the drought will have impacted on their livelihoods and survival. Also, our growing national business confidence falters because every time yet another big event affects our economy, there is less positivity."

Te Puke company Bradstreet Contractor's income was down $450,000 this year and its workload had halved because of the drought. Owner Peter Bradstreet said this had a big impact on the business but he had learned "to go with the flow".

Another business owner, Kerry Masters of The Equipment Centre, said farmers were not buying or maintaining machinery unless it was absolutely needed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm only called in when they can't wait any longer, most of the work is towed in on a truck and I've just billed out $16,000 for a new gear box on a tractor."

His revenue had dropped $50,000 this winter, he said.

Figures from Dairy NZ show an 11 per cent drop in Bay milk production compared to the previous season which equates to an average loss of $95,000 to $135,000 per farm. Farmers were also having to borrow more money.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nationally, they racked up $2.5 billion of debt with banks from January to April this year. The Ministry for Primary Industries' pastoral farm monitoring report says rural debt was $50 billion in December 2012 with dairy farmers owing $33 billion. BNZ economist Doug Steel said cash flows in the diary industry had been restricted.

"But [Fonterra's $7/kg of milk solids forecast] from Fonterra is certainly a big plus looking further afield into 12 to 18 months so in some sense it will relieve some concerns."

Te Puke Economic development group managing director Mark Boyle said trades and services work had slowed but the district's economy was already sluggish due to Psa.

Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers provincial president Rick Powdrell said many farmers were running their overdrafts at higher levels to cover costs.

Feed costs had increased by 20 per cent to $25,000 to $45,000 per farm.

Dairy NZ regional team manager Craig McBeth said the sector was used to peaks and troughs.

"It's pretty tough in a season not to make any money or lose money, but next season the payout is looking stronger."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

10 Jul 06:24 PM
live
Bay of Plenty Times

Fresh flood threat as thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for another deluge

10 Jul 06:22 PM
Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 07:24 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

10 Jul 06:24 PM

'It’s not the treatment that’s the problem,' a urologist says.

Fresh flood threat as thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for another deluge
live

Fresh flood threat as thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for another deluge

10 Jul 06:22 PM
Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 07:24 AM
'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP