Fieldays 2015: Farmers rise above price shock to go shopping

Jon Calder says feedback from Fieldays exhibitors has been largely positive despite the low milk prices. Photo / Christine Cornege

Farmers have overcome the shell shock of very low milk prices to turn out in force at Fieldays - New Zealand's biggest agricultural event.

First-day attendance on Wednesday was 28,921, up from about 21,000 last year, while on Thursday, 28,835 people came through the turnstiles, up from about 23,000. The event runs until today and the first two days of last year's Fieldays were affected by bad weather.

Jon Calder, chief executive of the event's organiser - New Zealand Fieldays Society - said he expected yesterday's numbers to be 35,000 to 40,000, and for all four days to total about 115,000 to 120,000.

At that level, attendance would be about the same as last year, which was when farmers were enjoying the record high farmgate milk price of $8.40 a kg of milksolids.

Calder said the feedback from exhibitors had been largely positive, although the low farmgate price from Fonterra of $4.40 for the season just past, and the forecast of $5.25 for the current year, was clearly having an impact on confidence.

"I don't think the interest is anywhere like we saw last year, but there is still some very good engagement and farmers are here spending money," he said.

Farmers were more likely to see the current low milk price as a dip rather than a downward spiral, Calder said. "Our view has always been that farmers are running large-scale businesses. Rather than navigating from one crisis to the next, they are taking a long-term view.

"Large capital items are further down the priority list, but there are still items that they can buy that are relatively affordable that are going to enhance production, improve efficiency and help lower costs."

A Federated Farmers spokesman said farmers were "a bit shell-shocked" by low farmgate prices.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand chief executive Scott Champion said the effect of the lower dairy prices would be felt in the broader farming sector.

He said dairy was a barometer for the broader agriculture sector, so the fall in Fonterra's farmgate milk price would make its presence felt.

"The reality is that the sectors are highly integrated now," he said. "Many sheep and beef farmers will be grazing dairy stock, so if there is a downturn then that will impact materially on some of those sheep and beef farms," Champion said.

"If one of the sectors faces a tough time, then it does spill over into the general view about agriculture."

Beef prices have been buoyant now that product from drought-affected parts of Australia has worked its way through the market.

In sheepmeat, demand was sluggish from the key markets of China and Europe.

Champion said the decline in the sheep population belied a strong production performance from the sector.

New Zealand's sheep population has fallen by 46 per cent since 1990/91 but production has dropped by just 6 per cent over the same period.

"Often we hear that statistic about an effective halving in sheep numbers but we don't hear that our volumes have remained relatively constant," Champion said.

Productivity had improved through more lambs per ewe being born, faster growth rates and higher weights.