Farming outstrips most industries in dealing with Covid

A stopover at Molesworth Station on the way to Wanaka during the self-drive guided tour of South Island hill country provided stunning scenery. Photo / Supplied

Farming has a substantial edge over most industries in this Covid-19 world we inhabit.

This was hammered home to independent Whanganui commentator, farmer, livestock agent and Horizons regional councillor David Cotton during a self-drive 4x4 guided tour of the South Island hill country.

"We don't know how lucky we are. I have just returned from a guided tour of
the South Island's hill country, starting in Blenheim, via Molesworth Station, to Wanaka," Cotton said.

David Cotton

"Seven vehicles and 19 people, all with an interest in farming, were on the tour. The farming world is small, I even knew nine of the 19, including three farmers from Whanganui/Waverley. All great company.

"The scenery was spectacular driving over mountain passes at over 2000m. The scale of the farming stations was amazing - 30,000-100,000 acres. I enjoyed meeting the owners and the managers, hearing the issues they face today, and what they faced in the past.

"One station owner used to pay $60,000 per annum in rabbit control until the calicivirus was released. At the end of the tour we had a few days in Queenstown and wow, how Covid-19 has affected their businesses.

"We took a flight into Milford Sound. The company had recently updated four new aircraft at a cost of more than $2 million each. Two of these planes are currently mothballed in a hangar. That's over $4million worth of capital giving absolutely no return.

"The helicopter pilot I spoke to was down to a three-day week, flying minimum hours in those three days.

"The tour group that took us in to Skippers Canyon normally had 21 drivers - they are now down to seven, with each driver guaranteed only 10 hours work a week.

"The number of small businesses/shops we saw with the 'For Sale' sign up was sobering. The motel in Wanaka where we stayed Tuesday night did not have another booking until Friday. The restaurants looked 90 per cent empty.

"Then compare the tourism industry to the great news in our dairy industry – global dairy trade auctions up a whopping 15 per cent from an already strong base, now trading at more than $4000/tonne. The dairy pay-out prediction lifted 40 cents last week to $7.30/$7.90/kg."

The sheep and beef markets, Cotton said, were also generally trading okay.

"The highlight of the sheep market has to be the killing price of mutton at $5/kg, with many killing sheep coming in at a higher value than their progeny," Cotton said.

"The killing price for lamb has been stable at $6.40/kg/$6.60/kg, except for those lucky enough to have a contract at $7/kg. Clients tell me the sales for ewe and lamb wool are trading under $1.10/kg. It's hard to say anything positive about the wool industry."

Meanwhile, the main issue in the cattle market is the waiting time to have cattle killed - up to four weeks.

"It makes it hard to support the store cattle market when you still have the prime cattle sitting in your paddock with the schedule going down.

"Stortford Lodge did have a good weaner fair last week, with prices up 15 cents on expectations. But that was on the back of a poor sale last year due to the drought. I'm not sure the market will hold up as well later in the month when more weaners hit the sale yards.

"We generally have a positive industry which provides hope and confidence to our farming businesses. I feel for other parts of New Zealand that are not faring so well. I hope farmers understand how lucky we are," Cotton said.