Crafar sale and store prices

I see the Crafar deal has finally gone through and while there is some grandstanding from a one high profile group I really don’t think they have a leg to stand on if their offer wasn’t going to match or at least be close to what the successful bidder offered. My view on overseas ownership is, if you are selling you want to maximize what you get for all your hard years of toil and you only get one chance to sell your property. Overseas buyers introduce competition in the market. Also the land isn’t going to go anywhere as overseas buyers can’t take the land away with them! Having said that, we should have reciprocal rights to buy land in their country as well.

Doug tells me store prices across all classes of sheep are down $ 10 – $15 head which is totally in line with a drop in the schedule due to what is happening in Europe as well as our very sticky dollar. The drop in store cattle price hasn’t fallen as far as the schedule probably due to the abundance of feed around the region. Conditions are warm and moist which not only will cause some animal health issues but fruit ripening and quality problems for our horticulturists as well.

Have a great week

Paul Evans Manager – Rural & Lifetsyle

Filed under: Hawkes Bay