Confidence high for all farming sectors, according to Rabobank survey
Farmers across Victoria are feeling confident coming into 2021, after a year of great conditions and high livestock prices. But one sector is particularly looking forward to next season.
VICTORIAN farmers are riding high into 2021 with a wet spring washing away the concerns about the impact of coronavirus on farm business.
The latest Rabobank rural confidence survey shows farmers are expecting business conditions to improve in the coming year, off the back of excellent seasonal conditions and high livestock prices.
Confidence is up across all sectors, but particularly grains, which is anticipating a bumper crop to rival the peak volumes seen in 2017.
“Seasonal and production conditions in cropping areas are mostly good and there is lots of hay and fodder production right across Victoria; it has been a huge year for it,” Rabobank southern Victoria manager Deborah Maskell-Davies said.
“The Victorian farm sector is in very good shape, with the season and prices combining to put farmers in a really good position at the end of 2020.”
The survey, completed last month, found grain producers were the most optimistic about their prospects with 45 per cent reporting an improvement in business conditions, compared with just 24 per cent three months ago.
Meanwhile dairy farmers and livestock farmers were also enjoying un upswing in confidence, with 47 and 45 per cent respectively expecting higher farmgate incomes for 2021.
Ms Maskell-Davies attributed much of the change to the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions across the state.
However, concerns remained about trade relations, particularly with China, with 58 per cent of farmers citing overseas markets as their biggest worry.
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke was unsurprised by the results, given “we’ve actually had a spring”.
“There’s a lot about 2020 we’d all like to forget about, however, production will be one of the things we’ll remember as much as the heartache this year,” he said.
“Agriculture’s heartbeat is the seasonal conditions and even though we’re in some troubled waters with trade relationships breaking down (with China), we still have product to sell.”
Mr Jochinke said many parts of Victoria were in line for a second successful season in a row, which boded well for the coming year.
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