Falling dollar pleases Mid-Canty farmers

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 2

Falling dollar pleases Mid-Canty farmers

The slump in the New Zealand dollar has been welcomed by Mid-Canter-bury farmers, but the word is that it must stay that way for any real benefit to be felt. The chairman of MidCanterbury Federated Farmers’ dairy section, Mr lan Totty, said yesterday that fanners should not get too carried away with the state of the New Zealand dollar, and that it would have to remain at its present low to make an impression.

“The dollar has to stay at this level with a lot of product sold before you get benefits for dairy farmers,” he said. “Unless a lot of product is sold during this period the influence on dairy farmers is virtually nil.” Mr Totty also expected the daily industry conference in November to bring good news. He said that the basic milk fat price should go up, given the present exchange rate. The outlook for sheep-

farmers, too, has brightened a little. The chairman of Mid-Canterbury Federated Farmers’ meat and wool section, Mr Kevin Geddes, was pleased with the low dollar. Mr Geddes said sheepfarmers welcomed the fall, as all exporters would, but that farmers were looking in particular for the continued effect of the depreciation. “Clearly this has been something the farmers have been looking for for some time,” he said. “But we are looking for the continuation of the flowon effect of the high value imports into New Zealand.” The New Zealand dollar hit the lowest it has been since June, 1985, on Wednesday, at U545.66C. It had risen slightly, to U547.30c yesterday.