Farmers' dairy payout drop prompts rise in baches listed for rent

Cash strapped dairy farmers are listing their baches online to make a quick buck.
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Others are offering empty farm buildings for holidays through online listing services.
Online bach booking service Bachcare founder Leslie Preston said she had noticed a rush from farmers keen to list the family bach and empty farm buildings in the weeks since Fonterra cut its milk price forecast from $5.25 per kilogram of milk solids to $3.85.
DairyNZ puts the break-even milk price for Waikato farmers at $5.70, which means most farmers will be operating in the red this season.
«Dairy farmers are looking at renting out their holiday homes,» Preston said.
«In the last month we have really noticed a huge increase. There has easily been a 400 per cent increase in the last month compared to last August.»
In August, 12 farmers listed their baches and empty farm cottages with Bachcare, compared to only three the previous August when the payout forecast was good.
Bachcare.co.nz manages more than 400 properties on the Coromandel Peninsula, 150 in the Bay of Plenty, 170 in Taupo and 15 in Raglan.
«The interest is coming from dairy farmers. They can easily earn between $10,000 and $20,000 if they rented it out over the course of the year.»
Bachcare new owner advisor Nicole Franklin said many farmers ringing in to list their bach for the first time were doing it purely for the extra money in tough times.
«With a house sitting empty for most of the year and the flow on effect of the dairy downturn it makes sense to supplement their income by renting out their holiday house,» she said.
Putaruru contract milkers Neil and Virginia Eden listed their Whitianga bach with Bachcare in May and are expecting to do well during the summer season.
Although the payout doesn’t effect them, because they are on a fixed rate for their milk, Virginia said the bach would earn them money when they weren’t using it.
«We are getting about $310 a night in the summer and we will use it as a family when it’s not booked.»
Preston said most rentals happened between Labour Weekend and Easter and farmers and their families were booking the times they wanted to use their baches as they were listed.
Pastoral Realty of Te Awamutu managing director and principal Brian Peacocke said: «I understand that some farmers will be looking at disposing of surplus assets.»
Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Lewis was surprised to hear Bachcare had been so busy in August with farmers listing since they usually didn’t have time to take stock from calving until late September or October. He expected things to get busier for Bachcare.
«I guess if you have an asset sitting ideal for 11 months of the year it seems sensible to advertise to get someone in it,» Lewis said.
The trend was good, he said, since it gave people who wanted to stay in baches more choice.
He reckoned baches cost around $6000 per year to keep and maintain.
Hauraki Coromandel Federated Farmers president Kevin Robinson said: «We know it’s pretty tight out there. It’s farmers looking at other opportunities of getting some income coming in so that they can survive the low payout. That’s quite understandable.»
BookaBach, Bachcare’s major competitor, did not respond to Fairfax Media’s request for an interview.

 

Source: Stuff

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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