Kerry Knight doesn't know what he is talking about. NZ companies cannot to to China and buy and do what they want. Foreign companies in China are always forced to have a Chinese joint venture partners (who normally turn around and rip-off the foreign company). My guess is the "Fonterra" dairy farms in China are not owned by Fonterra (even the Chinese farmers don't own the land in China). So what he says is a load of rubbish. Much better for NZ farms to be owned by Landcorp than go to a foreign owner who doesn't have any experience in running dairy farms.

Why should we subsidise the foreign banks who lend too much. We should ban overseas buyers from buying the farms and let the NZ buyers decide the price.

At last a sound and sane approach to the mess the Crafar Farms are in.
We play by others rule in their country - this is our place, therefore our rules.
I back Landcorp to keep the land ownership in NZ.

Agree with JP. This should be the sole aim for all New Zealanders.

NEVER, sell off the Family Silver, even if it is a bit tarnished at present.

Another vote for Landcorp from me. I don't like to see what I consider NZ's prize assets - its agricultural land - fall into foreign hands.

"Nothing else in this country other than farming consistently earns really big money."

Probably because this country has never invested in anything else; What's known as a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

I'd like to know why NZ farmers- fonterra-farmers federation and growers through out new zealand don't put there head together and but these farms.Ok its a lot of money but lets have a look at the fundamnetals here.
1.NZ owned
2.NZ jobs
3.Profits stay within NZ after expenses are paid out to the banks etc.
4.If we sell overseas and what is suggested so far that a milk plant gets build etc how will this effect the dairy payouts as china won't be buying from us anymore.
5.Competition is good but I don't need to bring up what are the possabilities of another milk scam which would seriously harm us.
6.I beleive that not only can these farms become profitable and I'm sure that fonterra and the people with far better knowledge can see this but with allowing these resources to go overseas could have huge effect on our trading.
7.I beleive that a brokerage agreement can be made that NZ farmers and growers can benefit here and have greater security over the assests of there fore fathers and help guide NZ trading with giving them a little profit at the end as well.
8.We only need to be reminded of what has happen i the pass with apples being grown overseas as to how this effect a part of our growth and profitability.
9.250 million may be alot of money but if the numbers are done and management team put in place with strict guidelines we can foster some brillant growth for this industry with sharemilkers, horticulture,even speacility items and also employ NZers back on the farmland and with assistance from govt with employment hell you fellows cold develop some of the best young farmers .
Yes it may also mean our milk prices and associate products go up but if we produce more than we can sell its obvious to sell what we can externally at the highest price and repay NZ with a bit of loyality and reduce our interanal pricing , chances are we would still be able to sell all of it anyway overseas so that was a hope more than being realistic.
Cheers.

so if the crafarms are unable to be sold to foreigners, and they are evetually sold at a lower price to nz interest, then who would lose money?

wouldn't it just be the banks and the crafars? that doesn't seem to be a bad result.

i sure as hell don't want to subsidise the banks' overzealous and inflationary lending, and the crafars need to face the consequences of their actions

..
... Why does the state own Landcorp ? Do we need a government farm ? Is a government run farm better than private owners' can manage their farms ?

...Why did Landcorp tear out all of it's forests , and convert to dairy , just ahead of Jim Anderton's punishing $ 13 000 / ha " tax " on conversion from forest use .

... Alotta folk were highly critical of the Chch City Council for bailing out Dave Henderson , by buying some of his properties . In what way is this proposal by Landcorp any different to that ?

Message to the Chinese,Hands off our bread and butter if the farms can be bought by Landcorp,well and good,if they cant shut them down,or call them Maori Land which we know will never be sold.

There is bugger all profitability in farming, end of story.

Farm prices don't even come close to reflecting the lack of profitability OR the risk associated with farming, eg drought, flood, product price fluctuation etc etc.

After the debacle of the '80's subsidies Jim Boldger opened the gates for forgrein ownership, which saved alot of farmers arses. These overseas investors were good quality, they have come, experianced NZ farming, and exited less a whole lotta $. Now we just have poor quality speculative investors looking at our run down farming assets. NZ is pretty screwed as far as ag goes, the whole system is based on cheap phosphate fert which we used to get from Naru (sp) now we have to ship it in from Moroco. Its too expensive so we don't put it on, production is sliding.

I quit school at 15 to help on the farm, so sorry my spelling is crap, my math is much better, so I know when the numbers don't stack up. The rural bankers are VERY worried at the moment as the cracks are starting to show.

Landcorp are looking at crafarms as a part of an equity partnership proposal.

There are many more crafarm to meet the market yet;

Hart Farms in the central North Island
McViddy Farms as featured on this site
Horizons Farms ltd, already recived a baleout by landcorp but still looking pretty weak
Maxwell Farms Ltd, hanging in there (for now)
Any farm financed by SCF, Wrightsons, or Allied Farmers Ltd

Meat companies looking fragile - SFF

Fert imports at rock bottom

Fonterra needs to retain earnings and reduce debt, but so do its owners, if nothing else talk of a $8 payout boost moral, but we still don't belive them....

nobody gives a fat rats about dairy farmers,they moan when its wet,they moan when its dry and when they get huge payouts they moan about putting it in the bank!

Yes Landcorp should buy the Crafar farms. I don't want melamine in my milk thanks. The farms should be converted to organic to take advantage of higher premiums.

Quit selling off our assets, let NZ buy it - I don't care who it is Land Corp or someone else. Don't let it go overseas!

Landcorp will not be buying. Chinaman hide behind May Wang for good reason..no want connection with Party in Beijing to be known..phone call Beijing to Beehive.."you sign FTA..you sell bloody farms to May Wang...end of lesson" click.

Absolutely- the sale of these farms to Landcorp is the best solution and I hope it happens. Land needs to stay in NZ ownership and the laws to be changed so that foreigners are not allowed to buy farmland or residential housing. The politicians who loosened the rules to the point that NZ could be sold off lock, stock and barrel should be charged with treason.

Who is the "current owner".. Isn't the Crafar is the owner but under statutory management?

Or an even better outcome. Dairy payouts reach such high levels that they trade their way back to profitability, pay off their debts, pay bundles of tax and we all live happily ever after.

Crafars may have their shortcomings but each one is still probably worth more to the ongoing prosperity of this country than a hundred of their detractors.

Farmers always claim poverty and always have done. Yet farmers have always been the ones with the money to do stuff no-one else can. And they always get massive no-questions-asked loans. Why? Because banks know that either they are good for it or --- more likely --- that as usual the TAXPAYER is good for it. Because aside from the Crafars when was the last time you heard of a farmer going broke? Farmers are never permitted to go broke by NZ governments because NZ governments know damn well how powerful the farm lobby is. That group has been making and breaking NZ governments since day one.

don,t want to rain on too many people,s parade,s but landcorp has 1.7 billion of assets--336 million of liability,s and turned in a 6.3 million loss for the dec 09 i/2 year---can,t really see the govt firing another 200m into it without investors.
asset figures may not be correct as they where factoring capital gain into last years numbers

Maybe it's about time someone or some organisations such as Fontera or the government started getting serious about coming up with a plan for keeping farms in NZ hands.

Something crazy like maybe planning ahead.

From my reading of the Crafar farm sale process the whole operation would be profitable at todays price for fat solids. Which begs the question where has the reported $15m spent by the receivers gone? Now the Fonterra supply shares I undersstand are in the name of the Crafars personally, not the Coporate entities that are in receivership. So dont write off Allan Crafar just yet, in using those shares as security to literally "buy back the farms" and in so doing keep the properties in good old KIWI ownership.

There will be many other cow cockies watching this with baited breath because many of them are hanging onto their farms by the skin of their financial teeth.

Perhaps Fonterra could lend a hand to ensure this was to occur? As I read it all these farms currently under offer to chinese and other foreign interests wish to process their own milk so Fonterra will end up beiing obliged to purchase those supply shares and in so doing put additional pressure on its already heavilly indebted balance sheet. Seems doable to me, common Fonterra, back the locals.