Crafars and recievers come to agreement

In "the story that won't go away" the Crafar family again hit the headlines with a settlement agreed with the recievers.

 Many issues encompass this story from rampant dairy expansion, dairy debt, effluent disposal and animal welfare issues, banks lending policies and finally overseas rural land ownership.

Whilst of the view that all owners must take the ultimate responsibility in any deals with banks, the lax lending policies that were involved in this deal appeared beyond belief, and to my knowledge little responsibility has been accepted by those involved.

Other lessons farmers should heed out of this situation is big is not always better, and "working harder not smarter " will not always allow success to be achieved. Since the demise of this family enterprise, all in the dairy industry have tried to address these issues so maybe in a perverse way the Crafar's legacy will be positive after all. 

The Crafar family have reached a truce with receivers, nearly two years after the collapse of their farming empire reports The NZ Herald. And they say they remain hopeful the Government will reject the latest Chinese bid for 13 dairy farms and three drystock farms they formerly owned in the central North Island. Receivers KordaMentha took control of the farms in October 2009 after the Crafar family companies running them accumulated debts of more than $200 million.

KordaMentha receiver Brendon Gibson yesterday confirmed a settlement had been reached. A spokesman for the Crafar family, former barrister Vinay Deobhakta, said the terms were confidential, but the family were "hugely relieved" the receivers had agreed to drop legal proceedings. Relations between the Crafars and receivers hit a low in March last year, after the family refused an offer of six months' free rent in Rotorua if they moved out.

KordaMentha began eviction proceedings, and the family hit back with their own legal action, arguing a lifetime lease entitled them to stay.
The family have previously hinted at attempts to buy back their farms, but Mr Deobhakta would only say they had not yet given up hope the farms might remain in New Zealand hands. A new Chinese offer, from private conglomerate Shanghai Pengxin, was filed with the OIO in April and will be considered under tougher rules introduced by the Government in January.

Last April, KordaMentha receiver Michael Stiassny struck back at claims of rough treatment of the family and poor farm management. Mr Stiassny said the receivership was one of the most intense he had encountered, and was of a "magnitude unparalleled in the industry".
The resources required were more than anyone could have imagined, he said.