Financial inducements for the attraction and retention of a high-calibre farm workforce

Abstract

This project reviews trends in farm ownership opportunity and farm labour supply within New Zealand and evaluates schemes whereby farm workers may accumulate capital to use towards the eventual achievement of farm ownership.

A steady movement towards fewer farm holdings and fewer farm workers has been halted in recent years with some evidence of a reversed pattern now applying. A review of statistics suggests a danger of reduced farmer contact by a largely urbanised society leading to inadequate numbers of young people making farming their vocation.

Rising land values, rising livestock values and the effect of inflation on interest rates means the prospective farm purchaser faces a greatly increased capital ongoing and a higher debt servicing cost. To reduce the discouragement of these trends government has sponsored schemes whereby eligible farm employees may deposit money over a period of years and receive either substantial grants or a guarantee of inflation protected funds which may be withdrawn on the purchase of a farm.

Entry to farm ownership by using sharemilking as the means of accumulating capital has been a traditional pathway in the dairy industry. Proposals for share farming in the sheep and beef industry have recently been widely publicised but these proposals seem to overlook the relative lack of incentive that exists for sheep farm owners to participate. Capital sharing proposals through leasing or company ownership, offer greater attractiveness with less inherent disadvantages.

The possibility of farm workers contributing to pooled investment schemes as a hedge against inflation does not seem likely to succeed. The difficulties and costs inherent in administering many small individual/contributions and the basic unattractiveness of assigning individual control of savings to some other person to manage outweigh the probable advantages of such a scheme.