The Country 25/11/25: Peter Newbold talks to Jamie Mackay

The General Manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate takes his monthly look at the state of the rural market, with dairy farm sales leading the charge. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Monthly here on the country, we tell you how much
your farm is worth with the GM of PGG rights
in real estate. The Great Peter Newbolt Petere nine dollars
fifty from Fonterra this morning. Do you think that'll affect
the price of dairy farms?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
To be honest, now, I don't think it will, Jamie.
I think probably people were aware that it was coming,
and you know, from where I sit, I don't think
it'll change things. The future still looks strong and you know,
the interest we've had in properties over there over the
last few months would for me, would indicate there will
be no change in that space.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
You said to me, I think when we chatted a
month ago that you expected at PGG rights and not
to have any dairy farms on your books at the
end of the season, I e. You had a buyer
for every one of them. Are you sticking with that.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, definitely. You know there's there's probably a shortage, which
is a good thing. But what we're actually seeing is,
you know, there's a lot of interest some that ten
million mark and above that, there's a lot of buyers
out there looking so again capped out as far as
you know, were values will go to But yeah, no,
I think that's the case. What we may see in

(01:12):
the new year is some of those larger entities maybe
look at, you know, revisiting their structure as far as
what properties they've got. But other than that, no, I
think it's going to be a strong season. I don't
think there'll be much left.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
We've got record prices for beef and lamb. Is that
translating into increased demand for sheep and beef properties.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's just starting to come through now. You know, we
go back a couple of months ago, it was fairly quiet,
but now we're just starting to see momentum there, which
is good. You know, a good example of the you know,
if I go back a year or so, we took
some properties off the market, we've put them back on
the market and they've sold, so definitely there's momentum there.

(01:53):
The other thing we're also seeing is with some of
these properties, we you've got neighbor interest, and I think
that's the other important thing people need to be aware of.
Neighbors are influencing a lot of the sales in both
dairy and sheep and beef. But in sheep and beef,
what we're finding sometimes is that some properties are being
sort of split up. A neighbor taking a portion, another

(02:14):
neighbor taking another piece. So you know, there's different ways
that these properties are being cut up and solved. But
definitely answer your question, it's moving forward, I think really well,
and we'll see that momentum go right the way through
into autumn.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Does it follow if dairy farm sales are reasonably buoyant
in terms of volume, that support blocks are as well.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, definitely, And you know dairy farmers as a rule
often big purchases of support blocks, as you know, and
that's one thing we've talked about. We see the new
year where support blocks will come into their own I
think the other piece also, as you know, when those
moneys that come through from front Terra, that'll make a difference.

(02:58):
So I think we'll see that as we move into autumn.
I think we'll see solid sales there.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, and autumn's traditionally the big selling season for farms.
Hey what about the Kiwi fruit farms?

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, that's an interesting space. We've just started to see
a few sales take place. I think that the values
are starting to people are starting to see where they
are probably to be Honest, I haven't seen as much
activity as I thought when I spoke to you two
or three months ago about it, but again, that will
slowly build and it's probably a good thing. You know.
The last thing you want is those highs and lows.

(03:32):
So yes, there's momentum there.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Hey, just to finish with, check on your other hat
you wear at PGG right since your livestock hat. I'm
a big fan of what your team does around the
IHC calf and rural scheme, and I think you've got
some big calf sales coming up.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah. Look, it's been an incredible you know, first it
was nearly six months up and you know, looking ahead
into our busy time, some of our guys have been
around for you know, decades have seen nothing like it.
So I think we'll see strong selling. The prices there
you're seeing at the moment are solid, So yeah, I

(04:10):
think we're going to have a wonderful season, subject to
you know, weather, and I guess that always plays a big,
big hand as we move further into sort of February March,
but no, looking really good, and I guess at the
moment we've just got to bank it and it's good
for our farmers. So yeah, long Mack, continue, Jamie, yep.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Thanks to the team at PGG Rights, and thanks to
all of you farmers out there who have donated a
calf or a lamb or a virtual calf or a
virtual lamb to the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme. Great course,
Peter Newbold, thanks for your time. We'll chat to you
again just before Christmas, and you can be Santa Claus
with farm prices.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Thanks very much, Jamie, have a good afternoon.