Closing price above $1.82 is crucial, page-1068

Reading thru some of your posts make me wonder if you smoke a lot of weed? Instead of going into a 10 page explanation from someone with a family history of farming, and close links to the farming community, I'm just going to point out that farming is quite different to any other business, so don't concern yourself with water taxes and a labour government-(god forbid)

Most people don't realise that irregardless of the milk price or beef/lamb price, the regular annual input cost to a farmer can't normally be reduced , increasing with inflation etc. Every year, fertiliser costs, feed, rates, fuel, electricity continue to increase -these are all inputs that can not be reduced or cut back for obvious reasons (animal welfare, feed growth etc) As an exaample, fertiliser cost may increase 20% over a year, but the price of milk does not increase 20% to cover the increased input by the farmer. One year he might get $7-50kg milk solid the next he might get $5-20 kg, all realated to consumer supply and demand, but his INPUT remains the same. If the price of sugar goes up 10%' then coke goes up 10%. This doesn't happen in farming. Farmers can only cut input to repairs and maintenance type items etc, or implement more efficient procedures-you all get the gist.

A further example, and my numbers here won't be precise without looking them up-One block of our family operated farm is 180 acres, in an area that has been subject to a lot of development. 5 years ago the beef price was let's say $6kg and the rates were $7200 year. Last year the beef price was $6 kg and our rates are now $15000 year.

In relation to irrigation taxes, water taxes, if a labour government were to eventuate, they would a/ be absorbed by the farmer, and b/sounds like they will be minimal. If you are a kiwi in NZ you'll know the picture is way bigger than that and more related to international bottling companies taking millions of gallons each year for tiny royaltys, (ie $3000 yr) it's a f**ken joke!

Of course there does come a point in time where the input gets to high and a farmer can't make a profit, mainly on smaller blocks, which is one reason we see a lot of farms sold off for subdivisions. There's always gonna be that one farmer who just doesn't conform-those are the guys you read about in the news! But I can promise that farmers are generally extremely passionate about the environment, plantings, protecting waterways, the animals, and there land. There is no way a kindergarten labour leader can change that.

If I was you I would be more concerned about the Trump monster.