Survey finds farming in good shape

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

A new survey suggests farmers are in pretty good shape financially, despite the long drought.

Consultants Holmes Sackett surveyed farm incomes and found that farm workers are earning as much as all other sectors except mining, while the doubling in rural land value has made farming a safe business.

Sandy McEachern, from Holmes Sackett, says even though many farmers are cash poor at present, they should remember they're primarily in the property investment business.

"The actual rate of net asset accumulation in the last five years has been close to 15 per cent and that has been driven by capital gains in the industry," he says.

"It doesn't put cash in our pocket, but it is an immense amount of wealth that has been created."

Sourced from ABC Rural.