An Exploratory Investigation into the Farm Credit Market in New Zealand

An increasing interest in the finance of farming in New Zealand has emerged in recent years. This is a result of three major developments: (i) the increasing reliance of the farm sector on external sources of finance. For instance, debt per farm has been increasing at an annual compound rate of 12% between 1963 and 1970; (ii) the effect of recent economic phenomena, such as falling product prices and a high rate of internal inflation, which have highlighted the question of a farm debt "burden"; (iii) the increasing sophistication of the New Zealand economy. This has offered the community alternative investment opportunities and has raised the question of availability of finance for farmers to sustain and increase their production.