British farmers seek greener pastures in NZ

News release: September 3, 2007

British farmers seek greener pastures in NZ

A new wave of British farmers is migrating to New Zealand as deteriorating conditions in the UK send them searching for greener pastures and a better way of life.

Bayleys Realty Group has sold more than $200 million worth of rural property to UK farmers in the past few years and interest from British and Irish farmers is so high that the company now has an office in London and runs regular seminars promoting the benefits of farming in New Zealand.

Bill Whalan, a director of Bayleys Canterbury, says British farmers are attracted here because farming practices are similar yet New Zealand offers a better way of life and more favorable conditions for farmers.

“The state of farming in the UK at the moment continues to deteriorate. Dairy farmers over there are making significant losses and the UK farmers as a group know the subsidies will not continue. We complain here about our compliance legislation but the average farmer in the UK spends between one and two days a week doing paperwork to comply with European Union regulations. It’s a real killer for them.’’

“They see New Zealand as a farmer’s El Dorado. They see it as like halcyon days of the 1960s, before the UK joined the European Union,’’ says Mr Whalan, who has three UK farmers, all of whom are cash buyers, currently looking to purchase farmland in the region.

Andrew Luddington is one of those farmers. He and wife Miranda and their two children, aged nine and 11, emigrated here about three months ago and are looking at buying around 500 acres of arable farmland.

They have left behind a 580 acre estate in West Norfolk, of which 350 acres was arable productive farmland where they grew potatoes and sugar beet. The estate had been handed down through the generations but maintaining the large, listed and ancient house on it had become too expensive and the prospect of a better life in New Zealand too tempting to resist.

The family decided to settle in Canterbury after visiting last year and believe conditions for farming will be easier here than in the UK where onerous red-tape is proving both costly and time-consuming for farmers.

“There is a terrific perception in Europe of New Zealand being very green and very sunny,’’ Mr Luddington says.

Next month Bayleys Canterbury director Shane O’Brien will be running seminars in Exeter, Worcester, Chester, Carlisle, Wetherby, Antrim and Belfast for farmers who are looking at immigrating to New Zealand. The seminars will showcase available properties and provide attendees with information on immigration, regulations for offshore investment and financing options.

Those attending the seminars tend to “dirt-under-the-fingernail’’ farmers who are looking for a life-style change but who still want to work the land.

“British farmers continue to have major concerns about the economic sustainability of agriculture and are attracted by the excellent international reputation of New Zealand farming and the low cost of living and pleasant lifestyle on offer here,’’ Mr O’Brien says.

Ends

© Scoop Media