Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

Succession is back in the headlines—and this time it's louder than ever. As Rabobank NZ CEO Todd Charteris emphasised recently, “succession is not a moment in time – it’s a process that takes years of planning, conversation and adaptation”. 

 Meanwhile, Agri Undergraduate Georgia Checkley – writing an opinion piece in the Farmers Weekly from the perspective of a young farmer rightly warns that “without clear succession plans nationwide we look to see a decline in productivity across the agriculture sector” 

The data reveals the urgency: 23% of families have a well thought out succession plan for the farm, 17% have spoken of the topic and  50% of families have not even mentioned succession.

With over $150 billion in farm assets set to transfer in the coming decade, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

Too often, succession is framed as a single event or a handover moment. In reality, it’s a strategic process that starts years in advance.

We wrote this article “If You’re Thinking About Succession, Start by Redefining It” – a few years ago as a framework for how NZAB helps their farmers in this space, and it's become even more relevant today - so please make some time to read it. 

We see succession not as a single transaction, but a multi-year journey which starts with creating a strong business in the first instance. The article reshapes the narrative around four vital shifts:

1. Redefine succession as building a great business

Succession isn't just about dividing assets—it's about building a high-performing, value-driven business that the next generation wants to be part of. A great business naturally attracts family engagement, capital, and talent. Start here, not with spreadsheets.

2. Purpose, vision, and strategy comes first

Successful intergenerational farms start with a clear “why,” a compelling vision, and a simple, focused strategy. This clarity unites the family, aligns decisions, and gives everyone from shareholders to staff a reason to buy-in.

3. Set the business up to perform, then structure it around this

Strong operating performance, clear roles, and a future-facing organisational structure makes a farm business investable and sustainable. Succession planning should grow from this foundation not the other way around.

4. Get independent help and make it continuous

This isn’t a one-off event, it’s an evolving strategic process that needs independent facilitation. Bring in outside expertise, embed succession into regular governance, and treat it as a standing agenda item and not a retirement trigger.

After you’ve read the article, drop us a line for a no obligation chat.  Feel free to call one of our local team members in Southland, Canterbury, Manawatu, Taranaki or Waikato  (or flick us a quick email here)

NZAB helps farming families build businesses worth succeeding into. We combine financial insight, strategy, and governance experience to support multi-generational transitions that work. If you're thinking about succession, let’s talk about making your farm business one the next generation wants to run—not just inherit.   

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

In our previous article, What a Decade of Floating Rates Tells Us About Agri Finance Confidence, we explored how floating interest rates have behaved over time and how bank appetite has shifted in response to rising rates. The core message was this: while interest rates have moved in cycles, the bigger issue has been how confidence—both from banks and farmers—has fluctuated alongside them.

Now, we want to take that discussion a step further.

Same graph. One big addition.

This time, we’ve layered in a second line—the red one. This represents the non-competitive floating rate, or in plain terms, the rate paid by a farmer whose credit wasn’t quite as good (or wasn’t articulated well enough) and hasn't actively engaged in a competitive lending process. It’s someone who, for whatever reason, hasn't negotiated, hasn’t benchmarked, and hasn’t brought an advocate like NZAB to the table.

The green line, as before, is the competitive rate—what’s available when a farmer actively shops their deal, presents a strong case, and gets support to navigate the lending environment.

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

Over the past 10 years, interest rates in New Zealand, particularly rural floating rates, have taken farmers on a wild ride.

We’ve pulled out the data from RBNZ to show the 90-day bill since 2015.  However, instead of just showing that underlying rate on its own, we’ve added a customer margin to reflect the total rate payable for an “above average credit quality customer in a competitive situation”. This data set includes margin changes (reductions) during that time. similar to what we observe with our own customers over that period.

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

While working on a recent project for a large Australian asset holder, I came across the Reserve Bank of Australia’s consolidated Agri debt figures. I decided to compare them with the New Zealand data.

The result is striking.

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

There’s increasing chatter about dairy conversions again—especially here in Canterbury—and it’s easy to see why. In many cases, the extra returns far outweigh the costs. That contrast becomes even starker when compared with lower-yielding farming systems.

Turning a non-dairy farm, whether sheep and beef, deer, or cropping, into a dairy platform is a major strategic move. While dairy can offer strong cashflow and asset growth, it also demands serious capital, operational change and long-term commitment.

At NZAB, we’ve helped fund countless dairy conversions and seen the highs and lows of the sector. Below are some hard-earned lessons worth considering.

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.

As a follow-up to the Agri Banking Dashboard that we recently circulated, we thought we’d share a couple of graphs illustrating the changes since 2018.

Firstly, market share changes since 2018:

Information only disclaimer. The information and commentary in this email are provided for general information purposes only. We recommend the recipients seek financial advice about their circumstances from their adviser before making any financial or investment decision or taking any action.