China

Southern NZ farmers will want to see cash before agreeing to sell their farms to a foreign company again, having been burnt once by a deal that turned sour.

Chinese investment in Australian farms increased 10-fold in the past six months, as buyers see opportunities in agriculture. “Chinese are wealthy and they are looking for a secure investment in beef, cotton and grain properties, ” said John Burke, an agent for Elders Ltd.

Someone needs to put Fonterra and the Feds into the same room.

The Chinese-backed company seeking to buy 29 North Island dairy farms is also trying to buy up to 100 farms in Otago and Southland and build a dairy factory in Southland.

People see the Chinese as moving into Africa, kicking poor farmers off their land, and growing food to be shipped back to China for domestic consumption. This seems unlikely, however, says Doug Saunders.

The economic nationalism and calls for protectionism seem ironic given the fact that Fonterra itself is a large multinational, which in addition to having farms in China, has since 2002 been in partnership with global food giant Nestle in the Dairy Partners Americas.

Comprar tierras agrícolas, principalmente en África y América Latina, es una apuesta poco arriesgada, dado el rápido crecimiento de la población mundial a alimentar, señalan los expertos.

The most unbelievably naïve reaction to the news that a mysterious Chinese company is hoping to buy up to $1.5 billion worth of dairy farms came from Federated Farmers, which said that this is an “unintended consequence” of the NZ/China Free Trade Agreemen

"The Chinese want a secure food supply, and they're coming into New Zealand to do that, by the look of it," a local farm union official says

The China Jin Hui Mining Corporation - recently renamed Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings - says it has agreed to buy the Crafar family farms as well as other assets including farmland, cattle, and milkpowder production plant.

A move by Madagascar's army-backed leader to nix a huge South Korean farming deal has exposed the risks of such ventures in Africa.

Ministre de l’Agriculture par intérim, Robert Dutil, ne voit pas la nécessité d’intervenir afin d’empêcher la conclusion de ventes de terres agricoles aux intérêts étrangers