RURAL: Farming benefits not easy to find

Blink and you miss the Budget benefits for the rural sector. Federated Farmers welcomed the passing of stamp duty on farm purchases as a victory for its lobbying.

But the duty has been seen more as an unfair tax than a constraint on farmer finances.

Waikato rural real estate spokesman Brian Peacock said $15,000 on a $1 million farm was not a big block to farm sales, although sometimes it was "the last little bit that makes a difference."

The federation was also pleased that death duties - not applied since 1992 - had been wiped from the statute books, ensuring "a cash-strapped Government cannot bring them in again," a spokesman said.

Food and Fibre Minister John Luxton found "significant gains for the rural sector" in the Budget.

However, Federated Farmers vice-president Alistair Polson said much of the minister's short-list had already been announced.

Mr Polson rued the Government's failure to commit more resources to upcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations, and environmental funds that went to Wellington-based Government departments instead of communities.

The Government was also fiscally vulnerable after pinning its hopes on the America's Cup and millennium celebrations to help deliver 2.9 per cent growth in the economy, he said. If its plans failed and it had a deficit, rising interest rates would hit farmers hard.
- Philippa Stevenson