Minister says debt is high quality and shows farmers are ‘investing’, but academic believes there are ‘real and unrealised problems’
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Drought and ballooning land values were among the factors that caused Queensland’s rural debt to increase by 25% between 2019 and 2021, a survey of the state’s rural businesses has found.
The bi-annual report by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority studied the financial health of farmers and rural enterprises and found debt had risen from $19.1bn to $24.06bn over the past three years.