The Ministry of Agriculture, in its latest analysis of the arable sector, is forecasting a significant lift in cropping farmers incomes.
The assessement carried out as part of MAF's annual farm monitoring reports looks at arable farming in Canterbury - the main region for grain and seed production.
The report says cropping farmers expect strong global commodity prices and an increasing demand for dairying, to underpin a big lift in returns over the coming year.
It says a typical cropping farm is budgeting for before-tax profit to almost double, to over $360,000.
But MAF says there is still increasing interest among cropping farmers in converting some of their land to dairying, which is still performing more strongly than the arable sector.
