Strong growth in farm salaries - report
A new report shows farm employers across the dairy, sheep and beef, and arable sectors have continued to invest strongly in one of their greatest assets – their staff.
The change of government is rattling farmer confidence, according to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey.
The survey last month found the number of farmers expecting the rural economy to improve in the next 12 months has fallen to 29% (down from 46% last quarter), 49% were expecting similar conditions (up from 42%) and the number expecting the rural economy to worsen rose to 16% (up from 8%).
Dairy farmers’ confidence fell to +18% -- from +50%.
Rabobank New Zealand general manager for Country Banking, Hayley Moynihan, says the survey found farmers in all sectors more pessimistic about the expectations for the rural economy than in the previous quarter, largely because of worries about the recent change in government.
“Of the farmers who thought the rural economy will worsen over the next 12 months, government policies were cited by 80% as a key reason,” says Moynihan. “With a change of government comes uncertainty about the impact of policies on NZ’s agricultural sector.
“During the election campaign, each of the three parties that now make up the government indicated they wanted to make changes to how NZ’s rural economy was operating.
“These results indicate that farmers have some concerns about what these potential interventions could mean for the performance of the rural economy.”
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.