Friday, 24 July 2020 11:56

COVID-19 hits farmer confidence

Written by  Staff Reporters
Feds President and commerce spokesperson Andrew Hoggard. Feds President and commerce spokesperson Andrew Hoggard.

Farmer confidence has slumped to its lowest since 2009, according to a new Federated Farmers survey.

Federated Farmers’ July Farm Confidence Survey of 1,725 farmers saw 28.6% of respondents rate current economic conditions as bad, a 53-point drop on the January survey.

58.7% of the farmers who responded expect general economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, a 17-point reduction on the survey six months ago.

"Clearly, concern about the global economy is weighing on sentiment,” says Feds President and commerce spokesperson Andrew Hoggard.

Hoggard says the negative expectations are likely due to disruption on trade caused by the pandemic, as well as fears of a lasting global recession, heightened protectionism and trade wars.

“This fall in expectations is echoing the fall in business and consumer confidence, and the fall in the domestic economy from Covid-19," says Hoggard.

All the farming sector groups recorded worsening perceptions about current economic conditions, however meat and wool farmers experienced a 70-point slump compared to January.

The survey report by Research First records farmers’ three greatest concerns as: the economic situation (chosen by 15.6% of respondents), regulation and compliance costs (15.3%), and farmgate and commodity prices (11.1%).

"The government can’t do that much about the first and third of these, with global conditions being the predominant factor. But it can do something about ensuring regulation and compliance costs are sensible and affordable," says Hoggard.

More like this

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

Dairy unity

OPINION: A last-minute compromise ensured that the election of the new Federated Farmers national dairy chair wasn't a repeat of the Super 15 rugby final - Canterbury versus Waikato.

Featured

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter