Building trust
OPINION: The war of words between Southland farmers and Environment Southland over winter grazing inspections reflects a deep lack of trust among farmers for the regional council.
Federated Farmers' latest Farm Confidence survey of 1400 dairy, sheep, beef and arable farmers shows confidence remains stuck in historically low territory.
The survey results, released this week, shows debt, interest rates and banks causing the greatest concern to Kiwi farmers.
"It's incredibly frustrating to see farmer confidence is still sitting at these stubbornly low levels," Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford says.
"Unfortunately, these survey results are just reflecting how farming families are truly feeling out there now.
"Farmers have really been doing it tough for some time now, with high interest rates, low commodity prices and sky-high input costs making it really hard to earn a living."
Langford says Federated Farmers were were encouraged by a slight lift in farmer confidence shown in its January 2024 survey - but things have since gone backwards.
"Restoring farmer confidence is a huge focus for Federated Farmers. It's what gets me out of bed each morning, feeling motivated to make a difference.
"We clearly have a big job ahead of us, but we're up for the challenge. We'll keep pushing hard to improve the lives of farming families across the country.
"The Government have done a lot of work repealing and rewriting some of the most unworkable regulations, but there's still so much more to be done."
But the six-monthly survey clearly shows it's not only regulation that's eroding farmer confidence, Langford says.
"There are a whole range of other issues that are also having an impact.
"These include concerns about banking, high interest rates, soft farmgate prices, the ability to find staff, and the general economic outlook for the country.
"Farmers will also be watching interest rates closely and desperately for a rate cut later this year to help relieve some of the pressure they're feeling."
Carried out in mid-July, the survey found more farmers consider the current economic climate to be 'bad' compared to January.
This is the second-worst result in the survey's history, with the lowest being July 2023.
