Tuesday, 07 February 2023 11:25

Farmer confidence hits another record low

Written by  Staff Reporters
Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard. Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard.

The latest Farm Confidence Survey has revealed that farmer confidence has hit yet another record low.

Of over 1,100 responses from farm businesses across New Zealand, 65.2% considered current economic conditions to be bad.

It marks a 17.4% rise in the number of farmers who believe the economy is in a bad state than the July 2022 survey.

It also marks the lowest level of farmer confidence in the 27 biannual Farm Confidence surveys Federated Farmers has conducted since 2009.

81.8% of farmers expected economic conditions to deteriorate over the next 12 months, 0.9 points down on the July 2022 survey.

"It’s not just inflation and rising farm input costs," says Federated Farmers president and economic spokesman Andrew Hoggard.

Asked to list their top three concerns, those who took part in the survey put climate change policy and the Emissions Trade Scheme at No 1. Debt, interest costs and bank pressure leapt to second place and at No 3 is regulation and compliance costs - a catch-all for the wave of reform, regulation, red tape and costs swamping the sector.

"Just one example - proposed replacement resource management legislation. It took 30 years for the existing RMA and amendments to swell to a bloated and tortuous 800-plus pages. The call was for something simpler, less cumbersome and costly but the proposed new legislation is just as lengthy," Hoggard says.

The survey found the four highest priorities farmers want the Government to address were Fiscal Policy; Economy & Business Environment; Regulation & Compliance Costs; and Supporting Agriculture & Exporters.

Faltering confidence means less investment in farm improvements and production, and lower spending in the provinces. The January survey registered a steep decline in profitability, with a net 28.4% of respondents reported making a profit currently, down 26.7 points on July 2022.

Looking ahead, 5.4% of respondents expect their production to decline over the year (4.9% down on six months ago) and 24.1% thought their spending would increase over the next 12 months, down 30.5 points on the July finding.

More like this

Bye bye Paris?

OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

What's going on?

OPINION: On the 2nd of May, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced that the 'government remains on track to ban full farm-to-forestry conversion'.

Featured

EU regulations unfairly threaten $200m exports

A European Union regulation ensuring that the products its citizens consume do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation worldwide threatens $200m of New Zealand beef and leather exports.

Bionic Plus back on vet clinic shelves

A long-acting, controlled- release capsule designed to protect ewes from internal parasites during the lambing period is back on the market following a comprehensive reassessment.

Editorial: Winston's words of wisdom

OPINION: Foreign policy is a real strength of Winston Peter and this is recognised by Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials who, so the story goes, wanted him in his present role because of his experience in that field.

National

Machinery & Products

New Holland combines crack 50 years

New Holland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction its Twin Rotor threshing and separation technology, which has evolved…

Iconic TPW Woolpress turns 50!

The company behind the iconic TPW Woolpress, which fundamentally changed the way wool is baled in Australia and New Zealand,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Double standards

OPINION: Imagine if the Hound had called the Minister of Finance the 'c-word' and accused her of "girl math".

Debt monster

OPINION: It's good news that Finance Minister Nicola Willis has slashed $1.1 billion from new spending, citing "a seismic global…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter