Farmer confidence in economy hits an all-time low

This is according to a just-published survey by Federated Farmers, which shows that two thirds of the 1,100 respondents consider the current economic conditions to be bad. That’s 17.4 points worse than the survey in July last year and the lowest level of confidence expressed in the 27 biannual Farm Confidence surveys Feds has conducted since 2009.

What’s more, 81.8% of farmer respondents expect economic conditions to get worse over the next 12 months. At the same time, 67% expect their profitability and production to decline in the coming year.

Asked to rate their greatest concerns, farmers stated climate change and ETS policy as number one. This is followed by debt, interest rates and banks and in third place regulation and overtaking input costs, which slipped to fourth spot.

In terms of sectors, meat and wool farmers were the most pessimistic, with dairy in a distant second place. In terms of the regions, perception of the general economic situation, farmers in Taranaki-Manawatu and the East Coast of the North Island were the most pessimistic.

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says it’s not just inflation and rising farm input costs. He says it’s also the wave of reform, regulation, red tape and costs that is swamping the sector. “Just one example – the 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.”

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