Survey finds farmer confidence bouncing back

File Image/Rotorua Now.

Farmer confidence has bounced back to where it was pre-COVID, but attracting and retaining staff remains a headache.

This is shown in the latest Federated Farmers Farm Confidence Survey.

Of the nearly 1100 farmers who completed the Research First survey in the second week of January, a net 5.5 per cent considered current economic conditions to be good.

That's a 34-point jump from the July 2020 survey when a net 28.6 per cent considered them bad, marking the lowest level of farmer confidence in the 12 years the six-monthly survey had been conducted.

"Looking ahead, a net 43.8 per cent expect general economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months. That sound a bit grim, but just six months ago 58.7 per cent of survey respondents expected a deteriorating economy," says Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says.

"I think farmers, like other New Zealanders, are feeling buoyed by the way we've handled the pandemic despite the torpedo to international tourism. The agricultural sector is willing and able to maintain production so long as regulatory and other stumbling blocks don't trip us up."

The January survey showed the three greatest current concerns for farmers are regulation and compliance, followed by freshwater policy and climate change policy.

"This questionnaire went out before the recent announcements by the Climate Change Commission. As the impacts of the draft emissions budgets, and the government's reaction to them, become clearer, it will be interesting to see the results of our next survey in July," Andrew says.

A net 35.8 per cent of respondents reported it has been harder to recruit skilled and motivated staff, an eight-point increase from July 2020 when a net 28.1 per cent reported it has been harder.

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