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Farmer confidence is now in positive territory, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
OPINION: Federated Farmers' latest farmer confidence survey results won’t surprise too many people.
Falling interest rates, rising incomes, stabilising farm input prices and more favourable farming ‘rules’ have all played a major role in that improvement.
It’s incredibly satisfying to see farmer confidence rebounding so strongly – to its highest point in over a decade and the largest one-off lift in farmer confidence seen to date. This is a cause for celebration.
However, the results are coming off a pretty low base. And as Federated Farmers points out, farmer confidence is now in positive territory, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
Farmers can’t control either interest rates or the farmgate milk price, so Federated Farmers and other industry organisations are using energy on what they can influence – making sure farming regulations are practical, affordable and fair. This means keeping the Government honest.
Not all decisions made by the Government help farmer confidence. For example, the recent Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) announcement by the Government hasn’t gone down well with farmers as it would mean more pine trees on productive land. The Feds’ survey was carried out before the latest NDC announcement and one can bet that this almost certainly would have taken some of the gloss off the results.
Government rules and regulations have a significant impact on farmers’ costs and these costs really can make or break a season and have a significant impact on a farmer’s confidence to keep investing in their busi-ness.
Farmers have a simple message to the Government: “As a country, we’re never going be able to regulate our way to prosperity, but with the right policy settings, we might just be able to farm our way there”.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.
