Feds vow to keep Govt honest

The farmer lobby says its biggest role is keeping the Government honest.

The Federated Farmers January survey shows farmers' confidence in current general economic conditions has surged from a deeply negative 66% in July 2024 to a net positive score of 2%. This marks the largest one-off improvement since the question was introduced in 2016.

The survey shows falling interest rates, rising incomes and more favourable farming rules have all played a major role in that improvement.

Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams told Rural News that to see farmer confidence bounce back from record lows to its highest point in over a decade is a phenomenal result.

"It was the largest one-off lift in farmer confidence we've seen to date, and I think it's important that we celebrate that. We were coming off a pretty low base. Yes, farmer confidence is now in positive territory, but there's still a lot of room for improvement."

Williams believes the key thing is holding the Government to account.

"During the election, a lot of promises were made to our farmers and rural communities, and we need to make sure they deliver on those - because people are depending on it.

"There's no denying the Government have done a lot for farmers so far, and that's certainly appreciated, but there's still a lot more that needs to be done.

"I think we've shown that we can work with the Government to get stuff done, but when they make a stuff up, we're not afraid to call them out for that and apply a bit of pressure.

"That's exactly what we've seen over the last few weeks with the announcement of these new international emission reduction targets that are just going to lead to more pine trees in rural communities."

Williams says they are going to have a lot more to say about the Government's climate policies in the coming weeks and months.

"So, watch this space. New Zealand needs sensible and achievable climate policy, not a hope and pray approach that will just see hundreds of thousands of hectares planted in pine trees.

"This is a huge issue for our meat and wool members in particular."

Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says they will keep pushing hard to cut costs out of farmers' businesses and reduce some of that regulatory burden.

The survey results show regulation and compliance costs remain the greatest concerns for farmers, followed by interest rates and banks, and input costs.

"When it comes to farmer confidence, a lot of it comes down to what's coming into our bank account, and what's going out the other side. It's a simple equation," Langford says.

"A lot of that is market driven, and farmers are used to riding those highs and lows, but government rules and regulations have a significant impact on farmers' costs."