M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
Government policies and the ongoing fallout from Covid-19 are being blamed for a continuing drop in farmer confidence.
According to the latest Rabobank Farmer Confidence Survey, New Zealand farmer confidence remains deep in negative territory, with significantly more farmers pessimistic than optimistic about the year ahead.
“After staging a strong recovery last quarter from historic lows recorded early in the year, New Zealand farmer confidence has reversed course again, sliding deeper into negative territory,” says Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris.
The quarterly survey – taken during September – found farmer confidence across NZ fell to -32% down from -26% previously. It also discovered that more farmers are now expecting the rural economy to deteriorate during the next 12 months.
It points out that the chief contributor to the lower confidence reading was markedly lower sheep and beef farmer sentiment, negating higher confidence levels reported among both dairy farmers and horticulturalists. Rabobank says this negative sentiment is driven by lingering concerns over government policy and the on-going impacts of Covid-19.
“More than half of all sheep and beef farmers with a pessimistic outlook cited government policy as a key reason for concern, with many likely to be worried about the potential for freshwater regulations announced in late May to negatively impact their operations,” Charteris added.
While sheep and beef farmers were more pessimistic, the survey found dairy farmers and horticulturalists more upbeat about the fortunes of the agricultural economy. Improving demand was the key reason for optimism among both dairy farmers and growers – cited by 45% of dairy farmers and 92% of horticulturalists who had a positive outlook on the year ahead.
However, while confidence in the broader economy lifted among dairy farmers and growers, Charteris said there were still more farmers in both those sectors adopting a pessimistic stance over an optimistic one.
“As with their sheep and beef counterparts, pessimistic dairy farmers cited government policy and Covid-19 as the most two most pressing concerns for the ag economy, while horticulturalists identified overseas markets as their major source of apprehension.”
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.