Who knows what's happening in dairy?

He takes the middle ground, believing farmers are looking at a couple more tough years and perhaps some improvement in prices.

But it won't be peaches, he told the conference. "People will have to keep an eye on their budgets to protect their cash; and the key thing is to learn lessons about debt levels and what we pay for land.

"We talked about all this in 2008. Yes, everyone is supportive in these tight times, but this will happen again so we need to remember what happened this time and take lessons from it."

The risk remains that when times get good, people revert to their old habits, Hoggard says.

Some Kiwis show they know little about the farming sector, emailing him to ask why he supports that "foreign company" Fonterra.

"I would hate to see what survey results would show if Joe Public in Wellington or Auckland were asked who owns Fonterra. I hear people saying Fonterra is stealing all the profits and ripping off farmers."

Hoggard hears of people who think Fonterra sells its milkpowder cheaply overseas, not understanding that some is high value ingredients. Though he'd like to see Fonterra doing a lot more, on balance he believes they do a great job.