The initial results from AgriHQ’s The Farmer’s Voice survey came as little surprise to a pair of agricultural podcasters – though they were occasionally alarming.
The survey, which asked 229 farmers what it was like being a farmer today, was discussed by Emily Walker and Myfanwy Alexander who host the weekly Ag in Conversation podcast.
Walker said there was a “seesaw of emotions” coming out in the survey in answering the question “What is it like to be a farmer today?”
“So on one hand, it’s great, but on the other hand, it’s frustrating. So whilst farmers have a richly rewarding life, it’s under huge pressure from financial stability, increasing regulatory demands and mounting social criticism.
“There is a need for stronger support to help farmers manage these pressures within farming and to strengthen farmers’ reputation beyond the farm gate.”
The survey found that 66% of those surveyed loved or liked their work and cited working with animals and the land and being their own boss as the key drivers of that positive view.
But 61% thought that farming was getting worse, with only 20% seeing improvement in their work.
“So as you can see, lots of people liked some parts and disliked other parts. And the No 1 dislike was having to deal with regulations and compliance, poor profitability and the public criticism aimed at farmers.”
Walker said they are all topics talked about on the podcast and are no surprise.
“What I thought was quite alarming was a quarter of people were experiencing problems with their physical and mental health and also a third are not confident about their farming future.”
Both were also surprised that female farmers are noticeably more worried about the farming future than male.
Alexander believed a possible reason for that was that women tend to be the ones who worry about the bigger picture in a farm business.
“The men are definitely in the business getting it done, getting the business ahead … The women are more involved with filing the paperwork, looking at the compliance, they start to worry about what they’re seeing.”
Neither was surprised that sheep and beef farmers are more pessimistic than dairy farmers Alexander said that the milk payment cash flow that comes with being a dairy farmer really helps, as does sending their milk to a dairy co-operative like Fonterra that is in a very strong global position.
Listen to the conversation below. The Farmers Voice segment starts at the 10.30 minute mark.
