Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says he expects to see farmer confidence start to rise as the Government continues to cut unnecessary red tape for farmers.
“We’ve moved quickly to make changes, with 20 actions already completed or underway to undo some of the mess Labour created.
“Some of those rule changes will take time to be felt behind the farm gate as we continue to work them through Parliament, but it’s clear we’ve set a new direction.
“When we let farmers do what they do best, which is to get out on farm, that’s when I think we’ll start to see a lift in farmer confidence.”
Federated Farmers’ regular surveys have painted a grim picture in recent years, with farmer confidence reaching historic lows.
While the January 2024 survey showed a lift in confidence, things went backwards again in the July survey.
McClay, speaking on the Federated Farmers Podcast, says he’s not surprised by the survey findings.
“Farmers have faced a lot of headwinds over the last six years, and it takes a while to work through that.
“The uptick in farmer confidence we saw after the election was likely reflecting the relief farmers felt that the Labour Government was over.
“Now they’ve got a National-led Government who are willing to listen to them and work with their leaders, like Federated Farmers, to find practical solutions.
“We’ve got some challenges we need to address, but the solution isn’t more rules and regulations that cost a lot of money and fail to deliver outcomes.”
Despite the change of Government, poor commodity prices and high interest rates have continued to weigh heavily on farmers, McClay says.
“Commodity prices are taking a real battering at the moment. We know China is still an important market for us, but their economy has stepped back a little.
“Those half-a-billion middle-income consumers in China are being a bit more careful and discerning of what they spend their money on, just like Kiwi families are.
“High interest rates are also playing a major role at the moment.
“It’s very hard for farmers – or for any New Zealander really – to have much confidence when so much of their money is going out the door to the bank.”
McClay says the Government is committed to freeing up the rural economy and allowing farmers to get back to farming.
“One of the things that’s come up the most as I’ve been out in rural New Zealand is the cost of compliance.
“There has been a real feeling that Wellington has been sitting there making decisions in offices and telling people how to run their farms.
“National campaigned on getting Wellington out of farming, and that’s what we are doing. Yes, we need rules and regulations, but we don’t want more: we want fewer, and we want better ones.”
In the lead-up to last year’s election, Federated Farmers laid out a roadmap of 12 policy priorities for the incoming Government to adopt to rebuild farmer confidence.
Nearly of all those priorities have now been ticked off the list, with sweeping reforms made by the new Government.
“We want to give farmers certainty and work with them on solutions – not just tax them,” McClay says.
“That’s why we’ve disbanded He Waka Eke Noa, removed agriculture from the ETS, and commenced an independent review of biogenic methane’s warming.”
Other key changes include restoring common sense to intensive winter grazing rules and rebalancing the hierarchy of obligations for Te Mana o te Wai.
“We’ve also started the process of replacing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and simplifying farm plans, so they’re not a cost.
“The coalition Government has an absolute commitment to deliver on all these things we campaigned on – and more.”
McClay says the independent inquiry into banking will also play a big role in making life easier for farmers.
“As interest rates come down, we will see some of the pressure start to ease, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking at ways to improve the banking system.
“At the very least, this inquiry will tell rural communities what’s going on and suggest some changes that could help rebuild farmers confidence in the banking sector.
“New Zealand needs a strong, vibrant, profitable farming sector, and so do banks. It’s in everybody’s interest to work well together through the inquiry.”
Listen to the full interview with Todd McClay at fedfarm.org.nz/podcast
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
