Farmer confidence has risen to its highest level in over a decade, rebounding from record lows in recent years, Federated Farmers says.

The advocacy group has released its latest farm confidence survey, which shows falling interest rates, rising incomes and more favourable farming rules have all played a major role in the improvement.

The online survey was conducted from January 22 to February 2, and received 784 responses from farmers nationally.

Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said he had noticed a “significant shift” in the mood of rural New Zealand.

“Farmers are feeling a lot more positive.”

Langford said the past few years had been “bloody tough” for many farming families, with falling incomes, rising interest rates and unpaid bills piling up.

“At the same time, we’ve also been struggling with an incredibly challenging regulatory environment and farming rules that haven’t always been practical, affordable or fair.

“These survey results paint a clear picture of a sector finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as some of that weight is lifted.”

The January survey shows farmers’ confidence in the 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.

Meanwhile, a net 23% of farmers now expect better economic conditions over the next year — the highest confidence level since January 2014.

There has also been a sharp lift in profitability, with 54% of farmers now reporting making a profit — double the number in the last survey six months ago.

Langford said it was important to note that, despite confidence being at its highest point in more than a decade, it was still only just in the positive.

“It’s been a remarkable recovery in farmer confidence over a short period of time, but I’m very conscious that we were coming off an extremely low base.

“We’ve come a long way, but there’s a long way to go yet.”

The survey results show regulation and compliance costs remain the greatest concern 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,” Langford said.

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“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.”

Langford said compliance costs could “make or break your season” and affected farmers’ confidence to keep investing in their business.

“The Government has made a great start cutting through red tape for farmers and repealing a lot of the most unworkable rules, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Wayne Langford on The Country below: