Jamie Mackay: The Country host on farmer confidence going up in new survey

The latest Federated Farmers Confidence Survey indicates more farmers are turning a profit, but there's still some industry concerns to consider.

Of nearly 650 farmers who responded to the survey in late January and early February, 70 percent said their farm was currently profitable - the highest since the survey was launched. 

The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jamie McKay, Host of the Countries with me.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hello, Jamie, are you sure you want to sell that
breast pump? Heather? You never know? You might want number three? Mate?

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Do you know what funny you should bring that up?
I was going to sell the breast pump and then
I thought hanging a teck because apparently you get hormones.
I don't know if you know this, but like about
twelve months after the baby's born till about nineteen months
you get hormones, so you got to hold onto the
breast pump that whole time just in case. Thanks for
the advice.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
All right, Well that's probably over sharing, but I shouldn't
have introduced the topic and.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
You started it here. What's the noise?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
For background?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Is this you on?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
The way?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
To share? Is?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
I'm at Wellington Airport and I found a really nice
quiet spot in the airport and then two blokes have
come along and they're erecting a screen, but I can't
move now.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm committed to this spot. I'm just waiting, Heather, for.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
My golf clubs to come out through oversize and then
I'm heading over the rim Atarkers tonight to be in
Masterton tomorrow obviously, and Saturday for the Golden Shares and
World Sharing Champs and Wall Handling Champs.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Really looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
You're going to be doing twenty four seven hard work.
Judging by the golf clubs arriving now. Seems to me
the farmers, more farmers than ever, are making a profit.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Is that right? Well, I don't know if it's more
than ever, it's certainly pretty positive. So this is the
latest Federated Farmer's Confidence Survey and strong returns. It goes
without saying record returns for many sectors and obviously lower
debt service and costs, lower interstrates. I mean farmers are
making a profit. As I said, the Federated Farmer's Confidence
Servo six hundred and fifty farmers, seventy percent said their

(01:32):
farm was currently profitable. And when I heard this today,
I thought, gee, that number seems a bit low, because
if you can't make a buck now and farming, you'll
never make one. But I think part of the reason
is the downturn, especially in the arable industry and also
like for the grape growers, and that so not every
sector is profitable. But the good news is either this

(01:54):
is the highest level of confidence or profitability since they
Federated Farmers started their twice yearly Farmer Confidence Survey way
back in two thousand and nine. The farmers are feeling
most confident about the current economic conditions. They haven't felt
this confidence since twenty seventeen. And obviously, as I said,

(02:15):
commodity prices the key driver, followed by low interest rates.
It's interesting when you do break it down, eighty one
percent of dairy farms are profitable. That in itself's a
bit of a surprise. Bearing in mind we've come out
of a really strong payout here, you would think that
more would be profitable. Arable farming continues to lag. That's

(02:36):
at the bottom of the pile, only forty one percent profitable.
A real worry for farmers is like a lot of
businesses having to recruit skilled and motivated staff. And the
other issue, which is always an issue.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Not only for farmers but also for small business is
just regulation and compliance costs. They're building up input costs
and obviously the government could go a long way there
by making some much needed changes to the RAMA. So
there you go. That's the Farmer Confidence survey from the FEDS.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Here that's not bad at all.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Hey listen, you drive safely and enjoy the golf and
obviously the work as well. Jamie mackay hosted the Country
on his way to master them for the Golden Chairs.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
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