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7 Weight loss drugs to rock food market Vol 23 No 7 | February 24, 2025
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Rising product prices lift farmers’ mood NEWS
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Trends
IGHER product prices have transformed farmer confidence, which a Federated Farmers survey says has reached a 10-year high. South Otago sheep and beef farmer Logan Wallace said after a miserable spring in the south, lamb prices are $25/head higher than last year, ewe prices are double and beef up to $1.50/kg better. Wallace said low interest rates and inflation have contributed to that sense of positivity, although many farmers are still catching up after a difficult couple of years. Inflation for agriculture has dropped from 16.3% in 2022-23 to 1.2% in the year to the end of March 2024, and last week the Reserve Bank lowered the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, which prompted banks to lower interest rates. The federation’s January Farm Confidence Survey showed farmer confidence in economic conditions surging from negative 66% in July 2024 to a net positive score of 2%. A net 23% of farmers expect economic conditions to improve in the next year, the highest level since January 2014, and 54% expect to make a profit, double the number of the last survey six months ago. In last July’s survey, dairy was
the only sector expecting to be profitable, but in this survey all sectors were positive with 31% expecting profitability to improve in the coming year. Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said despite confidence being at its highest point in more than a decade, it’s still only just in the positive. He attributed the transformation to falling interest rates, rising incomes and more farmingfriendly rules.
I’ve definitely noticed a significant shift in the mood of rural New Zealand. Wayne Langford Federated Farmers “I’ve definitely noticed a significant shift in the mood of rural New Zealand. Farmers are feeling a lot more positive,” he said. The past few years have been dominated by falling incomes, rising costs and interest rates leading to record low confidence, but the latest survey shows a sector experiencing some relief. Langford said cost pressures persist, with insurance premiums rising 11%, reflecting increased climate-related risks, but falling costs for livestock purchases, Continued page 3
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OPINION 13