How the Public See Our Industries image

Public Perceptions of Farm Profitability

It is a challenging time for the country’s farmers and growers. Farm profit margins are being hit by high interest rates, increasing input costs and weak contract prices.

Federated Farmers latest Farm Confidence Survey (July 2024) reports that 33% of farmers are making a loss, 39% are breaking even and 27% are making a profit. Only 17% of farms expect profitability to increase over the next 12-months, 54% think it will stay the same and 27% are expecting profitability to worsen.

Truwind survey data from November this year show that public perceptions are mismatched with reality; New Zealanders think our farms are more profitable than they are.

Median results from the survey show a significant difference between the perception that 40% of farms make a profit and the reality of 27%. Looking at the distribution of results also reveals that a quarter of New Zealanders believe that over 50% of farms make a profit.

The general public also have a brighter perception of future profitability. 30% expect the profitability of NZ farms to improve over the next 5 years, 38% think it will stay the same and 32% are expecting profitability to worsen.