"There seems to be a fear factor at play here. Farmers are feeling very uncertain about what the coalition government will do next on key issues such as water regulations, climate change and industrial relations."
Expectations for farm profitability over the next 12 months were up slightly, 30 per cent of respondents anticipating an improvement and 48 per cent expecting profits to remain stable.
Dairy and arable farmers were noticeably more optimistic than they were in January, but meat and wool farmers are markedly less so, reflecting a concern that the past season's excellent farmgate prices might not be sustained this season.
Regulation and compliance costs remained number one in respondents' greatest concerns (down from 21 per cent to 18 per cent). Heightened concern about pests, diseases and biosecurity (up seven per cent to 12 per cent) was thought to be driven by stress and uncertainty caused eradicating Mycoplasma bovis.
"Climate change policy and the ETS is number three, up three per cent to 10 per cent. That reflects farmer uncertainty over the government's more ambitious approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and concern that agricultural biological emissions may be included in the ETS even though there are, as yet, no significant mitigating actions farmers can put in place," Mr Hoggard said.