New Zealand's farmers have started the year with increasing optimism, with rural confidence edging higher after two consecutive sharp declines recorded in the second half of 2017.
Rabobank's GM for Country banking Hayley Gourley spoke to The Country's Jamie Mackay about the bank's first quarterly Rural Confidence Survey for 2018 which was completed earlier this month.
Gourley reports the survey shows horticulturalists are the most optimistic of all farmers about their own business performance, followed by sheep and beef farmers and then dairy farmers. As a result, Gourley says this shows "a stabilisation of confidence overall."
Concerns about government intervention and policies had driven confidence significantly lower in the previous two quarters but Gourley says this has also stabilised in the latest survey.
