A record-high 70% of farmers responding to the twice-yearly Federated Farmers Confidence Survey say their farm is currently profitable

Farmers are feeling the most confident about the economy since 2017, according to results from the twice-yearly Federated Farmers Confidence Survey.

The latest issue of the survey, which has been run since July 2009, has found that not only confidence is running high - a record high 70% of respondents said their farms are currently profitable.

The online survey was conducted from January 6 to February 11, 2026 and received 639 responses from farmers in four industry groups across 24 provinces (condensed into seven regions) in New Zealand.

Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said it was great to see farmers doing well after several tough years of rising costs and uncertainty.

"When farmers are profitable, that’s good news for the rest of New Zealand," he said.

A net 37% of farmers were feeling confident about the economy, which Langford said was "a big turnaround" from 2023/24, when farmer confidence was "stuck at rock bottom and looked like it was just going to keep falling".

“Improved commodity prices are the key driver, as well as lower lending interest rates."

He said Federated Farmers had been working "incredibly hard" to cut some of the red tape that was holding the sector back, "and we’ve had a Government that’s listened to our concerns".

"That easing of regulation has really helped breathe new life back into rural New Zealand again."

However, despite favourable current conditions for farmers, the survey shows many are feeling apprehensive about the future, with concerns about cost pressures and market volatility.

When asked about their expectations for after-tax profit over the next 12 months, farmers’ optimism has dropped sharply, with more now predicting a fall in profits than an increase. This marks the first negative profitability outlook since early 2024.

"Dairy farmers were particularly pessimistic," Langford says.

"With forecast payouts hovering around $8.50-$9.50 per kilogram of milk solids, but rising input costs pushing the break-even margin to $8.50, there’s quite a bit of nervousness there.

"Farmers might be receiving strong milk cheques, but it’s the margin that matters. If costs keep rising, that will quickly eat away at profitability."

When asked in the survey about their greatest concerns, farmers said regulation and compliance costs are still the main worry, but input costs have risen back to second place.

Langford says the best move the Government could make to turbocharge confidence and investment in agriculture would be to pick up Federated Farmers’ ideas for improvements to the new legislation that will replace the Resource Management Act.

"That bloated Act, and the costly and time-consuming resource consents and hearings it entails, has been a thorn in the side of our productive sector for far too many years."