Farmers more gloomy

Farmer confidence has fallen amid concerns about commodity prices and global market issues.

The latest quarterly Rabobank rural confidence survey, taken about a month ago and published yesterday, found 33 per cent of farmers expected the agricultural economy to worsen in the next 12 months.

That was up from 29 per cent in November when the survey was last taken. The number expecting conditions to remain stable declined to 38 per cent, compared with 44 per cent previously.