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High interest rates, huge inflation and a steep decline in world prices are being blamed for confidence hitting an all-time low in the rural sector.
The latest Federated Farmers Confidence Survey found only one percent of respondents saying economic life was currently good on farms.
87 percent of farmers think things are currently bleak, not least because of what they also see as overly stifling regulations in the sector.
That's the lowest figure Federated Farmers has recorded since it started doing its twice-yearly surveys in 2009.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford spoke to Corin Dann.