Public perception of farmers tops New Zealand’s industries
The research shows that positive perception of farmers and growers has increased more than any other industry over the last three years.
"The sheep and beef and dairy sub-sectors saw a significant increase in positive perception and no significant change to negative perception", says Research First’s Liz Morley.
The research included other industries including healthcare, tourism, construction and retail.
"We’re now seeing farmers and growers with the highest proportion trending to the positive".
Digging deeper into the data, which comes from a nationally representative survey of New Zealanders, shows even more positive results for farmers.
Three quarters of people trust farmers to properly care for their animals and three quarters of people rated the welfare of animals in the dairy and sheep and beef sub-sectors as 'good' or 'very good'.
"Typically, this type of research would measure the proportion of the population that hold a positive view. We thought we would push past just a positive or negative call, instead looking at where those public perception trends are heading and what is driving them", says Morley.
B+LNZ Chief Insights Officer Julian Ashby says the research is in line with B+LNZ’s public perception surveys.
"It’s great to see the public recognise the hard work farmers are doing to look after their animals and their land", he says.
"It shows New Zealanders are supportive of sheep and beef farmers and demonstrates the resilience of the red meat sector to the challenges it’s faced over the last three years."
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