Farmer Satisfaction with Banks Hits Record Lows in Federated Farmers' Survey

New data from the Federated Farmers' Banking Survey has revealed record lows in farmer satisfaction with their banks, with 25.8% of respondents saying they had come under "undue pressure" from their bank over the previous six months.

This is a 2% rise since the last survey in May and a record high since the survey began in 2015.

Only 55.6% of farmers said they were satisfied with their relationship with their bank, a 0.7% drop from the previous May.

High interest rates were cited as a major area of dissatisfaction, with farmers saying they were being charged much higher rates than residential borrowers.

The average mortgage interest rate was reported as 8.26%, up from 7.84% in May 2023.