This study was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to determine the level and structure of farm debt in New Zealand in 1998. The research was carried out by Landcare Research, Lincoln, in 1998–99.

The last survey of Agricultural Primary Sector debt was undertaken in 1988, and the results reported by the then Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1991 (Pomeroy & Reynolds 1991). That survey used Department of Statistics (now Statistics New Zealand) data for 1988 for 6314 responses received from a sample of 11 000 farms. This report is the first survey of farm debt since the publication of the 1988 data.

This survey differs from the 1988 survey in a number of respects:

1. It is based on a stratified random-sample survey of 881 New Zealand farms.
2. The survey was conducted for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) by Landcare Research.
3. The source of the sampling frame (the list from which the sample is drawn) was the Agribase, a database of New Zealand farms maintained by AgriQuality New Zealand (formerly part of MAF Quality Management). The database contains details of enterprises present on the farm, livestock numbers, and crop areas, as well as contact details for farmers and farm managers. The information base is maintained for the purpose of responding to and managing rural emergencies, environmental quality issues, and other problems that may limit New Zealand’s agricultural productivity or ability to trade.
4. Data on farm assets were collected in addition to data on farm liabilities.
5. We explicitly included data for borrowing from family members, not just from commercial lending institutions.

• To provide a reliable estimate of debt levels across all farms in New Zealand, by type of farm, for the accounting year ending June 1998 (or other appropriate 1998 balance date).
• To interpret this data in the context of assets owned on the same farms.
• To compare current debt levels with debt levels in 1995.
• To compare current debt levels with those measured in an earlier survey, conducted in 1988.