2007 rural readership survey prepared for rural publications group september 2007

2007 Rural Readership Survey

Prepared for Rural Publications Group

September 2007

© COLMAR BRUNTON 2

Contents

• Objectives/Approach

• Potentials/Sample Sizes

• General Publications

• Dairy Publications

• The Orchardist (not covered today)

• Farmer Profiles

© COLMAR BRUNTON 3

Objectives

• Provide an independent and comprehensive measure of current farming publication readership:

– Reading incidence– Depth – proportion of issues/time spent/times read– Attitudes and value delivered– Article type usage/importance– Also:

• Computer/email/internet/website usage • Future purchase behaviour

© COLMAR BRUNTON 4

Approach

• Self completion questionnaire with covering letter delivered to a random sample of approximately 11,000 farmers across New Zealand by Letterbox Channel

• Incentive (international travel prize to the value of $9,000) to encourage return

• 2785 questionnaires returned (25%) in reply paid envelopes

• Order of publications rotated

• Processing, analysis and reporting by Colmar Brunton

• Data weighted by farm type/region to match Statistics NZ Data (2002)

• Analysing trends : Increase

Decrease

© COLMAR BRUNTON 5

Potential vs Actual Sample Sizes

Potential Actual Sample Size

Farm Type

Dairy 14,000 714

Sheep, Beef 28,000 867,506

Fruit 6,750 204

Other horticulture 4,835 64

Other 10,215 430

Region

North 26,300 1030

Central 16,500 771

South 21,000 982

Note: Total NZ Farms = 63,800 (excludes plantations, idle land)

General Publications

© COLMAR BRUNTON 7

Readership – Total Sample

94%

95%

93%

96%

94%

94%

92%

90%

96%

89%

67%

86%

83%

24%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News

Straight Furrow

Country-Wide

Farmers Weekly

2007 2004 2001 1998

© COLMAR BRUNTON 8

Readership – Region

% Read TotalTotal NorthernNorthern CentralCentral SouthernSouthern

Rural News 94% 93% 93% 96%

Straight Furrow 95% 93% 96% 97%

Country-Wide 93% 94% 96% 95%

Farmers Weekly 96% 95% 96% 97%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 9

Readership – Farm Type

% Read Total Dairy Sheep BeefSheep/

Beef Other

Rural News 94% 91% 97% 97% 98% 91%

Straight Furrow 95% 92% 99% 98% 99% 93%

Country-Wide 93% 91% 98% 95% 99% 90%

Farmers Weekly 96% 95% 99% 98% 99% 92%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 10

Readership – Income

% Read TotalUp to

$200,000$200,001-$500,000

Over $500,000

Rural News 94% 93% 95% 94%

Straight Furrow 95% 96% 96% 93%

Country-Wide 93% 93% 95% 93%

Farmers Weekly 96% 96% 97% 97%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 11

Readership – Age

% Read TotalUnder 40

yrs 40-49 yrs 50-59 yrs 60+ yrs

Rural News 94% 94% 94% 93% 96%

Straight Furrow 95% 94% 94% 95% 96%

Country-Wide 93% 94% 94% 93% 93%

Farmers Weekly 96% 96% 97% 95% 97%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 12

Rural Readership - Farm Type Within Region

Northern Central Southern

Rural Publication Readership

% Total

% Dairy

% Sheep /

Beef

% Other

%Dairy

% Sheep/

Beef

% Other

% Dairy

% Sheep/

Beef

% Other

Rural News 94% 92% 97% 90% 85% 97% 91% 96% 98% 93%

Straight Furrow 95% 92% 98% 91% 91% 99% 95% 94% 98% 95%

Country-Wide 93% 90% 94% 87% 89% 99% 95% 93% 97% 92%

Farmers Weekly 96% 96% 97% 91% 92% 100% 91% 97% 99% 94%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 13

Proportion of Issues Read (Total)

14%

40%46%

11%

36%

53%

14%

37%

48%

14%

40%46%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Occasional Most All

Rural News Farmers Weekly Country-Wide Straight Furrow

Base: Readers of each publication

© COLMAR BRUNTON 14

Times Read (Total)

44%

40%

35%

45%

42%

44%

41%

38%

42%

49%

45%

41%

38%

58%

30%

32%

30%

27%

28%

29%

22%

26%

24%

30%

28%

30%

31%

24%

18%

21%

23%

16%

22%

19%

23%

24%

22%

12%

19%

20%

23%

12%

6%

6%

10%

10%

7%

6%

12%

11%

9%

6%

6%

6%

6%

4%

2%

2%

1%

2%

1%

2%

2%

2%

2%

3%

2%

2%

2%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News - 2007

2004

2001

1998

Farmers Weekly - 2007

2004

Country-Wide 2007

2004

2001

1998

Straight Furrow - 2007

2004

2001

1998

1 2 3-4 5+ No response

Base: Readers of each publication

© COLMAR BRUNTON 15

Time Spent Reading

9%

7%

6%

14%

8%

12%

9%

8%

10%

22%

10%

9%

7%

21%

36%

36%

31%

39%

35%

37%

28%

30%

30%

36%

35%

34%

33%

42%

36%

34%

36%

29%

37%

32%

31%

31%

32%

27%

36%

35%

37%

26%

15%

17%

18%

13%

16%

14%

20%

19%

19%

10%

15%

16%

17%

9%

4%

5%

9%

4%

4%

4%

11%

10%

8%

3%

3%

6%

5%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News - 2007

2004

2001

1998

Farmers Weekly - 2007

2004

Country-Wide 2007

2004

2001

1998

Straight Furrow - 2007

2004

2001

1998

0-5 mins 6-15 mins 16-30 mins 31-60 mins 1 hour + No response

Base: Readers of each publication

Means

25 min

27min

34 min

23 min

26 min

24 min

35 min

34 min

32 min 20 min 24 min

26 min

27 min

17 min

© COLMAR BRUNTON 16

TotalTotal NorthNorth CentralCentral SouthernSouthern

Rural News 19% 18% 18% 20%

Farmers Weekly 20% 17% 21% 21%

Country-Wide 31% 25% 36% 36%

Straight Furrow 19% 18% 19% 19%

Base: Readers of each publication

Time Spent Reading (31+ minutes) by Region

© COLMAR BRUNTON 17

Rural News

Farmers Weekly Country-Wide Straight

Furrow

Spouse 57% 61% 61% 56%

Children 13% 14% 14% 13%

Other Farmer/Grower 11% 12% 11% 11%

Farm Employee 10% 10% 11% 10%

Other 7% 7% 7% 7%

Base: Readers of each publication

Other Readers

© COLMAR BRUNTON 18

General Publication Ratings

16%

25%

31%

16%

54%

50%

43%

52%

25%

20%

20%

26%

2%

2%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News

Farmers Weekly

Country-Wide

Straight Furrow

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication

In-depth and comprehensive coverage of the topics of interest to you

© COLMAR BRUNTON 19

General Publication Ratings

7%

14%

15%

8%

42%

43%

40%

41%

39%

32%

32%

38%

5%

5%

6%

6%

7%

6%

6%

7%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News

Farmers Weekly

Country-Wide

Straight Furrow

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication

Useful for day to day farm operations

© COLMAR BRUNTON 20

General Publication Ratings

15%

20%

22%

15%

52%

52%

48%

54%

22%

17%

19%

21%

2%

1%

1%

2%

9%

9%

10%

9%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News

Farmers Weekly

Country-Wide

Straight Furrow

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication

Editorial quality

© COLMAR BRUNTON 21

General Publication Ratings

17%

27%

28%

17%

49%

47%

41%

49%

28%

21%

24%

28%

3%

2%

5%

4%

3%

3%

3%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Rural News

Farmers Weekly

Country-Wide

Straight Furrow

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication

Overall value to you

© COLMAR BRUNTON 22

Rural News Farmers Weekly

Country-Wide

Straight Furrow

Rating of Importance

R&D 37% 36% 42% 38% 4.0

News/Issues/Agribusiness 54% 64% 49% 56% 3.9

Livestock/Animal Health 36% 36% 45% 34% 3.9

Market Information & Analysis 35% 52% 33% 37% 3.9

Farm management 31% 34% 45% 30% 3.9

Pasture Management 14% 15% 25% 17% 3.6

Equipment & Machinery 35% 26% 26% 42% 3.0

Humour & Satire 21% 28% 13% n/a 3.0

Real Estate 13% 18% 17% 17% 2.3

Base: Total sample

Publications Use Most For

Dairy Publications

© COLMAR BRUNTON 24

Readership – Dairy Farmers

83%

84%

86%

92%

93%

92%

83%

89%

89%

77%

82%

88%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman

Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter

2007 2004 2001 1998

© COLMAR BRUNTON 25

Readership – Region

% Read TotalTotal NorthernNorthern CentralCentral SouthernSouthern

Dairyman 83% 86% 85% 73%

Dairying Today 84% 88% 84% 73%

NZ Dairy Exporter 86% 89% 90% 76%

Primary Source of Income - Dairy

© COLMAR BRUNTON 26

Readership – Income

% Read TotalUp to

$200,000$200,001-$500,000

Over $500,000

Dairyman 83% 65% 84% 89%

Dairying Today 84% 65% 83% 92%

NZ Dairy Exporter 86% 62% 89% 95%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 27

Readership – By Age

% Read TotalUnder 40

years40-49 years

50-59 years

60+ years

Dairyman 83% 88% 82% 84% 76%

Dairying Today 84% 91% 83% 83% 78%

NZ Dairy Exporter 86% 93% 87% 88% 78%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 28

Proportion of Issues Read

13%

39%

46%

11%

41%

47%

9%

32%

58%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Occasional Most All

Dairyman Dairying Today NZ Dairy Exporter

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

© COLMAR BRUNTON 29

Times Read

42%

34%

33%

34%

38%

35%

30%

34%

24%

20%

18%

20%

26%

31%

29%

28%

32%

30%

30%

25%

20%

21%

20%

15%

21%

26%

28%

26%

22%

26%

26%

26%

31%

37%

35%

28%

8%

7%

10%

10%

6%

7%

12%

13%

24%

21%

25%

37%

3%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

1%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman - 2007

2004

2001

1998

Dairying Today - 2007

2004

2001

1998

NZ Dairy Exporter

2004

2001

1998

1 2 3-4 5+ No response

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

© COLMAR BRUNTON 30

Time Spent Reading

10%

8%

7%

11%

9%

7%

7%

9%

4%

3%

2%

4%

34%

31%

28%

29%

34%

31%

26%

31%

18%

18%

15%

13%

35%

34%

36%

38%

36%

33%

37%

39%

28%

27%

27%

22%

15%

20%

20%

16%

17%

21%

19%

15%

29%

28%

29%

28%

5%

6%

8%

6%

4%

6%

11%

6%

20%

23%

27%

32%

2%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman - 2007

2004

2001

1998

Dairying Today - 2007

2004

2001

1998

NZ Dairy Exporter - 2007

2004

2001

1998

0-5 mins 6-15 mins 16-30 mins 31-60 mins 1 hour + No response

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

Means

26 min

29 min

32 min

28 min

26 min

29 min

35 min

28 min

46 min

49 min

53 min

58 min

© COLMAR BRUNTON 31

The Dairyman Dairying Today NZ Dairy Exporter

Spouse 55% 58% 64%

Farm employee 13% 14% 19%

Children 10% 12% 15%

Other farmer 9% 10% 14%

Other 5% 5% 6%

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

Other Readers

© COLMAR BRUNTON 32

Dairy Publication Ratings

19%

17%

39%

50%

53%

46%

23%

25%

10%

4%

2%

2%

4%

3%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman

Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

In-depth and comprehensive coverage of the topics of interest to you

© COLMAR BRUNTON 33

Dairy Publication Ratings

15%

12%

28%

42%

45%

43%

34%

36%

22%

3%

2%

2%

6%

5%

5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman

Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

Useful for day to day farm operations

© COLMAR BRUNTON 34

Dairy Publication Ratings

14%

12%

23%

46%

48%

51%

24%

26%

15%

4%

3%

2%

12%

11%

9%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman

Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

Editorial quality

© COLMAR BRUNTON 35

Dairy Publication Ratings

21%

19%

41%

47%

50%

42%

24%

27%

13%

5%

2%

2%

3%

2%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Dairyman

Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter

Excellent Good Average Poor Don't know/Not specified

Base: Readers of each publication – Dairy farmers

Overall value to you

© COLMAR BRUNTON 36

NZ Dairy Exporter – Other ratings

Excel-lent Good Average Poor

Not spec.

Ease of reading 40% 43% 12% 1% 4%

Reading enjoyment 33% 45% 16% 1% 5%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 37

Dairyman Dairying Today

NZ Dairy Exporter Rating of Importance

Farm management 44% 42% 66% 4.2

Livestock/ Animal health 38% 38% 57% 4.1

News/Issues/Agribusiness 44% 45% 53% 4.0

Research & development 38% 36% 58% 4.0

Pasture management 18% 20% 30% 3.9

Market information & analysis 29% 28% 44% 3.7

Equipment & Machinery 19% 21% 22% 3.1

Humour & Satire n/a 8% n/a 3.0

Real Estate 5% 6% 6% 2.4

Base: Total Dairy farmers

Publications Use Most For

Farmer / Orchardist Profiles

© COLMAR BRUNTON 47

Farm Type – Total Sample

30%

29%

18%

9%

3%

11%

30%

32%

15%

9%

4%

11%

29%

26%

16%

9%

5%

15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Dairy

Sheep

Beef

Fruit

Other Horticulture

Other

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 48

Gender – Total Sample

79%

21%

79%

21%

80%

21%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Male

Female

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 49

Age Group – Total Sample

3%

11%

28%

32%

27%

3%

15%

31%

32%

19%

3%

15%

31%

32%

19%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Under 30 years

30 to 39 years

40 to 49 years

50 to 59 years

60 years and over

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 50

Region – Total Sample

42%

26%

33%

42%

26%

33%

41%

26%

32%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

North

Central

South

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 51

Location – Total Sample

10%

4%

18%

9%

1%

6%

6%

6%

7%

5%

1%

13%

9%

4%

9%

5%

19%

9%

1%

7%

5%

7%

6%

5%

1%

13%

7%

7%

9%

8%

15%

8%

1%

7%

6%

6%

7%

5%

1%

14%

6%

6%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Northland

Waikato/Hauraki/King Country

Gisborne

Taranaki

Wellington/Wairarapa

West Coast

Otago

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 52

Size of Property – Total Sample

12%

14%

12%

28%

16%

18%

9%

14%

13%

32%

15%

17%

12%

11%

14%

31%

15%

17%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Under 10 hectares

10 to 49 hectares

50 to 99 hectares

100 to 299 hectares

300 to 499 hectares

500 hectares plus

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 53

Gross Farm/Orchard Turnover– Total Sample

32%

12%

28%

25%

3%

28%

13%

34%

22%

3%

30%

12%

35%

21%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

$0 to $150,000

$150,001 to $200,000

$200,001 to $500,000

Over $500,001

No response

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 54

Secondary Sources of Income– Total Sample

3%

14%

38%

6%

2%

2%

4%

1%

17%

12%

28%

2%

14%

42%

7%

2%

2%

5%

1%

17%

9%

22%

2%

16%

39%

7%

2%

3%

4%

1%

11%

13%

25%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Dairy

Sheep

Beef

Cropping

Fruit

Other Horticulture

Deer

Goat

Off farm/orchard

Other

No response/None

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 55

Primary by Secondary Sources of Income

Primary SourcePrimary Source

Secondary SourceTOTALTOTAL DairyDairy Sheep/ Sheep/

beefbeef FruitFruit OtherOther

100%100% 30%30% 47%47% 9%9% 14%14%

Dairy 3% - 4% 1% 3%

Sheep 14% 7% 17% 8% 19%

Beef 38% 35% 47% 12% 30%

Cropping 6% 3% 8% 3% 5%

Fruit 2% 2% 1% 1% 4%

Other horticulture 2% 2% 2% 9% 1%

Deer 4% 1% 7% - 2%

Goat 1% - 1% 1% 2%

Off farm 17% 12% 19% 23% 17%

Other 12% 9% 12% 15% 16%

© COLMAR BRUNTON 56

Items Intend to Buy in Next 12 Months

43%

28%

21%

19%

23%

13%

8%

43%

37%

26%

22%

23%

16%

10%

44%

50%

28%

32%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Overseas Travel

Machinery/Tractors

Farm Bikes

Other Vehicles

Off farm investments

Rural Real Estate

Other Real Estate

2007 2004 2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 57

Use Computer Day to Day Management of Farm/Orchard

Yes52%

No48%

Yes51%

No49%

2007

2004

Yes46%No

54%

2001

© COLMAR BRUNTON 58

Use of Email/Internet for Farming/ Business Related Activities

34%

40%

27%

38%

39%

26%

27%

27%

23%

23%

16%

13%

18%

15%

15%

24%

19%

27%

23%

22%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

Dairy

Sheep/Beef

Fruit

Other

Daily Once a week Less often Never

No differences by regionNo differences by region More daily for larger farms 500ha+More daily for larger farms 500ha+

© COLMAR BRUNTON 59

Nett Visited

10

9

8

9

25

8

Websites Visited and How Often

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

3%

1%

9%

8%

7%

8%

22%

7%

84%

86%

87%

86%

68%

88%

5%

5%

6%

6%

7%

4%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

www.ruralnews.co.nz

www.countrywide.com

www.straightfurrow.co.nz

www.farmersweekly.co.nz

www.hortnz.co.nz

www.dairymag.co.nz - All

Daily Once a week Less Never No response

Note: fruitgrowers based on primary fruit, dairymag based on primary dairyOthers based on all farm types

© COLMAR BRUNTON 60

Nett Visited

18

14

12

13

37

12

Websites Visited and How Often for those who use internet or email daily/often

1%

3%

1%

1%

2%

6%

2%

14%

13%

11%

11%

30%

10%

80%

83%

84%

83%

61%

86%

2%

3%

3%

4%

1%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

www.ruralnews.co.nz

www.countrywide.com

www.straightfurrow.co.nz

www.farmersweekly.co.nz

www.hortnz.co.nz

www.dairymag.co.nz

Daily Once a week Less often Never Not specified

Note: Based on those who use email/internal daily or oftenAlso, fruitgrowers based on primary fruit, dairymag based on primary dairy

Summary

© COLMAR BRUNTON 62

General Publications

• Increase in readership for Farmers Weekly, otherwise a steady picture for readership

• No differences by region, income, age

• Slightly lower readership for dairy/other farm types (vs sheep/beef)

• Slight drop in reading depth vs 2004 – Proportion of issues, times read, reading times– Exception is Farmers Weekly

• More reading by spouses – less by employees

• Generally positive ratings for all publications– Majority excellent/good– Less so on day-to-day usefulness– Country-Wide/Farmers Weekly have the most ‘excellents’– Increase in usage for types of articles for Farmers Weekly associated with increase in

readership• With changes in classification, some trends different to read

© COLMAR BRUNTON 63

Dairy Publications

• Drop in readership vs 2004 for all three– All regions but particularly South– Lower incomes particularly (not high)– Particularly older age groups (not under 40)

• Also some ‘intensity’ drops– Times read, time spent

• Again most ratings positive– Dairy Exporter consistently has most excellents, particularly in-depth

coverage, overall value

• Dairy Exporter also dominates on most article types

© COLMAR BRUNTON 65

Farmer Profile

• Older profile vs previous surveys– Otherwise consistent

• Lower purchase intentions – except travel/investments

• No growth in computer usage– About a third are daily internet/email users– Low website usage

• We are open to data requests – please co-ordinate into one per organisation