Farmers are unimpressed with the Government’s performance across a number of issues, an Irish Farmers Journal Red C poll has found. Almost 60% of farmers do not believe that the economic recovery has benefited them. Broadband and rural transport in particular were flagged as areas which need improvement. Two-thirds of farmers (65%) rated Government performance on these issues as poor or very poor.

Healthcare, services such as post offices and garda stations, and fodder are also areas where ‘‘poor’’ ratings far outweigh positive endorsements of the Government.

There is a significant regional variation in how farmers believe the Government is performing. While almost one-quarter of those in Leinster and Munster rated broadband performance as good, 71% of those in Connacht and Ulster said it was poor. Similarly, job performance on Brexit is a bigger issue in that region.

Across all regions, farmers are unhappy with rural transport, with nearly two-thirds saying Government performance is poor. This is strongest among those aged from 35 to 54. Farmers in Leinster are happiest with road infrastructure, with 40% there saying it is good compared with almost half of farmers in the rest of the country saying it is poor.

Despite this, opposition parties have not managed to capitalise on performance ratings to gain more of the farming vote. Fine Gael is still the farmer’s party of choice. Almost half of those surveyed (48%) said that Fine Gael would receive their first preference vote, which is double the support for Fianna Fáil (25%). This time two years ago, Fine Gael had 53% of the farmer vote while Fianna Fáil had 23%.

Fine Gael support is strongest in Leinster, whereas a significantly higher proportion of those in Munster, Connacht and Ulster tend to favour independent candidates. Farmer support for Fine Gael in Leinster stands at 60%, compared with 44% in Connacht-Ulster and 42% in Munster. By comparison, support for independent candidates in Leinster stands at 10%, compared with 22% in Munster and 24% in Connacht-Ulster.

Sinn Féin’s support has doubled among farmers in the last decade to 6%, with their strongest support base in the Connacht-Ulster region.

Read more on the exclusive Irish Farmers Journal Red C poll in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal.