A decline in risk perception of changes in producer boards could be due to deregulation of the industry, whereas the introduction of the Resource Management Act (RMA) may have been behind farmers’ increasing perception of risks associated with changes in local laws and regulations. The tightness of the labour market, particularly in the South Island, and the problems this has created for both the recruitment and retention of labour is suggested as a reason for the higher score for risks associated with problems with hired labour and contractors in 2004. Recent research in progress by Shadbolt et al (2010) on dairy farmers introduces additional dimensions to risk analysis.