A North Island farmer group headed by Sir Michael Fay, that has thus far been thwarted in its attempt to buy the 16 Crafar farms currently in receivership, has commissioned a survey that shows the majority of Kiwis are opposed to foreign ownership of New Zealand farmland.

The survey, by corporate reputation and social marketing research company UMR, shows 82 per cent of 500 respondents believe foreign ownership of farms and agriculture is a 'bad thing'.

Only 10 per cent believe it a good thing, and 8 per cent are unsure.

Federated Farmers Dairy vice chair Robin Barkla says the survey results won’t surprise many farmers who already opposed the sale.

“That seems to be the sentiment of the day among some people; it’s a topical subject, and there’s a lot of emotion in it – so for that reason I’m not totally surprised.

“The cold hard fact of it, though, is only a very small percentage of our land is foreign owned.”

The on-line poll also found that Kiwis are not xenophobic or racist in opposing foreign sales but want to keep control of our primary resource.

76 per cent of Kiwis are against US buyers, 67 per cent against British, and 54 per cent against Australian interest.

Sir Michael Fay, spokesperson for the group, whose offer for the Crafar farms was rejected by the Receiver as being too low, says they decided to go public with the new survey, to spark an election debate.