17 May 2007

Research for the national Grain & Graze program shows Australia's primary producers will be keeping the farm in the family for a long time yet, in spite of one of the worst droughts on record, and the growth of large corporate-owned farms,.

Grain & Graze consultant Nigel McGuckian says while the nation's farmers haven't been immune from the "get big or get out" credo, there are still relatively few large family businesses but plenty of small ones - some 90,000 in fact.

"Corporate agriculture has grown in the past 20 years, but primarily in the areas of tree plantations, intensive fruit growing, wine production, and extensive beef cattle production," Mr McGuckian said.

"The growth has concentrated in those areas of agriculture because repeatable processes can be implemented using science and a formula, labour can be employed to carry out repeatable tasks and the environment is controlled and well understood.

"Corporate agriculture has not made significant inroads in dryland cropping and grazing, dairying and sheep and wool production, most likely because the seasons are unpredictable and seen as high risk, production techniques are seen as 'low tech' (although they are managed with great skill by farmers) and it is difficult to find skilled labour."

Mr McGuckian said it was in such farming industries that family farms had an excellent track record. They had adapted to making complex decisions, something that was very difficult for corporate managers, probably because they didn't understand the variables involved in making complex decisions.

Family farmers managed complexity extremely well, because they had adapted to Australia's harsh environment; corporation owners required systems which were repeatable and in which risks were controlled by known reliable decision making processes.

Mr McGuckian's RM Consulting Group (RMCG) has researched a number of rural, social issues for the Grain & Graze program, which is a collaborative partnership between Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Land & Water Australia (LWA).

The program aims to help mixed farmers increase their profitability and simultaneously better manage natural resources and it commissioned RMCG to find out what influenced mixed farmers to change their farming systems, how they evaluated the financial implications of their decisions and what social factors they considered important in decision making.

The results of RMCG's survey work - one of the most intensive surveys of its type ever carried out in Australia - are revealed in seven discussion papers grouped together as "Social Dimensions of Managing Mixed Farming Systems". These papers can be viewed at www.grainandgraze.com.au and click on 'Research Projects' > 'Social Influences' > 'Grain & Graze Discussion Papers Nov 06'.

Mr McGuckian says the results of his research for Grain & Graze suggest family farmers:
� are well positioned to resist the effects of drought. "Family farmers have a very strong affinity to the country and care deeply about where they live," he says. "They will hang on because where they live is very important to them, and they will live to fight another day";
� manage risk well and produce carefully and efficiently. "Farmers are always balancing many factors in decision making, aiming for long term prosperity," he says;
� care about the condition of the land. "Farmers have learnt a lot about soil conditions and now, in the main, manage soils very well," he says. "In the Mallee region, for instance, farms fared much better in the current drought than in the one in 1982 because better soil management has ensured greater ground cover, meaning less top soil has blown away during the drought"; and;
� will make do. "Family farms will reduce spending to get through difficult times," he says, "and they are constantly adapting to their new environment. They make sure though, that the changes will work in the long term and they are suspicious of short term fads."

For more information about Grain & Graze's National Social Research Project, contact Nigel McGuckian, RM Consulting Group, on 03 54414821 or nigelm@rmcg.com.au or visit www.grainandgraze.com.au.

Grain & Graze Regional Coordinators

Avon Region - Linda Leonard - 08 9690 2191
Border Rivers Region - Rachel Charles - 07 4671 7900
Central West/Lachlan Region - Jodie Dean - 02 6895 1015
Corangamite/Glenelg-Hopkins Region - Cam Nicholson - 03 5258 3860
Eyre Peninsula Region - Alison Frischke - 08 8680 6223
Mallee Region - Zubair Shahzad - 03 50 219 103
Maranoa/Balonne Region - Stephen Ginns - 07 4620 8122
Murrumbidgee Region - Katrina Sait - 02 6924 4633
Northern Agricultural Region - Philip Barrett-Lennard - 08 94750753


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