Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

New Zealand farmers were affected in significant ways by agricultural restructuring during the mid 1980s. Government, farmers' union, academic and media discourses all describe the ensuing years as a period of financial hardship for farm families. Based on aggregate statistics, the majority of these discourses reflect and 'naturalise' the governm ....

The present study was a qualitative investigation of the impact of drought on rural families of southern New South Wales, Australia, with particular emphasis on the concept of resilience in times of stress. The aim was to provide insight, from a psychological perspective, into the experiences of rural farmers in a time of adversity ....

Research to help the Cotton Industry and reports on the industry. This resource provides a wealth of publications on regional issues, including specific reports relating to cotton production in regional Australia. As a collection, these publications provide valuable information on regional industry. Report Locationhttp://crdc.com.au/rd-e-li ....

Information on the expenditure patterns of farmers was collected as part of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics' 1999 Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey. Farmers were asked to estimate the proportion of their expenditure on certain farm and household goods and services that was spent in t ....

Rural communities face an uncertain future. These communities are reliant on the long term resilience of their productive resources, but often utilise these resources to resolve short term pressures. Their survival is dependent upon their ability to sustain their families by balancing social demands and the biophysical capacity of ....

This report identifies themes and draws together the key performance issues and critical success factors learned from consultation with a broad range of new industry participants. It presents the findings from research into the critical success factors underpinning viable new rural industries. The report provides a valuable insight for people inv ....

Recent environmental changes and trade liberalisation have significant implications for the way farming will be conducted in future. The number of farming families has decreased by 46% between 1971 and 2006 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, Customised Data), therefore the re-evaluation of farming methods seems appropriate. Tra ....

This report analyses the farm performance data contributed through the OECD Network for Farm-level Analysis. It first compares the distribution of four economic performance indicators across nine participating countries or regions for selected farm types (output and input ratio, and net operating income per unit of labour, land and net worth). Th ....

Statistics and market news relevant to the Dairy Industry. This resource provides a wealth of publications on regional issues, including specific reports relating to the dairy industry in regional Australia. As a collection, these publications provide valuable information on regional industry. Report Locationhttp://www.dairyaustralia.com.au ....

The Australian dairy industry sits at crossroads. It hasn’t grown, as an industry, over the past decade and has a diminished global standing and reputation. In the Australian domestic market, the dairy news has been dominated by stories of the demise of fresh milk regions due to the ‘deep discounting’ of private label milk products. As anal ....

This RIRDC paper reports on a study of 4,000 Australian farmers. It examines factors that are associated with decisions they may or may not make to adapt to risks posed by climate change. The report reveals that a majority of farmers are simply focusing on surviving in the short term in the face of a myriad of challenges which go well beyond cli ....

A review of the grey and published literature on field investigations of components of the water balance of irrigated pastures and annual broadacre crops in Australia culminated in the development of REFIRR, a database of studies of the water balance and irrigation management for irrigated crops and pastures. The review highlighted ....

Narromine and Warren shires are reliant on a water-dependent economy, which is impacted by both water policy and climate change. The prospect of future water reduction under the proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan, on top of existing buybacks and climate change projections, prompted the local shires to develop an adaptation plan to prepare for a f ....

Annual report by the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia. Report Locationhttp://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/aboutus/dept/dafwa_ar_2013.pdf ....