Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Whether playing outdoors or working on the farm, rural children acquire science and engineering skills throughout their daily lives. Although 11.4 million children in the United States grow up in rural areas, compared to 14.6 million in urban areas, relatively little attention is given to rural science education. This article demonstrates that ru ....

This paper examines for the first time health and safety issues for small farms in Australia. It provides evidence that small area farmers face similar hazards to that of larger operations. The results also indicate that further work is required to assist these producers in understanding both their legal obligations in respect to health and safet ....

Grazing experiments are usually used to quantify and demonstrate the biophysical impact of grazing strategies, with the Wambiana grazing experiment being one of the longest running such experiments in northern Australia. Previous economic analyses of this experiment suggest that there is a major advantage in stocking at a fixed, moderate stocking ....

In late October, as Tasmania began reviewing its ban on genetically modified (GM) food crops, a group of 97 scientists signed a joint statement that warned: 'The claimed consensus on GM organism safety does not exist.' Katherine Wilson discusses the GM foods issue Report Locationhttp://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Reposito ....

Cross-country labor productivity differences are larger in agriculture than in non-agriculture. We propose a new explanation for these patterns in which the self-selection of heterogeneous workers determines sector productivity. We formalize our theory in a generalequilibrium Roy model in which preferences feature a subsistence food requirement. ....

This article discusses the need for restrictions on foreign buy-up of farmland until a register of foreign ownership is established. However, the issue is complicated by the fact that many farmers would be happy to sell to anyone because of the parlous state of many rural industries. Discusses the relationship between farm debt and foreign owners ....

Some political scientists have argued that 'countrymindedness', a set of tenets about the importance of agriculture and rural life, is of decreasing political and social importance. There has been little empirical research to test this, so the authors conducted an exploratory survey of attitudes to rural industries and people. The results reveal ....

Australia's farming history has seen a shift from a countryside once scattered primarily with traditional family farms, to a diverse landscape where large farms operate next door to rural residential properties and small farms. This project aims to increase national understanding of the contribution that small farms make to rural communities. The ....

For over a century, farmers in the northern plains region of Victoria have adapted to the challenge of farming in a climate shaped by periodic drought and low rainfall. The "climatic" and "pricing" shocks which have occurred during the first decade of the new millennium have driven considerable change across the once stable production landscape. ....

As part of the first case study 'Barriers and constraints to the adoption of sustainable farming techniques in the sheep/wheat industry: the sociological context', the large body of sociological theory which seeks to explain farmer behaviour is focused on. An ethnographic interview survey of 104 farm people was conducted in two Riv ....

As one part of the Australian Government's National Review of Drought Policy, an assessment of the social impacts of drought on farm families and rural communities was undertaken by an expert panel. To support this inquiry, this submission provides preliminary information from the Regional and Rural Families Survey, which includes ....

As one part of the Australian Government's National Review of Drought Policy, an economic assessment of drought support measures was undertaken by the Productivity Commission. To support this inquiry, this submission provides preliminary information from the Regional and Rural Families Survey, which includes estimates of the social ....

Fishing is an important economic and social activity for many Australians. Both commercial and recreational fishing provide employment and income, particularly in coastal areas of the country, as well as a range of other lifestyle and health benefits for the Australian community. The fishing sector faces many challenges, and is in ....

In recent years there has been increasing interest in monitoring social dimensions of primary industries in Australia, however there has been no regular reporting of social data in the forestry sector. This discussion paper proposes a methodology for including social indicators in ABARES Australian forest and wood products statistics (AFWPS) ....