Summary of the report

Executive Summary
What the report is about
In recent years there has been a wave of new buyers of agricultural land around the fringes of urban districts and in attractive rural landscapes in parts of Australia. These new arrivals—referred to in this report as small lifestyle farmers—are changing the demographics of these areas. Small lifestyle farmers, with their predominantly urban backgrounds, are likely to have different values and aspirations compared with those of their traditional farming neighbours. In parts of the rural landscape, traditional farmers are now a minority rural landholder group.

We know little about what the consequences of these changes will be for managing landscapes and the related challenges for extension programs. But there are compelling reasons for, and significant interest in, improving extension delivery mechanisms to increase engagement opportunities with the expanding number of small lifestyle farmers. These include:

• uncertainties about their potential impacts on the environment
• implications for market access and biosecurity
• the need to work towards achieving community cohesion in areas where the potential for conflict is increasing
• uncertainties about the impacts on agricultural development
• the need to inject the views of small lifestyle farmers into strategies for regional development.

Who is the report targeted at?
This research has provided insights that will assist service providers such as public and private extension program managers, funders and representatives of government at all levels to more effectively connect with small lifestyle farmers—an emerging new client base.

Those living in these changing rural areas—both traditional farmers and small lifestyle farmers—will benefit indirectly through an increase in community cohesion as extension providers pay more attention to the increasingly diverse needs of these areas.

Aims
This project aimed to find out more about the small lifestyle farm sector and its extension needs, and how best to meet these needs. The research questions included:

• Where is the small lifestyle farm sector located? Is its location important?
• What are the characteristics, views and values of small lifestyle farmers that may influence land management decisions and participation in extension programs?
• What are their training needs and preferences in relation to natural resource management?
• What information sources do they access and why?
• What linkages are appropriate for improving delivery mechanisms to the small lifestyle farm sector?

Methods used
Currently there is no clear definition of a small lifestyle farmer. For this study small lifestyle farmers were identified as having a:

• rural property between 5–100 hectares
• low Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO).
• North-east Victoria was chosen as the study area.

Small lifestyle farmers and new entrants to land management are difficult to access, as generally they are not well linked to social or agricultural industry networks. Researchers used a mix of quantitative and qualitative research techniques to reach this sector. The quantitative component included mapping the sector and using questionnaires. Researchers used qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups, workshops and specialised field day activities to contact more than 620 key consultees representing service providers (public and private) and the small lifestyle farm sector.

Findings
Location of small lifestyle farmers and the consequences of where they are located

Small lifestyle farmers choose their locations for amenity and convenience, not because they are places where they can maximise their income. They favour attractive landscapes with the defining features being a mixture of hills and mountains, desirable climate, the presence of water bodies (either fresh or coastal) and close proximity to services. The mix of these biophysical features is often in ecologically sensitive regions, or areas prone to environmental degradation. There is some distinct settlement patterns of small lifestyle farmers: across the eastern coast of Australia, from Melbourne through to Rockhampton, and around the fringes of Adelaide, Perth, Fremantle and other larger regional centres.

With the increase in small lifestyle farmers the population of rural Australia is becoming increasingly diverse. The different values, attitudes, aspirations and practices of new and traditional constituencies need to be acknowledged and understood, otherwise conflicts between small lifestyle farmers and their traditional farming neighbours will be inevitable.

Characteristics of small lifestyle farmers
Diversity is the most striking characteristic of the small lifestyle farm sector. Small lifestyle farmers hold a variety of different values towards land management.

In general, small lifestyle farmers lack farming experience and have poor knowledge about and interest in land management issues. If this is not addressed in the short term, poor land management practice is likely to continue with less attention being paid to environmental issues such as weeds and soil health.

The diversity of views and values towards land management held by small lifestyle farmers is strongly associated with their personal drivers for purchasing a small lifestyle farm and their unique social backgrounds. Generally, they are new entrants to farming and land management and have low levels of practical and technical knowledge.

The sector is also characterised by time constraints (largely due to offfarm employment) and this may vary in accordance to their stage of life.

Small lifestyle farmers are often poorly connected to industry and agricultural networks.

The research identified three different types of small lifestyle farmer, each with their own needs:

• ‘green’ small lifestyle farmer: these strongly value the environment as being important, and caring for a piece of land was the primary motivator for purchase
• ‘lifestyle’ small lifestyle farmer: their purchase of land is strongly driven by lifestyle - to be out of the ‘rat race’, to have an open space for their children, or to be able to grow produce for their own consumption
• ‘beginning farming’ small lifestyle farmer: these may reside on or off the land - their purchase of land is primarily driven by the desire to be ‘farming’.

Training needs
The researchers asked small lifestyle farmers about their training needs. These needs fell into three broad categories:

Getting started/reality check

• local agricultural services: what is available and who is trustworthy
• information on fair prices for goods and services (for example, fencing and/or plant tubestock)
• information for prospective buyers, so they have a better idea of what they are getting into (for example, the weeds that might not be visible until livestock are removed, the costs of establishing infrastructure and the long time lag until such investments pay off)
• infrastructure requirements (for example, proximity of abattoirs that can service the producer’s needs).

Business management

• skills to establish workable cooperatives with other small lifestyle farmers
• diversification opportunities and feasible niche enterprise options for small properties
• specific enterprise issues, for example, livestock health, olive processing, orchard protection from birds and pasture species recognition
• organic, environmentally friendly and alternative management strategies
• drought management and recovery (pasture recovery, feeding)
• tax issues such as registering as an agricultural business and obtaining the supporting documentation
• selling and marketing.

Conservation and environment

• understanding the grants/assistance available for land management activities
• management of bushland
• pest management (for example, weed identification, reasons why weeds should be controlled, the need to follow up the next year, alternative methods for weed control)
• strategies to keep grass down on properties with no livestock
• management of plants and wildlife in drought.

Training preferences
There is no one preferred method for extension. A mix of extension models will be required to improve sustainable land management in the small lifestyle farm sector. However, some mechanisms are more appropriate and effective depending on the level of experience of a small lifestyle farmer or the intervention required for responsible land management.

Targeted field days and print media are important components of delivery mechanisms. Small lifestyle farmers need technical information repackaged so they can understand it.

Formal or structured education and training are infrequently accessed by small lifestyle farmers.

However, there are some educational providers that are beginning to recognise and cater for the needs of the sector. Small lifestyle farmers that are more likely to participate are those planning to be, or already, involved in a niche industry. Time is a limiting factor in attending these courses, with retiree small lifestyle farmers more likely to attend.

Small lifestyle farmers expressed a desire for one-to-one extension. However, agricultural consultants were generally not used by the sector due to cost. Private contractors promoting a service to the sector were regularly engaged. Small lifestyle farmers commonly ask local agribusiness merchandise stores for advice.

Participatory-based approaches involving landholders in problem definition, co-learning and localised problem solving were favoured by the sector. In the study area, Landcare has been a successful approach to help facilitate responsible land management. Personal contact, local information, practical learning and appropriate timing were considered to be important elements.

Small lifestyle farmers favoured group extension models for farmer integration and co-learning. Industry-based extension specialists felt that it was inappropriate to specifically target the sector. In contrast, conservation-based specialists felt that it was important to specifically target the sector.

Small lifestyle farmers do not share the same professional networks as more traditional landowners. Some small lifestyle farmers will not value the information sourced from advocates of particular practices because they do not share a similar worldview or the same personal values about farming. Nonetheless, networks play an important role in the transfer of land management information to the sector. Networks are developed at community events, across organisations and across the neighbour’s fence. Social alliances with other landowners play an important role in co-learning about natural resource management.

Delivering extension and other land management programs to the small lifestyle farm sector
Extension managers and funders need to:

• explore ways of exchanging information through more persuasive forms of extension: this is needed to influence the views and values of some small lifestyle farmers towards land management
• acknowledge the social diversity of the small lifestyle farm sector and what is important to small lifestyle farmers: this will help to build extension pathways and influence delivery mechanisms
• build networks: these will help to exchange knowledge and improve communication between small lifestyle farmers and traditional farmers
• provide local place-based information: local information is required in a format that caters for different needs of those in the small lifestyle farm sector
• adopt collaborative approaches: participatory approaches are more likely to succeed in connecting with small lifestyle farmers.
• build flexibility into program planning and development: new extension programs will need to be flexible and recognise socio-demographic change in rural areas.

• Statistical data frameworks that describe the ‘farms’ sector need to be improved to more accurately capture the extent of the small lifestyle farm sector.
• Extension practitioners need further training to target the small lifestyle farm sector. This may include improving understanding of conflict resolution, network building, and the drivers and views/values of the sector that influence private landowners’ decision-making processes.
• Small lifestyle farmers need to be specifically targeted for environmental outcomes. Sustainable land management is complex and requires the interaction and participation of a wide variety of stakeholders at the local and regional scales.
• All levels of government need to be aware of the location of the small lifestyle farm sector within agricultural landscapes, and the potential issues associated with land use in regional communities.

In summary, extension models and links between organisations that recognise the value of the small lifestyle farm sector will become increasingly important for natural resource management and sustainable regional development.

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Last updated: June 2007
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http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HCC/07-098sum.html