Social benchmarking rural landholders across Australia

Understanding what drives farm management decisions can help guide strategies for farmer engagement and increase investment in new ideas, technologies and approaches aimed at improving soil management and productivity.

To build this understanding, the Soil CRC has surveyed thousands of Australian landholders across six farming regions – North Central Victoria, Central West NSW, the Western Australian Wheatbelt, Tasmania, South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and the Wimmera region of Victoria.

This project will complete the second round of the Soil CRC’s social benchmarking of rural landholders to enable a longitudinal understanding of farmer practices, aspirations, and motivations.

The final three follow-up surveys have been co-developed with local Soil CRC partners in Central West NSW, Tasmania, and the Victorian Wimmera region to address regional and industry nuances. The project team will run workshops with local groups to ensure the ongoing relevance of the surveys.

The knowledge gained from this research will help the Soil CRC and farmer groups to better respond to farmers’ needs and will further inform strategic planning into the future, as well as help to evaluate the impact of the Soil CRC in these regions.