Agricultural Survey

Methuen Morgan is a fourth year Honours student at the University of New England in Armidale NSW & is conducting a survey looking at farming practices,attitudes and beliefs towards issues such as climate change, the environment and the trustworthiness of governments and regulatory bodies by Australian farmers.

He has received responses from over 300 farmers involved in organisations such as Cattle Breed societies (eg. Charolais, Shorthorn, Angus and the Australian Brahman Breeders Association) and groups such as the Biological Farmers of Australia, Agforce Qld and The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association.

Methuen would appreciate assistance from the Doughtmaster Society & invites members to have their say & participate in the survey.

The link is. http://unebcss.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_720fKz3dTeK0IDO&SVID=

BACKGROUND from Methuen

As you are no doubt aware approximately sixty percent of the Australian landmass is under the stewardship of Australian farmers and yet our views, attitudes, beliefs and practices are not well understood. Policy makers and indeed the media tend to lump our community into one anonymous group and it may appear that this attitude is reflected in a seemingly one size fits all approach to rural policy implementation.

The survey is attempting to investigate pro-environmental behaviours, perceived trustworthiness of authorities and attitudes to climate change,attachment to property/land, attitudes to the general environment, and the time perspective of Australian Farmers.

I want to stress this is a survey by a farmer investigating other farmers attitudes and behaviours. The survey is being undertaken by myself and is supervised by Associate Professor Don Hine.

I am a fourth generation farmer from Condamine, QLD, with 27 years broad acre and cattle experience and currently owns and lives on a working property outside Armidale, and studies part time at the University of New England.

The survey should only take between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on how fast you type. I understand how busy you are but I think the potential significance of the survey will make it worth the effort. There are no right or wrong answers and questionnaire responses can't be traced back to any individual.

If you've got any concerns or questions you can contact Methuen on mmorgan5@une.edu.au or on his mobile 0429 192 087. The results of this survey may assist policy development and provide an insight into the cognitive profiles of todays agricultural practitioners.