Participating farmers provide us with details of their particular farm: its physical structure and their current management strategy. This takes place over a series of interviews where the research team visits the case study farm for a couple of hours, discussing the farm and refining the model to be sensitive to the management questions that emerge. At the same time, a research question of their interest is formed, which will become the basis of further discussion.
During these interviews we develop insights into the drivers behind that particular farm's strategy. We have started 7 case studies across Eastern Australia, and described our initial findings for each (the map below, and on the sidebar). As more discussion takes place, these documents will be extended to include quantifications of management alternatives specific to each farm.
Given that a significant amount of financial data is disclosed, these case study farmers remain anonymous, and we refer to each by location only.
So what have we learned so far? In brief:
- That our participating farmers are generous with information
- With the exception of the Emerald farm, all farms are facing declining water allocations.
- All are interested in balancing the need for profit against the benefits of crop rotations.
View in a larger map.
