Delving and Divining for Australian Farm Management Agenda: 1970-2010

Abstract

Challenges and opportunities on and off the farm generate a changing agenda for farm business management and farm families in Australia’s rural sector. National, state and regional interest in the contribution and connections of farming to agribusiness, the food sector and the economy, the environmental status of rural land and water and the welfare of farm families leads to public policies interfacing and interacting with private farm business interests. Conceptualising farm businesses as mixes of ‘management’, ‘resources’ and ‘family’ aids appreciation of new structures and strategies, ties in with ‘triple bottom line’ thinking and reflects the shift from farm policy to an array of policies focussing on social, environment and economic aspects of contemporary life in rural and regional Australia. Farming’s links to the domestic and international economy, the environment and regional economies and rural communities are illustrated as the basis of agenda review and search. Selected issues on the agenda from 1970 are plotted and delved into with the aid of a new web based bibliography of Australian farm management, including the literature of the Australian Farm Management Society. Divining agenda towards 2010 is attempted. Some legends, leaders and champions of farm management in Australia are nominated.