Family Farm Economic Diversification: too hard and risky or an opportunity overlooked?

Family Farm Economic Diversification: too hard and risky or an opportunity overlooked?

Diversification is practiced by Australian farmers as a means of building resilience to risks including variations in seasons, climate and markets. Mixed farming is frequently used as a form of agricultural diversification but more complex economic forms are being adopted by primary producers. Examples of economic farm diversification that are increasingly being adopted by farmers include agritourism, vertical integration and value-adding. Off-farm employment and investment income are other ways farmers build resilience to the risks inherent in agriculture. This research focused on the economic forms of diversification of value-adding, vertical integration and agritourism. The purpose of this research was to learn from the lived experiences of farmers who had diversified. It interviewed owners of 21 diversified family farming enterprises and 18 observers of farm economic diversification. Observers were ‘farmer-facing’ professionals including agribusiness bankers, federal, state and local government department or agency employees and independent service providers. Participants were located across central, western and southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Participants were interviewed using Teams or Zoom. Feedback from participants confirmed that farm diversification is undertaken for a variety of reasons. These included building resilience to drought and market price variability, for financial benefit and to create employment opportunities for family members. Many farmer participants had more than one diversification and many referred to their diversifications contributing to the enjoyment of operating their family farm. Several even referred to the mental health benefits obtained from their diversifications including from learning that was stimulating, and the networks in which they participated.

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