Around 47 per cent of Western Australian farmers are members of a landcare group, 56 per cent active, with an average of eight years involvement, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics today.
Around 47 per cent of Western Australian farmers are members of a landcare group, 56 per cent active, with an average of eight years involvement, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics today.
Around 47 per cent of Western Australian farmers are members of a landcare group, 56 per cent active, with an average of eight years involvement, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics today.
This is six per cent above the national average of 41 per cent of broadacre and dairy farmers surveyed in ABARE's Australian Farms: Natural Resource Management in 2004-05 report.
ABARE acting executive director Karen Schneider said the report also showed a four per cent increase in membership from 2001-02.
The report also revealed that around 60 per cent of farmers reported land degradation in 2004-05, with around half of these farmers indicating that they had already altered their management practices to help deal with land degradation problems. The main problems reported were weed and animal pest infestations, poor soil quality and wind or water erosion.
Farmers participating in natural resource management programs were more likely to identify land degradation and implement sustainable farming practices, the report found.
'Farmers were responding well to the challenges posed by land degradation, with around 70 per cent of cropping farmers adopting minimum tillage and direct drilling, and 70 per cent of graziers adopting systems to better control grazing pressure. The majority of dairy farmers also regularly tested soil or plant tissues to determine fertiliser needs,' Ms Schneider added.
While it is not possible to determine the level of influence that participation in NRM programs has on landholder behavior, the report indicates that participants are more likely to identify land degradation, and to adopt more sustainable farming practices than non participants.
The report also reveals that the vast majority of landholders farmed to maintain the long term capacity of their land, and had the necessary skills and knowledge to address land degradation on their properties.
The report is based on a 2004-05 survey of Australian broadacre and dairy farms funded by the National Landcare Programme. The broadacre and dairy industries account for more than 60 per cent of the value of Australia's gross farm production.