Michael Reid (1), Carole Hollier (1), Julie Francis (1) & Brian Furze (2)

Preferred presentation format: Refereed Paper

Affiliation(s): (1) Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Rutherglen.

(2) La Trobe University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Title: Mr. Position: Research Scientist: Rural Development Organisation: Department of Primary Industries, Victoria Contact email: michael.reid@dpi.vic.gov.au Contact phone: (02) 60304523

Keywords: Small Farms, social research process, informed extension, GIS

Small farms are a growing sector of rural Australia. It is acknowledged that small property owners can have a major impact on the landscape and regional prosperity. There has been concern raised over this sectors level of knowledge required to manage the landscape sustainably. Extension has traditionally targeted farmers who derive most income from the farm. There is now a need to improve extension strategies to better engage the small farm sector that doesn’t rely on farm income so heavily and therefore is to not necessarily interested in extension promoted as production boosting. Currently, two research projects are being conducted at the Department of Primary Industries Rutherglen, Victoria investigating the small farm sector. The research aims to understand the needs of the small farmer and develop appropriate extension strategies with rural service providers and the community for this sector. The research is adopting a social paradigm for its work. The research methodology includes secondary data analysis of the small farm sector. Using GIS generated in Arc View 3.2 has allowed the research team to conceptualise some of the bio-physical regions dominated by small farmers. This paper will demonstrate how rainfall layers, topographical maps, and agricultural census data can be displayed to aid the social research process and help locate characteristics of areas dominated by this sector. A richer picture of research can be developed with the addition of qualitative data.

Key learning points:

• Extension can be improved by understanding the target sector through social research
• The small farm sector makes up a significant proportion of farmed land in Victoria and there are high proportions of small farmers in certain regions with particular bio-physical characteristics
• GIS can be used as a tool to better inform social research