Farmers dig in though drought saps confidence

Farmers in Victoria's parched north-west are vowing to fight on, despite a devastating drought from which many will take years to recover.

Research shows the drought has widened the gap between successful farmers and those battling to survive. And it has made farmers take a more cautious approach to production, marketing and income-protection decisions.

But this caution could reduce farmers' ability to capitalise on higher product prices in future, and potentially slow their recovery from drought.

The findings are part of a qualitative research project by the Birchip Cropping Group, based on interviews with farmers in the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of north-west Victoria. The first interviews were conducted in February 2007 with 60 families, and subsequent interviews were done with 20 families six and 12 months later.

The 11 key trends identified included that the outlook of some farmers towards farming and the climate had been darkened by the past few drought years, and they now suffered high anxiety levels regardless of weather conditions.

As well, most small rural communities are facing declining populations and services and this is hurting the resolve of farming families; and most farmers talk about quitting the land but researchers are not aware of any of the farming families actually selling up.