Understanding grower demographics,motivations and management practices to improve engagement,extension and industry resilience: a case study of the macadamia industry in the Northern Rivers,Australia

Research and development programs for improved productivity and profitability in horticulture have focused largely on understanding biophysical factors and production and harvest technologies. By contrast, relatively few studies focus upon the existing status of a rural community in terms of demographics, rationales and motivations underlying current farm management practices. Understanding such factors is increasingly important as pressures from climate change, globalised market forces, land-use competition and ageing workforces intersect on farms and for farmers. This paper explores experiences among macadamia growers in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, with the aim to better understand and improve the targeting of development programs to meet grower needs and aspirations, for improved industry resilience. Results suggest that growers are a diverse, ageing demographic who came into the industry with a variety of skill sets. Noting a lack of previous farming experience for many growers, we highlight the need to consider information transfer and succession planning, along with aspirations to consolidate properties and skills. New engagement approaches are recommended, with tailored extension to different grower groups. To aid with this process, a classification tree was developed for the purposes of separating growers into groups with different support needs.