EXCLUSIVE SURVEY: GRAIN growers are most likely of all farmers to adopt new technology, writes XAVIER DUFF
Grain growers are the most progressive group of farmers, more likely to adopt new technology than others according to an exclusive survey of Victorian and Riverina farmers commissioned by The Weekly Times.
While only 27 per cent of all farmers like to try new technology or products as soon as they are released, the figure rises to 40 per cent of grain growers.
Overall, most farmers prefer to wait and see how new innovations worked for other farmers before trying them out for themselves.
Sheep producers are the most conservative with only 18 per cent taking up new technology immediately.
The Farmer Insights 2010 survey interviewed 1000 farmers on their views on a range of issues from finance and technology to retirement and succession.
Grain growers were most likely to use high-tech precision agriculture techniques with 63 per cent using precision tools such as global positioning systems to automatically steer farm machinery.
Grain growers were the most willing to grow genetically modified crops, while many other farmers were reluctant to adopt the controversial new technology. Only 37 per cent of all farmers said they were willing to grow a GM crop. Another 14 per cent were unsure.
Not surprisingly - given the decade-long drought - half of the farmers surveyed relied on off-farm income to survive.
Of those farmers with off- farm income, 26 per cent worked in an off-farm job and 41 per cent had a working spouse or partner.
About a third had investment income to supplement the farm.
In a sign farmers are not getting any younger, only 19 per cent said they would retire before turning 65, while 11 per cent said they would not retire until they were over 70.
When they did retire, half the farmers surveyed said they would pass the farm on to the family while 26 per cent said they would sell up.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Andrew Broad said he was not surprised that the retiring age was so high.
"It's a good job they are continuing to farm, because we are not getting enough young farmers coming through to replace them ," Mr Broad said.
"Farmers keep going because they enjoy what they are doing, but we need a workforce of younger farmers to keep driving productivity and innovation."
Mr Broad said policies were needed such as exemption from stamp duty for first-farm buyers and tax incentives to encourage young people to buy a farm.
Mr Broad said the trend for family farming would continue. Families with knowledge of their land, using modern business principles would always do better than a purely corporate business, he said.
