Farmers are managing their farm businesses whilst faced with emerging challenges and opportunities from climate variability, environmental, societal and economic forces. To help face these challenges farm advisers have become a sounding board and source of ideas and support. Whilst the role of farm advisers in providing this support has been described in the scholarly community, limited attention has been given to the nature of the farm-adviser relationship and how it is built and maintained. This is important, given the greater role farm advisers are expected to play in providing privatised extension services. This paper describes and analyses the building and maintenance of the farmer-advisor relationship from the perspective of farmers in the south-eastern Australian grains industry. Drawing on qualitative analysis of 30 in-depth interviews of farmers with an existing relationship with an agronomist, the processes of advisory relationship building, maintenance, and the nature of commitment to an adviser were explored. The farmers' commitment was influenced by levels of satisfaction with the service, previous investment in building the relationship, and whether there were advisory alternatives. This knowledge is useful for farmers in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with their advisors, for advisors in understanding client expectations, and for agricultural policymakers and education providers in increasing demand for advisory services from farmers and in targeting farm advisor training. This paper makes a theoretical contribution by presenting a novel description of the social processes contributing to a committed farmer-adviser relationship.
Kuehne, G; Nettle, R; Llewellyn, R
Key social processes sustaining the farmer/advisor relationship
Rural Extension And Innovation Systems Journal