Resource Management and Geography - Research Publications

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Influences on farming family’s strategic decisions

Farmar-Bowers, Quentin ( 2007)

Farming families create opportunities for themselves to take action in a wide range of areas such as, recreation, socialisation, education, farm-enterprises, businesses, off-farm investments and hobbies. Some of these actions are strategic and lead to major changes in the family’s future. Over the last few years we have developed a ‘decision-systems theory’ (DST) about strategic decisions taken by farming families. The theory was developed from in-depth interviews with farming families. The theory provides an understanding of why farming families create these opportunities. This understanding is important for businesses and governments wanting to influence farmers’ actions. However, and perhaps rather surprisingly, it is also useful for farming families to know about the ‘decision-systems theory’ because it provides a framework to help them make better strategic decisions and also assists family members participate in these decisions. The decision-systems theory has six parts; five relate to the farming family and the sixth concerns how third parties (such as businesses and governments) can interpret the theory for policy development. The paper outlines the six parts of the theory and discusses its use as a tool to build strategic-decision capacity in farming families. The paper ends with an outline of proposed work program to refine and apply the theory in the coming two years.