Perceived profitability and well-being in Australian dryland farmers and irrigators
Dominic Peel1,2, Helen L Berry1, Jacki Schirmer1,2
1Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Objective:
To describe the relationship between self-reported farm profitability and farmer well-being, and to explore potential implications for farmer assistance policy.
Design:
Cross-sectional analysis of farmers from Regional Wellbeing Survey data (wave 1, 2013) and comparison between groups.
Participants:
Participants were 1172 dryland farmers (35% women) and 707 irrigators (24% women).
Main Outcome Measure:
The Personal Wellbeing Index and the Kessler 10-item measure of general psychological distress.
Results:
There is a consistent and significant relationship between higher profitability, greater well-being and less distress among dryland farmers and irrigators.
Conclusions:
The relationship between farm profitability and the well-being of Australian dryland farmers and irrigators has the potential to inform farmer assistance policy. Assistance programs can be more effective if they explicitly incorporate a profitability assessment into their targeting and eligibility requirements and a well-being component into program design and delivery.
Setting:
Rural Australia.
Intervention:
Not applicable.
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