Reconsidering the focus of business and natural resource training: Gender issues in Australian farm management

Agriculture in Australia isacknowledged as having serious environmentalimpacts. Since the Brundtland Report in 1987, aNational Strategy for Ecologically SustainableDevelopment (ESD) has charted a course for aneconomically, environmentally, and sociallysustainable agriculture. Numerous extensioninitiatives, such as catchment management,Landcare, property management plans, and, morerecently, environmental management systems, aredriving business education programs for farmersin most states in an attempt to address theissues of ESD. Innovative accounting techniquesand models exist, particularly developmentsthat recognize and value biodiversity, monitorenvironmental impacts, and show that renewableresources are indeed ``renewable,' which couldbe the focus of integrated extensioninitiatives supportive of ecologicallysustainable development. Empirical researchconducted during 1996 that exploredenvironmental concern and actions of farmersindicated that farmwomen were better educatedand more likely to be environmentallyconcerned. In addition they were more likely tosupport that concern with actions that indicatethat the farm is being managed for sustainableoutcomes. This paper explores these issues,concluding that there is a need to reconsiderthe focus of business and natural resourcemanagement education for farmers in Australia.