Rural Community and Rural Resilience: What is important to farmers in keeping their country towns alive?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2011.09.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Many studies have highlighted the phenomenon of rural decline in parts of the developed world, summarised as a loss in agricultural employment leading to a decline in the number and size of rural settlements. This study of small towns in part of Australia’s inland rural “heartland” employs the concepts of interactional rural community of place and rural resilience to identify how farmers perceive their interactions with their local town. This study suggests that robust levels of ongoing engagement between farmers and town communities are important in maintaining rural populations and services along with both a strong local economy and environment. Face-to-face interviews with 115 farmers in two rural regions of New South Wales, Australia, highlight the importance of the local economy and jobs, the quality of the local environment and a strong sense of belonging, in contributing to a strong sense of local community and potential for resilience.

Introduction

Australia’s rural towns exhibit great diversity, ranging from traditional agricultural service centres and localities associated with farming and grazing to mining towns, non-metropolitan tourist towns and remote Australian communities such as Aboriginal outstations and island communities (Pritchard and McManus, 2000, Gray and Lawrence, 2001, Hugo, 2005). Although many small towns close to major urban areas are increasing in population as a result of overspill (Connell and McManus, 2011), it has become fashionable to talk of, or predict, an inexorable decline in small rural centres if these places lie outside the orbit of rural gentrification. For example, many country towns, often located in dryland agricultural regions far from major urban centres, have been associated with decline and death, with images of coffins and the passing of an era and a way of life (Country Shire Councils Association and Country Urban Councils Association Working Party, 1990, Forth, 2000 and Forth and Howell, 2002). These towns fit the profile of what Lowe and Ward (2009) label “deep rural”. They “seem to lack sufficient symbolic resources to attract in those socio-economic classes that are underpinning the vibrancy of the “commuter” categories” (Lowe and Ward, 2009, 1324) or the sea-change and tree-change towns of Australia (Burnley, 1988, Burnley and Murphy, 1995, Burnley and Murphy, 2002, Burnley and Murphy, 2004, Smailes, 2000). To make such sweeping claims about vast areas of inland Australia is, of course, fraught with danger.

The notion of rural decline in Australia is firmly established in the literature (Forth, 2000, Forth and Howell, 2002) and is supported by demographic trends which depict many small rural centres in more remote settings gradually shrinking in population (Walmsley et al., forthcoming). There have been a number of local, state and national strategies to address economic and population imbalances between large cities, larger regional centres and smaller towns in Australia (Pritchard and McManus, 2000, Beer et al., 2003, Haslam-McKenzie and Tonts, 2005). Recognition that those strategies have largely failed to shift the path of local development, and of the limitations of government power in this policy arena, have stirred the notion of death and decline of many places (see Sorensen, 2002, Sorensen, 2003, Sorensen et al., 2007, Hearfield and Sorensen, 2009). In Europe and North America there have been similar concerns about the fate of small towns and rural areas as economic and demographic pressures are brought to bear on vulnerable rural communities, reinforced in some cases by changes in governance structures and tempered by a recognition of demographic shifts towards favoured rural areas, a trend that is similar to the Australian situation (Norris-Baker, 1999, Blevins, 2000, Johnson, 2003, Burnley and Murphy, 2004, Costello, 2007, Davies, 2008, Kasimis, 2008, Wood, 2008, Carr and Kefalas, 2009, Hall and Stern, 2009). For example, Popper and Popper (1987, 14) noted that on the Great Plains of the USA, “many small towns are emptying and ageing at an all-time high rate, and some are dying”.

Despite population declines and an emphasis by many of the above authors on economic drivers, Smailes (2000, 178) concluded that “place-identity, sense of belonging and primary social contact patterns are subject to much greater inertia [than economic functions such as shopping trips]”. The importance of social engagement is highlighted by Hamin and Marcucci (2008, 469) who identify “structures of expectation” that are built on the shared experience of a region. This shared experience can extend beyond primary social contacts, such as face-to-face contact, to include telephone and email conversations.

Thus, while some argue that economics are driving decline, others suggest that a sense of belonging and social participation can mitigate against such decline. Research has tended to adopt one of the above arguments, rather than exploring a range of factors in the lives of farmers in or near these towns. The resilience of small rural communities in Australia, despite the loss of agricultural employment, is therefore a story yet to be adequately explored (see Rogers and Collins, 2001, Alston, 2004).

This paper explores rural resilience in two rural regions in Australia’s heartlands, comparing economic, social and environmental issues perceived as important by farmers in maintaining their local towns. The study crosses a number of themes identified by Ryser and Halseth (2010) in their overview of rural economic development research (see Table 1, p. 512). Following a review of literature on rural resilience and rural communities from an interactional perspective, we introduce the two case studies, present the research methods, provide quantitative and qualitative findings from our research and then review these results in relation to resilience in rural communities. We conclude with recommendations for rural policy, emphasising that the resilience of rural communities is not about the social versus the economic, but involves maintaining a range of aspects of community of place, including a viable local economy, the quality of the local environment and a strong sense of belonging among residents.

Section snippets

Resilience in Australian rural communities

Research in Australia and elsewhere has at times hypothesised that farm enterprises and rural service centres are “uncoupling” (eg. Stayner and Reeve, 1990). That is to say, the traditional bonds that tied farmers to local rural service centres are weakening as improvements in communications (both transport and telecommunications) and changing on-farm practices free farm enterprises from reliance on “the local”. Notwithstanding farmers’ continuing commercial allegiances to local suppliers – the

Background to the case studies

In order to explore the social, economic and environmental linkages between farmers and their communities, we developed a research methodology that enabled us to learn about both formal and informal social interaction and sense of belonging among rural producers in two case study sites, Lachlan and the Northern Tablelands (Fig. 1). Questions on these topics were embedded within a larger questionnaire that also explored the changing nature of farm activity. The current study concentrates on

Research methods

As part of our research we undertook 115 face-to-face interviews with farmers from the two case study regions. They were recruited using a random sampling methodology and drawn from rate-payer database records obtained from the three local governments in the target areas. We deleted town-based and non-local farm owners from the list, together with “rural residential” populations who appeared to reside on farms for lifestyle reasons. The latter involved applying a minimum farm size, 100 ha for

Results

The above methods yielded important results, which are presented below, focusing first on population trends, then community spirit and participation, followed by various aspects that represent specific social fields. Finally, perceptions of the social fields are analysed statistically to identify which contribute most to a holistic sense of community spirit.

Discussion: community fields promoting resilience

It seems significant that despite a decade of regional population loss, economic difficulties and (especially pertinent to Lachlan) the experience of living through one of the most severe droughts in a century, farmers generally did not hold the view that social and community life was deteriorating. The regression analysis modelling suggests that perceptions of the environment are important to resilience, along with feelings of belonging, the local economy and community spirit over time. It

Conclusion

The importance of farmers’ contributions to rural towns can be easily overlooked when considering the relative position of agriculture in the Australian economy and the decline in the number of farmers in Australia. Our study highlights that farmers continue to make a valuable contribution to the economic (Pritchard et al., 2011) and social life of rural communities. Our findings are relevant, inasmuch as they complicate other published accounts of community change in rural Australia which show

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Alison McIntosh and Terryll Cassidy for their assistance with this research. We also acknowledge the helpful contribution of two diligent referees and the editor of this journal in improving the article over time. Finally, we are grateful that this research was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project scheme (ARCDP0771418 – Australia’s Rural Heartlands: Declining Economic Fortune or Dynamic Regional Adjustment?).

References (64)

  • P. Hall et al.

    Reluctant rural regionalists

    Journal of Rural Studies

    (2009)
  • E. Hamin et al.

    Ad hoc rural regionalism

    Journal of Rural Studies

    (2008)
  • ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

    Basic Community Profile Series

    (2007)
  • ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

    Agricultural Commodities: Small Area Data 2005–06 (Reissue)

    (2008)
  • H.E. Allison et al.

    Resilience, adaptive capacity, and the “Lock-in Trap” of the Western Australian agricultural region

    Ecology and Society

    (2004)
  • M. Alston

    Who is down on the farm? Social aspects of Australian agriculture in the 21st Century

    Agriculture and Human Values

    (2004)
  • N. Argent et al.

    Something old, something new, something borrowed, something…? Rediscovering the comparative advantage of the “New” pastoral economies of Northern New South Wales

  • A. Beer et al.

    Developing Australia’s Regions: Theory and Practice

    (2003)
  • B. Blevins

    Retreating to the Hill: population replacement in the Arkansas Ozarks

    Agricultural History

    (2000)
  • J. Bridger et al.

    Place, community development and social capital

    Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society

    (2006)
  • I. Burnley

    Population Turnaround and the Peopling of the Countryside? Migration from Sydney to country districts in New South Wales

    Australian Geographer

    (1988)
  • I. Burnley et al.

    Residential location choice in Sydney’s perimetropolitan region

    Urban Geography

    (1995)
  • I. Burnley et al.

    Change, continuity or cycles: the Population Turnaround in New South Wales

    Journal of Population Research

    (2002)
  • I. Burnley et al.

    Sea Change: Movement from Metropolitan to Arcadian Australia

    (2004)
  • P.J. Carr et al.

    Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America

    (2009)
  • J. Connell et al.

    Rural Revival? Place Marketing, Tree Change and Regional Migration in Australia

    (2011)
  • L. Costello

    Going bush: the implications of urban-rural migration

    Geographical Research

    (2007)
  • Country Shire Councils Association and Country Urban Councils Association Working Party

    Country Towns: A Future or Funeral?

    (1990)
  • A. Davies

    Declining youth in-migration in rural Western Australia: the role of perceptions of rural employment and lifestyle opportunities

    Geographical Research

    (2008)
  • N. Dempsey

    Are good-quality environments socially cohesive? Measuring quality and cohesion in urban neighbourhoods?

    Town Planning Review

    (2009)
  • A. Deveson

    Resilience

    (2003)
  • J. Flora et al.

    Introduction: community development and social capital

    Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society

    (2006)
  • G. Forth

    The future of Australia’s declining country towns: following the yellow brick road

    Regional Policy and Practice

    (2000)
  • G. Forth et al.

    Don’t cry for me, Upper Wombat: the realities of regional/ small town decline in non-coastal Australia

    Sustaining Regions

    (2002)
  • B. Gleeson

    Critical commentary. Waking from the dream: an Australian perspective on urban resilience

    Urban Studies

    (2008)
  • A. Gorman-Murray et al.

    A Queer country? A case study of the politics of gay/lesbian belonging in an Australian country town

    Australian Geographer

    (2008)
  • I. Gray et al.

    A Future for Regional Australia: Escaping Global Misfortune

    (2001)
  • F. Haslam-McKenzie et al.

    The re-emergence of regional policy and planning in Western Australia

    Planning, Practice and Research

    (2005)
  • C. Hearfield et al.

    Regional economic governance: a technology of government or regional autonomy in New South Wales

    Space and Polity

    (2009)
  • J. Holmes

    Impulses towards a multifunctional transition in rural Australia: gaps in the research agenda

    Journal of Rural Studies

    (2006)
  • G. Hugo

    The state of rural population

  • K. Johnson

    Unpredictable directions of rural population growth and migration

  • Cited by (0)

    View full text