Summer 2004 Rural Survey Sample

In the Rural survey, a number of rural/regional towns were nominated where a representative sample, comprising a cross-section of farming industries, could be drawn from. Postcodes for these towns were identified and given to AFS who randomly generated a sample from listings with the nominated postcodes, using the electronic phone directory. Respondents were screened to ensure that the respondent used weather information primarily for farming or primary production decisions. There were no age or sex quotas.

Note: the listing of towns, including their forecast district, can be found in Appendix A.

633 farmers were interviewed, with most farmers operating in a number of industries. The below identifies the number of farmers per category, and the percentage of other farming category overlap, e.g. Of the 289 Cattle/Beef farmers, 33% were also Sheep/Wool farmers (n = 214) and 32% were also Grain farmers (n = 218).

Cattle & Beef (n = 289): sheep/wool (33%); grain (32%)
Cotton (n = 13): cattle & beef (31%); grain (92%)
Dairy (n = 41): cattle & beef (22%)
Fruit growing (n = 46): cattle & beef (15%); vegetable growing (13%)
Grain (n = 218): cattle & beef (42%); sheep/wool (48%); cotton (6%)
Sheep/Wool (n = 214): cattle & beef (45%); grain (49%)
Vegetable growing (n = 28): cattle & beef (25%); sheep/wool (25%); grain (14%);
fruit growing (21%)
Viticulture (n = 58): cattle & beef (15%); sheep/wool (17%)

Total respondents: 633