Farmers' stress and coping in a time of drought

A new article has been published in Rural and Remote Health:

How do farmers manage stress - and is their way of coping unique? This complex study surveyed South Australian farm men and women of all ages at a time of severe drought to provide a glimpse into psychological distress and coping within the Australian farming community.

http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/showarticlenew.asp?ArticleID=2071

As many of those who were surveyed were SAFF members, both SAFF and those members are thanked for their involvement.

 

Farming in South Australia

How many farms and jobs ?

There are currently 13,475 farms and 33,000 people employed in agricultural production jobs in South Australia and 146,000 South Australians are employed in the food sector.
There are 5,127 Beef Producers in SA who produce 93,000 tonnes per year with a gross production value of $278 million.

What’s the quantity and value of Grain production in SA ?

Barley - 811,000 tonnes produced with a gross value of $763 million. Oats - 115,000 tonnes produced with a gross value of $38.4 million. Wheat - 2,296,000 tonnes produced with a gross value of $934.4 million.

How many sheep and cattle farms in SA ?

SA produces 10,000 tonnes of mutton and 22,000 tonnes of Lamb with a gross production value of $347.3 million. SA produces 58,200 tonnes of sheep wool with a gross value of $324.2 million. There are 332 Dairy farms in SA and production for the 09/10 year was 606 million litres.

What’s farmed where ?

Cropping in SA consists mostly of cereal crops wheat, barley and oats, canola and legume. A wide range of temperate vegetable and orchard crops are grown in the Adelaide Hills, the northern Adelaide Plains, the south-east and the Riverland.
SA has the highest proportion of Australia's vineyards with major growing areas in the Barossa, Clare, Riverland, Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Coonawarra regions. Cattle are raised mainly in the Adelaide Hills, the lower south-east and far north districts. Dairying is concentrated in the Adelaide, lower south-east and lower Murray districts.

Sources:

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Agricultural Commodities 2005/2006 and 2006. http://www.abs.gov.au/
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Labour Force Region Data, 2008. http://www.dest.gov.au/
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Preliminary 2006-07 http://www.abs.gov.au/
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Livestock and Meat Australia 2007
ABARE, Australian Commodity Statistics, 2007
Dairy Australia, Australian Dairy Industry In Focus 2007 http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au
Australian Natural Resources Atlas http://www.anra.gov.au 
National Farmers Federation,  Farm Facts 2009-10 http://nff.org.au