Consider the daughters, they are important to family farms and rural communities too: family-farm succession

Abstract

Over the last 25 years, researchers have engaged extensively with members of farming families on issues of farm succession. Farmers, their spouses, sons of farmers and daughters-in-law who move into the farming family have been the focus of much of this research. Daughters of farmers (hereafter daughters), except in the unusual cases of being inheritors or successors to the farm enterprise, are for the most part ignored as subjects who may have something to contribute to sociological understanding and theory of farm succession and practice, and also of rural population decline. This article presents the results of a qualitative pilot research project undertaken in 2012 in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, to explore daughters’ perceptions of their families’ decisions about and management of intergenerational family-farm transfer. The results show that many daughters have a keen interest in farming, have developed farm skills and would consider the occupation of farming if given the opportunity. However, daughters are commonly overlooked when it comes to decisions about family-farm succession and/or inheritance; hence, indicating patriarchy remains strongly influential in determining family-farm succession. This article provides a different perspective from previous discussions of the dynamics within farming families and farming communities, and it contributes to wider discussion of changes in and sustainability of rural society. It recommends further research on rural social issues attributable to patrilineal intergenerational farm transfer.

Resumen

A lo largo de los últimos veinticinco años, los investigadores se han involucrado mucho con miembros de las familias granjeras en temas de la sucesión de la granja. Los granjeros, sus parejas, hijos de granjeros y nueras que se incorporan a la familia granjera han sido el centro de mucha de esta investigación. Las hijas de los granjeros (en adelante las hijas), excepto en los casos inusuales de ser herederas o sucesoras de una empresa agropecuaria, son mayormente ignoradas como sujetos que pueden tener algo para contribuir a la comprensión sociológica y la teoría de la práctica y la sucesión agropecuaria, y también de la declinación de la población rural. Este artículo presenta los resultados de un proyecto de investigación cualitativa piloto llevado a cabo durante 2012 en el Distrito Oeste de Victoria, Australia, para analizar las percepciones de las hijas de las decisiones de sus familias sobre la transferencia intergeneracional de la granja familiar y de la gestión de la misma. Los resultados muestran que muchas hijas tienen un gran interés en la granja, han desarrollado habilidades para su manejo y considerarían ocuparse de la misma si les dieran la oportunidad. Sin embargo, las hijas comúnmente son dejadas de lado a la hora de tomar decisiones sobre la sucesión de la granja familiar y/o herencia; por lo tanto, indica que el patriarcado permanece fuertemente influyente en la determinación de la sucesión de la granja familiar. Este artículo provee una perspectiva diferente de las discusiones previas de la dinámica dentro de las familias granjeras y las comunidades rurales, y contribuye a discusiones más amplias de cambios en la sociedad rural y su sustentabilidad. Recomienda mayor investigación sobre temas sociales rurales atribuibles a la transferencia intergeneracional patrilineal de la granja.

摘要

过去二十五年来，研究者就农场传承的议题，广泛地与农场家庭成员进行交涉。农民及其配偶、农民的儿子及嫁入该家庭的媳妇，多半为此般研究的焦点。农民的女儿（此后以”女儿”称之），除了作为农场企业法定继承人或传承者的不寻常案例之外，她们对于农场传承和实践、以及农村人口衰减的社会学理解及理论的可能贡献，却大半受到忽略。本文呈现2012年在澳大利亚的维多利亚西区所进行的质化先导研究计画之成果，以此探讨女儿对家庭农场代际转移的管理的家庭决策之认知。研究结果显示，许多女儿对农务具有浓厚的兴趣，并已培养出农作技术，且若给予机会，将会考虑以务农为业。但当论及有关家庭农场传承和法定继承的决策时，女儿一般都会受到忽略；因而显示父权体制在决定家庭农场传承中，仍具有显着的影响。本文为过去有关务农家庭和务农社群中的动态之讨论，提供一个不同的观点，并对农村社会的改变及其可持续性的广泛讨论作出贡献。本文建议对农场的父系代际转移所导致的农村社会议题，进行进一步的研究。

Keywords:

• Australian daughters of farmers
• family farm
• farm succession
• gender discrimination
• patriarchy
• patrilineal inheritance

Palabras claves:

• Hijas australianas de granjeros
• granja familiar
• sucesión de la granja
• discriminación de género
• patriarcado
• herencia patrilineal

关键词:

• 澳大利亚的农民女儿
• 家庭农场
• 农场传承
• 性别歧视
• 父权体制
• 父系继承

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my Honours supervisors Dr Michelle Duffy and Dr Nick Osbaldiston for their assistance in conducting my research and for their valuable comments in drafting this article. I also appreciate the close scrutiny and helpful comments provided by Dr. Kate Cregan and fellow writers in the Graduate Research in Print program at Monash University. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers who also provided many helpful suggestions in the writing of this article. Finally, my thanks go to the ten daughters of farmers who participated in the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Broadacre’ refers to agricultural properties covering large acreages for grazing stock, cropping or mixed farming enterprises (ABS 2003). This research involved properties over 400 acres in size.

2. Intergenerational family-farm transfer, either through inheritance or by succession, results in a farm property and business being transferred from an older family member to a younger family member. Inheritance occurs after the death of the previous owner through the will of the previous owner. Succession is an incremental change of management and ownership of the farm property and business from the principal owner to the nominated successor during their lifetimes. In this article, I use the terms interchangeably as they generally result in the same outcome for daughters.

3. O’Hara (1998), following her study of Irish farms, argues that it is farm wives, as mothers, who wield considerable influence in socialising/directing their children away from farming and the patriarchal ideology of rural areas through their support of higher education for their children, particularly their daughters and their careers off-farm.