Farmers as modern-day stewards and the rise of new rural citizenship in the battle over land use

ABSTRACT

A decade ago, scholars such as Michael Woods suggested that mobilisation in response to development in rural spaces was the result of a redefinition of relations between individuals, communities and the State. This remains true with the rural representing a contested site characterised by debates concerning food and fibre, water and energy security. With the recent deployment of new energy technologies in areas traditionally used for agricultural production, increased confrontation and resistance over land use has forged unlikely alliances between farmers, environmentalists and concerned others, ultimately leading to the rise of a new form of rural citizenship. In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) where resistance to burgeoning coal seam gas operations has become the customary response of many rural communities, environmentalists and concerned others are mobilising in support of farmers, who self-identify as modern-day stewards and are actively working to protect a resource hierarchy of water, land and soil against industries believed to be putting these at risk. Adopting a qualitative case-study approach, this paper examines how residents and supporters in the regional Shire of Narrabri in NSW have responded to what many see as competing land uses. We argue that values traditionally associated with stewardship and rurality are being revalorised by citizens to actively oppose the visions of the State, which seek to prioritise extractive development over other alternate futures. We contend that this rise in rural relations represents a significant shift in the notion of citizens as “inhabitants” and presents a new and enduring form of agency.

KEYWORDS:

• Activism
• coal seam gas
• farmers
• land-use change
• rural citizenship
• stewardship

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to sincerely thank all the residents of Narrabri who participated in this project and who welcomed us so warmly to the Shire. We would also like to thank Olivier Rey-Lescure, cartographer at the University of Newcastle, who provided mapping assistance for this paper, as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the earlier manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Meg Sherval http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0740-3542

Hedda Haugen Askland http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6068-027X

Michael Askew http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6772-8579

Jo Hanley http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0987-5490

David Farrugia http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0288-2775

Steven Threadgold http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2443-9619

Julia Coffey http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7388-6592

Notes

1. Australia has a three-tiered system of government (Federal or National, State and Local). Primary responsibility for approval of CSG and coal mining activities and regulation of any environmental impacts associated with the resource sector rests mainly with state and territory governments. The Australia federal government will only become involved if a CSG development or large coal mine is likely to have a significant impact on a water resource – or another matter of national environmental significance.

2. Dryland farming systems in Australia combine a rotation of crops, pastures and often livestock. Fallow periods are used to allow soil recovery and account for limited water supply. Australian farmers frequently have to contend with the effects of drought. In Narrabri Shire, wheat, sun flowers, canola and cotton are the dominant crops. In response to ongoing water and soil quality concerns and an increased need for sustainability, much of the cotton industry in the 2000s moved to dryland GM cotton which has greater drought tolerance.

3. The BMP is a scheme designed to help farmers find ways to be more water-wise and less dependent on chemical use. It also offers advice on integrated pest management, storage and handling of chemicals as well as farm design.

4. Lock the Gate is a national coalition of people from across Australia uniting to protest about CSG and mining operations that are seen to threaten land, water and communities: See http://www.lockthegate.org.au/. Land Water Future is an NGO formed to defend the rights of farmers, and protect forests, water sources and communities from coal and gas. See: https://www.facebook.com/landwaterfuture/

5. Since completion of this paper, the NSW State government has announced that it is buying back 51.4% of the exploration licence of the Chinese-owned Shenhua coal mining company that includes some of the Liverpool Plains area. While this is welcomed by communities, there is still much concern about how water usage will be managed and what regulations will be put in place to protect aquifers and ground water in regard to any future development. Also, the fact that the NSW government has recently instituted restrictions on legal aid support for public interest environmental law cases suggests that the state is intentionally putting up barriers to prevent or at least curtail public participation in decision-making on land use (See: Kennedy et al. 2017).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the University of Newcastle, Australia under grant number 1401491.