The Majority of Family Farms Can't Support Themselves
Lately, news on farmers' financial problems is common, but seeing statistics makes the situation that much more apparent. According to this article, 72% of family farms can't support themselves— they depend on other family members to seek jobs outside of the farm.
Research released yesterday by the Australian Farm Institute, entitled Will Corporate Agriculture Swallow The Family Farm?, found that in Victoria last year, only 28% of family farms were of sufficient scale and profitability to earn enough income to support the families owning them.
Only half of this group was classed as likely to achieve the same success in the future and more than one-third of all family farms relied on adults living on the farm to earn wages elsewhere, reinforcing the stereotype that many farm wives have to work as local doctors, hairdressers and teachers for their families to survive.
