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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(4)

Specifying the farming styles in viticulture

L. Mesiti A and F. Vanclay A B
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A Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: frank.vanclay@utas.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(4) 585-593 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA05103
Submitted: 31 March 2005  Accepted: 28 October 2005   Published: 20 April 2006

Abstract

Fourteen styles of viticulture are defined: Astute Business Grower; Experimentalist Grower; Industry-Endorsed Early Adopter; Professional Scientific Manager; Experienced Manager; Labour-Efficient Grower; Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture Grower; Traditional Grower; Ethnic Grower; Conventional Grower; Retiree Grower; Hobby Grower; Sea-Change Grower; and Marginal Grower. The methodology to identify these farming styles included 6 focus groups in Mildura, Victoria, a face-to-face interview with 142 grape-growers in the Sunraysia region of Victoria, and qualitative interviewing with industry personnel and extension staff. Problems of social desirability response bias, the lack of self-identification by growers with styles, and literacy and other methodological issues meant that qualitative, participatory (emic) methods for identifying styles were not reliable. Following considerable immersion in the field, the researchers identified, on the basis of expert judgment (etic classification), the 14 farming styles in viticulture which they regard as a typology of ideal types. Benefits of the identification of farming styles in viticulture in terms of extension are discussed.

Additional keywords: extension, grape-growing, rural sociology, Sunraysia, targeting, typology.


Acknowledgments

The research was conducted with support from the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture.


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