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.