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Abstract
Challenges and opportunities on and off the farm generate a changing agenda for farm business
management and farm families in Australia’s rural sector. National, state and regional interest in the
contribution and connections of farming to agribusiness, the food sector and the economy, the
environmental status of rural land and water and the welfare of farm families leads to public policies
interfacing and interacting with private farm business interests.
Conceptualising farm businesses as mixes of ‘management’, ‘resources’ and ‘family’ aids appreciation of
new structures and strategies, ties in with ‘triple bottom line’ thinking and reflects the shift from farm policy
to an array of policies focussing on social, environment and economic aspects of contemporary life in rural
and regional Australia. Farming’s links to the domestic and international economy, the environment and
regional economies and rural communities are illustrated as the basis of agenda review and search.
Selected issues on the agenda from 1970 are plotted and delved into with the aid of a new web based
bibliography of Australian farm management, including the literature of the Australian Farm Management
Society. Divining agenda towards 2010 is attempted. Some legends, leaders and champions of farm
management in Australia are nominated.