Since the middle eighties a number of changes occurred in the farming environment in the RSA that impacted on management practices of farmers. As the relative importance of these influencing factors differed amongst farmers, regions and products produced, it is expected that the changes and adaptations in management practices would differ accordingly.
The aim of a questionnaire survey that was completed for 222 commercial farmers in different regions during 1994 was to determine what factors were the most important for different groups of farmers and what changes and adaptations in farming practices resulted from changes in these factors. This paper highlights the findings of the research project and also show what changes should be made to farm management training curricula at college level.
