Factors affecting adoption of plantation forestry on farms: Implications for farm forestry development in Australia

Many factors influence adoption of plantation forestry as part of the farm enterprise. This paper reviews earlier work, and reports the results of a study of these factors in North East Tasmania. Before landholders are likely to adopt plantation forestry, they must be motivated to consider adoption of a new enterprise, and be able to access adequate information on farm forestry. Information commonly sought by landholders when deciding whether or not to adopt includes that on the biophysical requirements for commercial tree crops, the opportunity costs incurred, and the infrastructure available for farm forestry. Evaluation of this information is influenced by the socioeconomic status, attitudes and values of the landholder. Plantation forestry may only be adopted if all of the above factors combine in such a way that this form of farm forestry is considered the optimal utilisation of an area of land being considered by the landholder for establishment under a new agricultural enterprise. Promoting the uptake of plantation forestry on farms therefore requires development of adequate markets for the products of farm forestry, links between growers and those markets, credible information on economic returns, supportive regulatory environments and adequate information dissemination on farm forestry.