Australian Broadacre Farmers

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1 Australian Broadacre Farmers Average Issue Readership 79% Time Spent Reading 53mins Portion of Issue Read 70% Number of pick-ups QARS QUANTITATIVE AGRICULTURAL READERSHIP SURVEY

2 Rural Press National Network of Rural Weekly Newspapers Age of owner/manager years 1 % years 3 % years 15 % years 37 % years 35 % 70 years or over 9 % Average age = 51 years Gender of owner/manager Male 68 % Female 32 % Education level of owner/manager Primary/no formal 3 % 1-4 years secondary 29 % 5-6 years secondary 19 % Some tertiary 22 % College or university degree 26 % Number of people 18yrs+ in household Average number = 2.2 What best describes the ownership structure of the property? Family owned & operated (inc. family trust or company) 94 % Private or publicly listed company 2 % Not stated 4 % Do you have a succession plan in place Yes 37 % No 40 % Working on one 22 % Who makes the purchasing decsions? MALE % FEMALE % BOTH % Cars Computers Mobile phones Household appliances Farm Equipment Who takes primary responsibility for the finances and bookwork relating to the property? Male 36 % Female 36 % Both 24 % Do you have children at boarding school? (of households with kids 13-17yrs) Yes 46 % No 51 % Do you have off-farm investments? Yes 64 % No 33 % What type of investments? Shares in companies 66 % Non-agricultural realestate 37 % Managed funds 29 % Others 9 % Where do you seek information from for investment opportunities outside of agriculture? Farm accountant 36 % Financial advisor 29 % Newspapers 24 % Bank representative 22 % Internet 17 % Investment broker 9 % Magazine (s) 7 % Television 5 % Other 8 % Average gross ON-FARM income p.a. Under $50, % $50,000 - $99, % $100,000 - $149, % $150,000 - $349, % $350,000 - $999, % $1 million + 5 % Average = $311,700 Average gross OFF-FARM income p.a. Under $50, % $50,000 - $99, % $100,000 - $149,999 5 % $150,000 - $349,999 4 % $350,000 - $999,999 1 % $1 million + 1 % Average = $66,800

3 Rural Press National Network of Rural Weekly Newspapers Where do you mainly purchase your hardware from? Bunnings 28 % Mitre % Independant 16 % CRT 9 % Landmark 7 % Blackwoods 0 % Masters 0 % Other 13 % Where do you mostly purchase your whitegoods & electrical items? Harvey Norman 33 % The Good Guys 15 % Bing Lee 1 % Domayne 0 % Other 44 % Do you have airconditioning on this property? Yes 69 % No 30 % What type of airconditioning? Reverse cycle - heating & cooling 67 % Evaporative air cooler 25 % Cooling only 11 % Portable 3 % Total area of property Less than 250ha 12 % ha 32 % 1,000-2,499ha 32 % 2,500-4,999ha 16 % 5,000ha + 8 % Average = 1,932 ha Total crop size None 38 % 1-80ha 20 % ha 10 % ha 8 % 651-1,200ha 6 % 1,200ha+ 7 % Average = 359 ha Number of beef cattle None 25 % % % % 1,000 or more 2 % Average = 217 Number of sheep/lambs None 30 % % % 1,000-1, % 2,000-4, % 1, % Average = 1,138 Do you own any of the following? Thoroughbred horses 5 % Standard bred horses 3 % Working horses 25 % Pleasure horses 8 % Broodmares for thoroughbred breeding 1 % Broodmares for standardbred breeding 1 % Broodmares for working horses 4 % I do not own any horses 63 % Do you breed, buy and or/sell working horses? Yes 9 % No 88 % Do you breed, buy and or/sell racehorses? Yes 2 % No 94 % Do you have shares in a racehorses? Yes 3 % No 94 %

4 Rural Press National Network of Rural Weekly Newspapers Tractors owned at present Any wheeled tractor 77 % Under 50 hp 28 % hp 71 % 101 hp hp 46 % 201+ hp 22 % Tracked tractor 3 % Bulldozer 14 % Tractors plan to buy/replace in next 12months Any wheeled tractor 7 % Under 50 hp 0 % hp 4 % 101 hp hp 4 % 201+ hp 2 % Tracked tractor 0 % Bulldozer 0 % Machinery owned at present PTO Harvestor 6 % Self propelled harvestor 32 % Baler square or round 32 % Chainsaw 92 % Telehandlers 3 % Machinery plan to buy/replace in the next 12 months PTO Harvestor 0 % Self propelled harvestor 2 % Baler square or round 1 % Chainsaw 5 % Telehandlers 1 % Do you have a tractor fitted with auto steering down to 2cm accuracy? Yes 12 % No 87 % Auto steering - Did you pay extra for this feature or was it standard? Yes - paid extra for feature 90 % No - standard feature 9 % Farm vehicle ownership Motorbike 51 % ATV/Quad bike 62 % Side-by-side vehicle 4 % Farm vehicles plan to buy/replace Motorbike 5 % ATV/Quad bike 6 % Side-by-side vehicle 1 % If you own an ATV/Quad bike is it fitted with roll bars? Yes 3 % No 59 % Not stated 38 % Which do you use a contractor for? Combine harvesting 18 % Ensiling/haymaking 31 % Spraying - ground 24 % Spraying - aerial 18 % Not stated 43 % Are you using your property s sprayer to apply liquid fertilser as well as farm chemicals? Yes 19 % No 75 % Who do you market your grain with? (Of grain producers) Graincorp 14 % AWB/Cargill 9 % Viterra 8 % CBH 7 % Emerald 4 % Other 27 % Not stated 4 % Do you own an aeroplane? Yes 1 % No 98 % Do you use mapping software on your tractor? Yes 8 % No 88 % Mapping software - Did you pay extra or was it standard? Yes - paid extra for feature 77 % No - standard feature 22 % What type of aeroplane do you own? Light fixed wing 46 % Ultralight aircraft 25 % Microlight or trike 11 % Gyrocopter 9 % Helicopter 9 %

5 A g r i c u l t u r a l M e d i a Want to know more... RPS Agricultural Media Sydney: Ian Thomson D: M: E: ithomson@fairfaxmedia.com.au Matthew De La Hunty D: M: E: matthew.delahunty@fairfaxmedia.com.au RPS Agricultural Media Melbourne: Dan Brami D: M: E: dbrami@fairfaxmedia.com.au Rachel Batt D: M: E: rbatt@fairfaxmedia.com.au Sean Peacock D: M: E: speacock@fairfaxmedia.com.au

6 QUANTITATIVE AGRICULTUAL READERSHIP SURVEY METHODOLOGY This survey was conducted by means of a self-completion questionnaire distributed to 8,482 broadacre farms around Australia, drawn from the database under the control of Rural Press Marketing Services. The sample was stratified by both state and type of farm, using the ANZSIC categories of Sheep, Beef and Crops. There were two versions of the questionnaire, one headed Agriculture in Australia Today, and addressed the the Farm Owner and Manager, and the other headed, Women in Agriculture in Australia Today, with the additional notation that It is important that this questionnaire be completed by a female owner or member of farm management. Approximately 75% of questionnaires sent comprised the former version, and 25% comprised the women s version in order to encourage and increase the proportion of female respondents. On completion of the survey, 908 respondents were men (72%) and 303 were women (28%), compared to 74% male, 26% female in The survey was initially sent out to 6,118 farms in the first week of June, 2012, with a deadline for completion of the 5th August, A further mailing was sent out in late July, comprising 1,683 questionnaires, in similar proportions to the initial mailing. Participants were offered the opportunity to win one of twenty $150 vouchers for Goodwood Saddlery, or a single first prize of a $2,500 voucher for Goodwood Saddlery. In late June and through July farms for which phone numbers were available were contacted by McNair Ingenuity Research s interviewing centre in Crows Nest, NSW, to encourage and remind participants to complete the survey. A further wave of questionnaires were sent out in late August, with proportions adjusted to balance for shortfalls by state. This mailing comprised 611 questionnaires, of which one third had an Eftpos card attached - with the offer to activate $10 credit on return of the completed questionnaire, one third offered no incentive but commenced with a set of questions about farming issues in order to generate a higher level of engagement with respondents, and one third had both the incentive and the farming issues questions. Results of this stage of the research are tabled below. The survey was finally closed-off on the 20th September, In total, surveys were received as follows: Unweighted responses NSW % Victoria % Queensland % South Australia % Western Australia % Total 1, % Response Rates by Incentive Goodwood Incentive 14% Incentive 18% Farming issues questions 22% Incentive & issues questions 20% Note regarding weightings: The results below have been weighted two ways; by number of broadacre farms, as provided by ABARE in 2012, and by the number of people living on farms, based on statistics commissioned for the purpose of this research from the ABS in late 2011.