Farm Certification Scheme Surveys
Since 2022, the AERU has been involved in a series of surveys aimed at measuring farmer participation in farm certification schemes. The purpose of this research and reports was to collect Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of the Our Land and Water programme on the National Science Challenge goal of increasing farm participation in agribusiness, quality assurance, accreditation, and farm certification schemes. In particular, the study provided data regarding the on-farm use of environmental, social, cultural, and economic dimension metrics in such schemes.
The AERU's involvement in this project was carried out in two stages - a follow-up survey carried out in 2022 to compare results against the initial baseline survey (carried out by Bruce Small in 2021), and a third survey (2024) to track progress over time. In comparing the msot recent survey results (2024) with those of the baseline (2021), there has been very little change between the baseline and current survey, with slight increases in farmer participation in and satisfaction with farm certification schemes over this period. When asked, farmers indicated that, compared with 10 years ago, there appear to be more certification schemes available, and the quality and value of these scheme has increased over time.
At the time of writing (July 2024), the publication of the 2024 report is forthcoming. Previous reports can be accessed using the links below.