Ian Reeve
The Rural Development Centre
University of New England
E-mail: a.black@cowan.edu.au

It is generally accepted that the long-term well-being of agriculture in Australia depends critically upon maintaining the productivity of the natural resource base and there is now an increasing number of sustainable practices being developed and promoted. These practices are often more complex and management-intensive than those they replace. In many cases, farmers will need to master new concepts and skills - a process that is likely to be more easily undertaken by participation in further education activities or groups, rather than surface information seeking. Because sustained participation in learning activities is time demanding, it is to be expected that family composition, life cycle stage, off-farm employment, seasonal farm work load and family participation in farm labour and management roles will influence both men's and women's availability for learning activities.

This paper presents an analysis of the results obtained from a large mail survey conducted in northern New South Wales with the following objectives:

• To assess the relative impact of participation in home study programs, local groups and wider information networks upon the adoption of sustainable farming practices.
• To examine how this impact is mediated through the farm roles of men and women.
• To assess the potential for increased participation in home study programs, local groups and wider information networks, and the likely impact of this on levels of adoption.
• To recommend strategies for increasing participation to achieve this potential.

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