Journal article
The effect of trust on West Australian farmers' responses to infectious livestock diseases
Sociologia Ruralis, Vol.49(4)
10/2009
Abstract
Globalisation has rendered the island nation of Australia more vulnerable to infectious livestock diseases, making bio-security a key concern of government. Although farmers are at the front line of disease surveillance, little is known about this group's behaviour and motives. A study to investigate on-farm bio-security practices - and in particular how farmers decide whether to report unusual symptoms in their livestock - was conducted with sheep and cattle producers in Western Australia. This article reports on the findings of the qualitative phase of the study, which consisted of in-depth interviews with 37 farmers. The study found that farmers make reporting and bio-security decisions based on the perceived risk to their enterprise. Trust in others was found to be a key contributor to perceived risk. In support of Wynne (2006), this study found that scientific institutions linked to the government suffered from lack of trust and credibility. If farmers are hesitant to trust government sources, important animal health messages may go unheeded.
Details
- Title
- The effect of trust on West Australian farmers' responses to infectious livestock diseases
- Authors/Creators
- S. Palmer (Author/Creator)F. Fozdar (Author/Creator)M. Sully (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Sociologia Ruralis, Vol.49(4)
- Publisher
- Blackwell Publishing Inc.
- Identifiers
- 991005545316207891
- Copyright
- © 2009 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2009 European Society for Rural Sociology.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Murdoch University
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
33 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.104 Virology - General
- 1.104.1882 Livestock Viral Threats
- Web Of Science research areas
- Geography
- Sociology
- ESI research areas
- Social Sciences, general