![]() Political economists consistently focus on two contributors to agricultural restructuring (Ilbery 2014), the in-migration of urban middle-class groups into rural areas, and increasing corporate food governance (Bowler 2014). Political economy theory offered an analytical framework that emphasised the capitalist structures and power relations that shaped agriculture and constrained individual agents (Morris and Evans 1999). In rural geography, agricultural restructuring has usually been studied from political economy and socio-cultural perspectives. To collect empirical data, we interviewed dairy farmers and relevant stakeholders from 2016 to 2017. Dairy farming is the most significant agricultural activity in the Illawarra (Hu and Gill 2021), but has been long challenged by neoliberal policy reform and demand for rural land for residential and urban development (Klepeis and Gill 2016). The Illawarra is a coastal region immediately south of Sydney. Its capital is Sydney, the largest city in Australia and one which has witnessed rapid urbanisation in its sphere of influence. NSW is a state in the southeast of Australia and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east. This study aims to examine how residential and amenity/lifestyle developments have unfolded in the Illawarra region, New South Wales (NSW), and come to influence and interact with local dairy farmers who are also managing the consequences of industry restructuring especially from 2000 when the dairy industry was deregulated nationally-as we discuss below. There is a lack of in-depth inquiries on the interactions between the various trends and peri-urban farmers, which provides a prompt for this study. Previous studies often emphasised the antagonistic relationships between agricultural restructuring and peri-urban agriculture (Lawrence et al. 2014) a trend mirrored in the Illawarra (Hu and Gill 2021). In this setting, the number of Australia’s dairy farms has declined continuously (Ashton et al. As a response, the federal government has enacted fierce deregulation and market liberalisation (Lawrence et al. In Australia, agriculture has been facing serious adverse market conditions since the 1980s (Lockie 2015). This trend has been intertwined with other political economic processes, and has complex effects on farmers. 2016), particularly around, or close to, cities. Such processes have engendered the conversion of farmland into residential and lifestyle land uses (Curran-Cournane et al. ![]() One major contributor to agricultural restructuring in some areas is peri-urban and rural residential developments, and amenity/lifestyle developments, including those associated with the inflow of urban middle-class groups into rural areas. This is related to agricultural restructuring, which is often a choreographed and contested process that reshapes relations between economic actors to support an accumulation strategy (Vanclay 2003). In recent decades, farming in most OECD countries has been significantly transformed (Tonts et al. The above factors together generate a form of multifunctional rural space. Farmers have to transform their production systems to fit into this context. They are also subjected to the expectations and demands of new landholders, including in relation to farm externalities and animal welfare. However, it has been increasingly difficult for farmers to acquire land for farming locally. These processes bring farmers commercial opportunities and drive farmers to form new social and economic relationships with land buyers and investors. Based on semi-structured interviews, this study shows that with their proximity to Sydney, Illawarra dairy farms are influenced by deregulated planning systems, large-scale residential development, amenity driven demand for rural land, and the amenity/lifestyle economy. ![]() This study aims to examine how residential and amenity/lifestyle developments have unfolded in the Illawarra region, New South Wales, and come to influence and interact with local dairy farmers who are also managing the consequences of industry restructuring particularly from 2000. However, there is a lack of farm-level studies that explore how professional farmers have been interacting and co-existing with urban/suburban development while also undertaking agricultural intensification and innovation. These processes are intertwined with neoliberal trends in agri-food governance, and have complex effects on farming. A major contributor to this in some areas is peri-urban and rural residential developments, and amenity/lifestyle developments, including those associated with the inflow of urban middle-class groups into rural areas. Rural Australia has been experiencing dramatic agricultural restructuring.
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