The Herbert River Farmers' Association. Sugar farmer associations on the periphery-an examination from the "other end"
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
In the late nineteenth century sugarcane farmer associations emerged in Australia. Representing genuinely independent small farmers such associations were a rarity elsewhere. Such associations as they appeared in Australia were a peripheral phenomenon in a geographical context, but nevertheless manifestations of a worldwide movement aimed at improving agriculture. Outside Australia sugar was grown on plantations by a land owning elite or by large corporate companies. The first to form associations were planters. They were formed when planters realized that they could avert crisis if they petitioned government with a unified voice. In contrast, in Australia, (after a brief plantation era) sugarcane was grown by independent small farmers whose cane was crushed at a central mill, often cooperatively owned. This was a unique development. Associations formed by small independent growers identified themselves as distinct from the planters and united by different interests. They became an effective lobbying force. Agricultural associative behaviour has been elitist and accordingly scholarship of agricultural associations has been undertaken through a top-down approach. As the small sugarcane associations disappeared once the legislative associations assumed their roles, scholarship has largely ignored their existence. This paper uses sugar growing in tropical north Queensland to illuminate a unique peripheral vision.
Journal
N/A
Publication Name
Conference of the European Rural History Organisation: Rural History 2017
Volume
N/A
ISBN/ISSN
N/A
Edition
N/A
Issue
N/A
Pages Count
11
Location
Leuven, Belgium
Publisher
European Rural History Organisation
Publisher Url
N/A
Publisher Location
Leuven, Belgium
Publish Date
N/A
Url
N/A
Date
N/A
EISSN
N/A
DOI
N/A