The Most Trustworthy …

Each year, Readers Digest ( http://www.readersdigest.com.au/most-trusted-professions-2013 Ed: politicians are second last, below sex workers; journos just above ) reviews Australia’s most trusted professions and occupations and publishes its findings. It is a listing that is eagerly anticipated, widely read and, as you will see, there are some surprising results.

Of course, like me, most of you will go straight to the end of the list to see how the bottom feeders are rating. Yes, politicians rank 49 out of 50, even lower than journalists and talkback radio hosts; and ceding last place only to door-to-door salespeople. There is a lesson here. Perhaps politicians and the media should stop taking each other so seriously.

Once again, farmers are right up there among the most trusted people in our community. They rank 10th (the same as last year) behind the usual list of community stalwarts: firefighters, paramedics, rescue volunteers, nurses, pilots, doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians and (less obviously) air traffic controllers. Though, as a regular traveller, I really want to trust air traffic controllers!

So, no matter how much people might outwardly profess that farmers never seem to be happy, that they always have something to complain about; when it comes down to it, we trust them.

Why is that? Farmers have the ultimate ‘back to basics’ job. Unlike many of us, what they do really matters. We rely on them for one of our basic human needs – food. If they fail in their endeavours, we all suffer. If they fall down on the job, we don’t eat.

Farmers are straightshooters. They call a spade a spade – or worse. There is no spin with farmers. And, generally, what they have to say passes the sniff test. They are a reliable source of commonsense – a rare commodity these days.

Farmers are very visible in the work they do. They work in a tough environment, battling the elements. They are custodians of large areas of our countryside, managing the environment at their cost for everyone’s benefit. They are often the backbone of local communities.

There is no hiding for farmers. Their professionalism is always on display. This is important because we all feel as though we have a right to have a say in and a view about what they should and shouldn’t do.

We expect farmers to respond to our views, even where these are not well informed. We expect farmers to tolerate our interference in their businesses, even where we have no actual stake.

We expect farmers to acquiesce to decisions that disadvantage them in so many ways, even where there is no logical reason and often clear evidence to demonstrate that these decisions make no sense.

We expect farmers to accept our interference in their lives and livelihoods, even where we are not prepared to contribute to the costs of our expectations.

And, by and large, they do.

Most farmers respect and care for their animals; most farmers respect and care for the environment; and most farmers respect and care for others in their communities. Unlike many others, they not only say they do these things; they put their money where their mouths are and live these ideals every day. And farmers put up with constraints on their lives, livelihoods and assets that no-one else would tolerate.

As this survey shows, most people recognise this and trust their good judgement.

Yet a small minority of people continually promote a view of farmers as heartless, mindless vandals. These armchair experts argue that farmers don’t understand their own businesses and markets. The ‘experts’ continually put forward what they consider to be obvious ‘solutions’ to the many failings they have identified in the industry.

They expect our farmers to be purer than pure, while turning a blind eye to appalling and unsustainable behaviours endemic in other countries. They are not prepared to even acknowledge that their unrealistic expectations come at a cost, let alone agree that they need to make some contribution to these costs.

Worse still, they expect everyone to unquestioningly accept their views and abide by their standards. They are quite content to impose their opinions on others in society who are less advantaged for what they consider to be the greater good. It is an extraordinarily elitist, selfish and paternalistic view of the world.

There are no rankings for animal liberationist or environmental activist in that list of trusted professions. And don’t kid yourself – these are professions.

I simply can’t understand how (and why) these minorities have such strong political influence. It is about time those of us in the majority stood up for what we believe in – and for those in whom we place our trust.

• James Crotty, in Comments: Jan a well written and interesting take on something topical. But tell me; is someone who sits in a panelled office in a tall shiney building in Martin Place wearing a 140 denier suit, designer accessories and hand made shoes, peddling MIS schemes to the greedy and gullible really a farmer to be trusted. Rather I would call them, “heartless, mindless vandals”. The rest of what you say is pretty well right about farming as we know it, especially in Tas. But the corporatisation of farming, with increasing ownership from countries where it can properly be said there are,” appalling and unsustainable behaviours endemic” means the “armchair experts” do have a role. As they have in everything. They are called the public, the people, the constituency, and are pretty important in a thing we call democracy.