Abstract Balancing human and environmental needs is urgent where food security and sustainability are under pressure from population increases and changing climates. Requirements of food security, social justice and environmental justice exacerbate the impact of agriculture on the supporting ecological environment. Viability of the Australian rural economy is intrinsically linked to food production and food...

Abstract Data on the financial performance of a diverse set of 249 farm businesses in south-western Australia over the period 2002 to 2011 was collated and analysed. These 10 years were a period of challenging weather years, underpinned by a warming and drying trend in the region’s climate, frost events and marked price volatility. Based...