RINSING PRACTICES OF AUSTRALIAN FARMERS - THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FARMERS WHO DO NOT RINSE CHEMICAL RESIDUES FROM EMPTY CONTAINERS

In recent years, the potential environmental and health impact of chem icals left in empty containers has emerged as an important issue for f armers and the wider community. In 1994, a nationally representative s tudy of Australian farmers was commissioned to ascertain whether and t o what extent farmers were rinsing empty chemical containers, and to i dentify the factors which were associated with this behaviour. This pa per focuses its attention on that group of farmers who do not rinse th eir empty chemical containers and argues that the containers used by t his group pose the greatest threat to the environment and public healt h. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between non-rins ing and a range of selected variables from the adoption-diffusion and economic models of conservation innovation. A multivariate logistic re gression analysis found that non-rinsing was significantly predicted b y the following variables: no formal training in the use of agricultur al and veterinary chemicals, having a tertiary education, being a live stock farmer, having no additional adults permanently employed in prod uction activities on the farm, operating a farm greater than 3500 hect ares, not perceiving that rinsing containers is important, and not bel ieving that chemical residues in empty containers were a threat to the environment. Policy implications are discussed. (C) 1997 Academic Pre ss Limited.