This paper reports on a survey of farmers in NSW administered in late 2021, which identified the constraints and opportunities associated with the likely approaches towards growth. Consequently, the survey reports on areas in which support may be necessary to maximise farmers’ participation in the projected growth. Recognising that farms and farmers are highly heterogeneous, the survey partitioned respondents according to their stated goals for their farm businesses, by the activities undertaken to achieve those goals, and by physical, production, and geographic attributes of farm businesses. The survey sought farmers’ responses to a variety of statements of opportunity and constraint, which were subdivided according to their relevance to each of the five “capitals” within the widely-used capitals framework (comprising financial, physical, human, natural and social capital). Data reduction techniques were used to identify key constraints and opportunities as perceived by farmers, and to cluster these according to goals, needs, and enterprise type. Gap analysis provided insight into the roles to be played by the capitals in advancing farmers’ production value, filling gaps in capability, and maximising the inclusiveness of growth. The paper concludes with a set of strategic tasks defined from the survey results, identifies the likely stakeholder group surrounding each task on the basis of commonly held attributes, and characterises the needs of that group to ensure that they are well positioned to both contribute to and benefit from opportunities to expand agricultural productivity in NSW. Specific challenges for NSW Farmers as a representative and support organisation were also identified, including policy priorities.
