New Zealand farmers and the Internet

This article describes the experiences, perceptions and attitudes of farmers in Canterbury, New Zealand, towards the use of the Internet for farming purposes. It also illustrates the appropriateness of the qualitative case study method for explaining the underlying research questions: why do farmers use the Internet? How do they find it useful? Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers who were randomly selected from an agricultural co-operative's membership database. Seven major themes emerged from the data and have been labeled as the following: why farmers have started using the Internet; how farmers were introduced to the Internet; current uses of the Internet; advantages of using the Internet; problems associated with using the Internet; attitude towards the Internet and future outlook. Many farmers experienced poor phone lines that inhibited the quality of Internet service. Consequently, the interviews uncovered a widespread feeling of disgust and intolerance of the lack of regard for rural people, especially considering that agriculture is an important industry for New Zealand.