Abstract
Only little research has addressed the general public or the consumer with respect to non-commodity functions of agriculture. In this paper we want to contribute to the debate by exploring attitudes towards the importance of functions of agriculture from two perspectives, the farmers’ and the general public’s point of view. We draw on a data set of representative surveys of mountain farmers (n=343) and of the general public (n=1020) in South Tyrol. The surveys have been carried out in 2005. The three research objectives are: (i) to reveal the differences of attitudes towards the importance of specified non-commodity functions of agriculture between mountain farmers and the general public in South Tyrol; (ii) to present differences in the cultural background of the general public’s attitudes towards these functions; and (iii) to describe the South Tyrolean public opinion towards the question, whether mountain farmers in South Tyrol should be paid additional public money for the fulfilment of non-commodity functions of agriculture. Results show a generally high acceptance of non-commodity functions of mountain farming. The cultural landscape function is the most accepted function of agriculture throughout the population. Differences within the population in the perception of the importance of functions of mountain farming seem to derive from identity and attachment to farming, or apparently reflect rural-urban differences in attitudes towards mountain farming. Future conflicts might arise from the question of allocation of land for nature and environmental protection and from differences in the readiness to financially support farmers for the fulfilment of functions in the South Tyrolean population.