Being a Farmer in Austria during COVID-19—A Qualitative Study on Challenges and Opportunities

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript entitled “Being a farmer in Austria during COVID-19—a qualitative study on challenges and opportunities” presents a study of the effects of COVID-19 on Austrian farmers, a qualitative study design including computer-aided, qualitative content analysis was applied. Interviews with 34 Austrian farmers covering a broad spectrum of the sector were conducted to identify the impacts, obstacles, and opportunities during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

The work is properly organized and structured, with a clear understanding of the results, easy to follow, and logically explained based on the data obtained.  To my understanding, the methodology applied is adequate and complete.

Only one small suggestion to improve the manuscript would be to be able to buy the same methodology with other farmers from neighboring countries to rule out that it was a local problem and not derived from COVID-19. Improving this aspect would give the work a more global significance.

In conclusion, the results presented by the authors are of scientific relevance, with interesting conclusions so, I recommend its publication in Agronomy.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

thank you very much for your time and efforts to review our manuscript. We highly appreciate that. Concerning the issue you mentioned:

Thank you for this remark (--> Only one small suggestion to improve the manuscript...), we included this argument by suggesting more regional studies (in particular, in neighboring countries, as you said) to achieve a reliable comparison (“Accordingly, the results reflect the situation of Austrian farmers. This limitation could be considered in future studies (in particular, in neighboring countries), to achieve a more global perspective or at least a reliable comparison with other Central European agricultural systems.”)

Kind regards

The Authors

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is well written and briefly described the problems about the farmers during the Covid-19 crisis. The results are adequate and sufficiently discussed with similar surveys from the references.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

thank you very much for reviewing our manuscript. We are very glad that you liked it. Thank you for the time and efforts to read and evaluate it.

Kind regards

The Authors

Reviewer 3 Report

The background section requires more discussion of the specific related research which would demonstrate the gap the research is filling. The paper would benefit from a clearer research question or argument around which it could be more clearly structured. ‘23 farms reported declines in demand for their product. Some even reported massive declines’, ‘there were also farms that experienced significantly increased direct sales to consumers’ – such data should be displayed for clear understanding of the situation, otherwise it is vague. In general, this section is too imprecise. ‘there is also a quite critical discussion about the dependency of Austrian agriculture on foreign seasonal workers.’ – again needs substantiation. ‘By contrast, the majority of French dairy farmers reported no or only minor effects of the pandemic’ – contrastive data should be displayed, otherwise there might be only subjective interpretations. You should compare your results with others in terms of concrete data for better research integrative value. Your ideas are typically supported by only one source. The methodological descriptions of the manuscript require more refinement: important theoretical and methodological specifications must be made in order for the paper to be clearer and its argument more convincing. Conclusion needs to be rewritten so that only important results are brought out along with their interpretation, comparison with earlier studies, and implications in a more integrated fashion. There is some discussion of the limitations of the study however these are not considered in terms of the implications on the study findings.

The relationship between COVID-19-related purchasing habits and behavioral choices as regards farm-based products has not been covered, and thus such recent sources should be cited:

Watson, R., and Popescu, G. H. (2021). “Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Lead to Long-Term Consumer Perceptions, Behavioral Intentions, and Acquisition Decisions?,” Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 16(4): 70–83. doi: 10.22381/emfm16420215.

Glogovețan, A.I., Dabija, D.C., Fiore, M., Pocol, C.B. 2022. Consumer Perception and Understanding of European Union Quality Schemes: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 14(3), 1667. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031667

Rydell, L., and Kucera, J. (2021). “Cognitive Attitudes, Behavioral Choices, and Purchasing Habits during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics 9(4): 35–47. doi: 10.22381/jsme9420213.

Birtus, M., and Lăzăroiu, G. (2021). “The Neurobehavioral Economics of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Consumer Cognition, Perception, Sentiment, Choice, and Decision-Making,” Analysis and Metaphysics 20: 89–101. doi: 10.22381/am2020216.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer No. 3,

thank you very much for your time and efforts to review our manuscript. We highly appreciate that and hope that our adjustments meet your remarks.

Please refer to the attached document, we responded to your suggestions point by point.

Kind regards

The Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

This revised version can be published.