The mean scores of 18 of the 21 risk management strategies rose significantly over the 12-year period (Figure 11). This suggests that farmers now consider that virtually all ways for managing risks are more important. In only one instance did the mean score decline and this was for the strategy “keeping debt low”. It is noteworthy that the largest increases in the importance scores were found for marketing and diversification, strategies that farmers use less widely than output and financial risk management. However, the growing appreciation of the importance of certain risk management strategies has not been coupled with actual (or a proportionate) increase in the use of these strategies by farmers. The approach of keeping debt low fell from third in importance in 1992 to ninth in 2004, and fewer farmers were using debt (63% versus 85%).