CITY dwellers believe farmers could do more to look after the environment while acknowledging they are still a powerful economic force, a new study has found.

But although urban residents were concerned about tree clearing, excessive irrigation, over-cropping and other destructive farming practices, they rated farmers as ``moderately good'' environmental managers.

Queensland primary producers were told the results yesterday at the annual conference of the rural lobby group AgForce in Roma, 500km west of Brisbane.

In a study commissioned by the National Farmers Federation, pollster Mark Textor, best known for his work for the Liberal Party, and a team of researchers sought the views of selected residents of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and the regional centres of Toowoomba in Queensland and Dubbo in NSW. The findings are yet to be released, but in an address to the conference Mr Textor gave a preview of the results to members of AgForce, which represents Queensland's cattle and wool producers and graingrowers. The research, obtained through in-depth ``living-room'' discussions and a telephone poll of 600 voters across Australia, found city dwellers were generally supportive of farmers and sympathised with their problems. ``They think Australia is built on the sheep's back,'' Mr Textor said. ``What they mean by that is the agricultural sector provides the foundation for all the other flash new industries we have started.''

Respondents believed it was important farmers had sufficient security of land tenure and adequate access to water to allow them to remain in production. ``They believe Australia would be strategically weakened if we had to import substantial amounts of food,'' Mr Textor said. ``They believe our food is always likely to be more healthy and cheaper than anywhere else in the world.''

Negative views expressed about farmers included concerns about farming practices that damaged the environment, such as land clearing, over-cropping, excessive irrigation and pesticide use. But when asked to rate farmers as environmental managers on a scale of one to 10, they got ``moderately good'' marks of 6.14 in the cities and 6.42 in regional centres. Respondents said farmers were important for tourism. Without the nation's farming communities, they said, there would be ``less interesting'' things for tourists from overseas to see. ``Farmers are seen as not only the backbone of the country but also as an icon,'' Mr Textor told The Australian.