The risk environment of farmers is changing and new risk management strategies are being introduced. This paper studies
survey data relating to farmers’ perceptions of risk and risk management, and analyses whether characteristics of a farm
and/or farmer can be identified that relate to these perceptions. The data originate from a large sample of livestock farmers
(n5612) in the Netherlands and were gathered by a questionnaire survey. Results show that, in general, price and
production risks were perceived as important sources of risk. Insurance schemes were perceived as relevant strategies to
manage risks. More detailed analyses of the perceptions show that dairy farmers generally saw price risks as very important,
while pig and mixed farmers were more likely to rank production risks as very important. We found that insurance was
perceived relatively less important by mixed farmers than by other farmers. Although our results indicate that perceptions of
risk and risk management are very personal, i.e. farmer-specific, findings have implications for policymakers, advisers, and
developers and sellers of (new) risk management strategies.