Vineyards

   Page tools:

    NAME OF ORGANISATION
    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW
    The Vineyards Census is conducted on behalf of the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA).

    Frequency: The Vineyards Census was conducted annually for the 11 years prior to 2009, with a Vineyards Survey being conducted for the 2009 reference period. For the 2010 reference period another Vineyards Census was conducted with the next, and last, conducted in 2012. AGWA have agreed to fund the Vineyards Census for 2015 and again in 2017.

    Scope: The Vineyards Census is sent to all establishments identified as undertaking viticulture activity. These are establishments for whom a special vineyards flag is set on the ABS Business Register (ABR), or who have an Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) code of 0131 (grape growing) or who show areas of vineyards on the Agricultural Survey/Census or more recently, the Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey.

    Statistical unit: Data is collected at the establishment level.

    Major commodity categories:

    • Area of vines at harvest (area bearing, area not yet bearing (planted or grafted before the harvest), and area not yet bearing (planted or grafted after the harvest))
    • Production of red and white wine grapes;
    • Area of varieties removed;
    • Area of wine grapes left on the vine or dropped on the ground at maturity; and
    • Sources, method and volume of water used for watering wine grapes.

    PURPOSE

    The main purpose of the Vineyards Census is to collect varietal data on the main grape varieties grown in Australia as identified by the client Australian Grape Wine Authority (AGWA). The output from the Vineyard Census is produced at national, state and Australian Geographical Indication (GI) Region levels.

    For each variety, the major data items collected include:
    • Area of vines at harvest (area bearing, area not yet bearing (planted or grafted before the harvest), and area not yet bearing (planted or grafted after the harvest))
    • Production of wine grapes;
    • Area of varieties removed;
    • Area of wine grapes left on the vine or dropped on the ground at maturity; and
    • Sources, method and volume of water used for watering wine grapes.

    The output from the Vineyards Census is essential for research and analysis by government and industry bodies involved in policy development, legislation, planning and infrastructure and by those directly involved in the grape and wine industries.

    The main user of this information is the Australian Grape Wine Authority (AGWA) who are funding both the 2015 Vineyards Census and the 2017 Vineyards Census , AGWA is the Commonwealth statutory authority funded by grape growers, winemakers and the Australian government. In addition to individual wine makers and grape growers, there are a range of other industry and government organisations that will utilise the statistics produced from the 2015 Vineyard Collection, such as the Wine Makers Federation of Australia (WFA) and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture.

    SCOPE
    The scope of the Vineyards Census will be those agricultural businesses with an Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) of $5,000 or more as recorded on the ABS Business Register (ABSBR), and identified on the ABSBR as undertaking viticultural activity through survey feedback or ANZSIC information.

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework

Data is collected from all establishments which grow grapes, and whose Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations is over $5000.

    An agricultural establishment is an establishment which is engaged mainly in agricultural activities (i.e. classified to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) Sub-Division 01 - Agriculture).

    An establishment with agricultural activity is usually a single physical location which is used for the production of crops (including fruit and vegetables) and/or for the raising of livestock and the production of livestock products.

    Main outputs
    The main output consists of varietal data at different levels of aggregation. This includes commodity totals and commodity counts.

    The main varietal outputs are:

    • Area of vines at harvest
      - Bearing
      - Not yet bearing
      - planted or grafted before harvest
      - planted or grafted after harvest
    • Wine grape production
    • Area of vines removed


    Other outputs include (non-varietal):
    • Area of wine grapes left on the vine or dropped on the ground at maturity
    • Grapevines watered - source, volume, method and area.

    Classifications

    Geography.
      • The Australian Statistical Geographical Standard (ASGS) is the main geographical classification used.
      • Data is available at the national and state level.
      • Data is also output using the industry's GI regions (Australian Geographical Indications Regions).

    Industry
      • The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) is the only classification used. The ANZSIC06 code for grape growing is 0131.

    Commodities
      • Each commodity is given a unique Information Data Warehouse (IDW) name.
      • Most commodities will retain the IDW name from one survey to the next which allows for comparison over time.
      • Not all commodities/varieties will be collected each year, therefore there may be gaps for historical series.
    Other concepts (summary)
    Not Applicable.

    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT
    Other (specify below)

    Comments and/or Other Regions
    Australian Geographical Indication (GI) Region

    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    2 Yearly

    Frequency comments
    Now conducted biennially until 2017.

    COLLECTION HISTORY
    The ABS has collected data specifically for use by the grape wine industries since the mid 1970's and it is currently collected and processed by the Rural Environment and Agricultural Statistics Branch (REASB) located in ABS Tasmania. The Vineyards Census has been fully user funded since 2009.

    From 1998 to 2008 REASB conducted an annual Vineyards Census. However, in contrast to previous years, the 2009 Vineyards Survey was undertaken using a survey methodology and collected information on a reduced range of wine grape varieties, collecting information on only the major wine grape varieties with only wine grape growers in the scope of the survey. Previous Vineyards collections were conducted as censuses and included all significant varieties, as well as table, drying and other grapes. Irrigation information was also excluded from the 2009 Vineyards Survey.

    Also in 2009 the scope of the Vineyards collection changed following the migration of all agricultural collections to a business based frame. This business based frame replaced the land based frame previously used for the Vineyards collection. A minimum size cut-off was reinstated as the Vineyards frame became a subset of the annual agricultural frame. As a result, the scope of the 2009 Vineyards Survey was agricultural businesses recorded on the ABS' Business Register (ABSBR) above a minimum size cut-off of $5,000, as well as being identified on the ABSBR as a wine grape grower/vineyard through survey feedback or from Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) information. The measure of size was based on either the ABS' Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) or a derived value based on Business Activity Statement (BAS) turnover.

    EVAO scoping cut off:

    2008-09 onwards Reinstated EVAO level of $5,000 and over.
    1999-2000 to 2007-08 Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) restrictions no longer applicable.
    1993-94 to 1999-2000 Change in EVAO level to $5,000 and over.
    1991-92 Change in EVAO level to $22,500 and over.
    1986-87 Change in EVAO level to $20,000 and over.
    1982-83 Change in EVAO level to $2,500 and over.
    Prior to this, EVAO level was $1,500 and over.


    The ABSBR is based on the Australian Business Register (ABR) which is administered and maintained by the Australian Business Register. While the ABSBR does not include all agricultural businesses in Australia, it provides improved coverage from the previous ABS-maintained Agricultural Survey frame, since most businesses and organisations in Australia need to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the Australian Business Register for their business operations. The ABR-based register also provides more up-to-date coverage as it excludes agricultural businesses with cancelled ABNs and incorporates regularly updated information on agricultural businesses from the ATO.

    The 2010 Vineyards Census returned to a full census and was followed by the 2012 Vineyards Census. With future censuses scheduled for 2015 and 2017.

    DATA AVAILABILITY
    Yes

    Data availability comments
    Collection is despatched May with data tentatively scheduled for released in October.


    DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
    19/01/2015 01:10 PM