4627.0 - Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2014-15 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/05/2016   
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KEY FIGURES


CROP AND PASTURE MANAGEMENT, Australia, year ended 30 June 2015

Area
Movement since
('000 ha)
2013-14
CROP AND PASTURE CULTIVATION
Cultivation for crops and/or pasture (a)
Total area cultivated (including no cultivation apart from sowing)
19 715
-12%
No cultivation apart from sowing
14 713
-12%
One cultivation
3 026
-9%
Two cultivations
1 317
-12%
Three or more cultivations
660
-31%
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Controlled traffic farming undertaken
5 343
9%
Spatial yield monitoring/mapping undertaken
5 404
14%
Variable rate applications undertaken
2 104
10%

INTERCROPPING PRACTICES
Mixed inter-row/strip cropping
430
-40%
Relay cropping
11
-28%
Row alley cropping
18
-44%
Cover cropping
210
-24%
Pasture cropping
180
-44%
Other intercropping practices
35
-71%

(a) Crop numbers and pasture numbers were combined to produce totals
Graph Image for Intercropping practices

Footnote(s): (a) Includes ACT

Source(s): Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2014-15




KEY POINTS
  • In 2014-15, 42,00 agricultural businesses reported cultivating 19.7 million hectares of land for crops and/or pasture. This estimate represented a 2.7 million hectare, or 12%, decrease from 2013-14. Western Australia had the largest area of land cultivated for crops and/or pastures, with 6.3 million hectares, followed by New South Wales (inc ACT) with 5.3 million hectares.
  • The most common land cultivation practice for crops and pasture in 2014-15 was 'zero or minimum till' i.e. where farmers were undertaking no cultivation apart from sowing. Nationally, of the pasture land cultivated, 2.3 million hectares received no cultivation, apart from sowing, and of the crop land cultivated 12.4 million hectares received no cultivation, apart from sowing.
  • The use of three or more cultivations was the least reported cultivation practice in 2014-15 and had the largest decrease of all cultivation practices, falling by 31% to 660 thousand hectares.
  • Nationally, 6,290 agricultural businesses undertook some form of intercropping practices on 885 thousand hectares of land in 2014-15. New South Wales (inc ACT) was the main state reporting intercropping with 347 thousand hectares, or 39% of the nation's total area intercropped and 40% of all businesses undertaking theses practice. Mixed inter-row/strip cropping continued to be the most common intercropping practice in Australia despite a 40% decrease in area since 2013-14.

Area of intercropping undertaken, 2014-15
by Natural Resource Management Regions
Map: are of intercropping undertaken by NRM region