7111.0 - Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, 2007-08  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/11/2008   
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


INTRODUCTION

While better early season conditions saw crop plantings up, a dry winter and warm and dry spring in many key agricultural regions held production back. Although most production levels were higher than in the previous drought-affected year, they were below recent year averages. Plantings of sorghum were at a record high while plantings of rice, and sheep numbers were at the lowest levels since the 1920's.


CROPS

Barley

The total area sown to barley for grain in 2007-08 rose by 18% from the previous year to 4.9 million hectares. The main growing states were Western Australia (1.4 million hectares), South Australia (1.2 million hectares) and Victoria (1.1 million hectares).

Production of barley for grain in 2007-08 rose by 69% to 7.2 million tonnes. The major producing states were Western Australia (2.8 million tonnes), Victoria (1.8 million tonnes) and South Australia (1.6 million tonnes).


Canola

In 2007-08, the total area sown to canola rose by 23% from the previous year to 1.3 million hectares. Canola production rose by 117% to 1.2 million tonnes.


Cotton

The area planted to cotton fell by 48% from the previous year to 85,000 hectares, the lowest since 1980-81. The production of cotton lint fell by 44% to 158,000 tonnes.


Grain sorghum

The total area sown to sorghum for grain in 2007-08 rose 68% from the previous year to 1.0 million hectares. In Queensland, the main growing state, the area sown was 744,000 hectares, and in New South Wales it was 284,000 hectares.

Production of sorghum for grain in 2007-08 rose 213% to a record 4.0 million tonnes. Production in Queensland was 2.7 million tonnes, while in New South Wales it was 1.3 million tonnes.


Lupins

The area sown to lupins for grain rose by 9% from the previous year to 799,000 hectares. Production rose by 54% to 726,000 tonnes.


Oats

The total area sown to oats for grain in 2007-08 rose 25% from the previous year to 1.3 million hectares. The three main growing states were New South Wales (475,000 hectares), Western Australia (398,000 hectares) and Victoria (210,000 hectares).

Production of oats for grain in 2007-08 rose 107% to 1.5 million tonnes. In Western Australia, production was 867,000 tonnes, in Victoria it was 343,000 tonnes and in New South Wales it was 193,000 tonnes.


Rice

The area sown to rice fell by 85% from the previous year to 3,000 hectares. This represents a fall of 97% from the area sown in 2005-06, and is the lowest area sown since 1927.

Rice production fell by 86% to 23,000 tonnes. This represents a decline in production of 98% from the more than one million tonnes harvested in 2005-06, and is less than 2% of the record 1.6 million tonnes harvested in 2000-01.


Sugar cane

The area planted to sugar cane for crushing fell by 4% from the previous year to 391,000 hectares and the production of sugar cane cut for crushing fell by 7% to 34.0 million tonnes.


Wheat

The total area sown to wheat for grain in 2007-08 rose 8% from the previous year to 12.7 million hectares. The three main growing states were Western Australia (4.3 million hectares), New South Wales (4.1 million hectares) and South Australia (2.1 million hectares).

Production of wheat for grain in 2007-08 rose 28% from the previous season to 13.8 million tonnes. Production in Western Australia was 6.0 million tonnes, in New South Wales it was 2.6 million tonnes and in South Australia it was 2.3 million tonnes.


LIVESTOCK

Milk cattle

Preliminary estimates indicate the number of milk cattle in Australia was 2.5 million head at 30 June 2008. With more than 60% of the national herd, Victoria continued to dominate the dairy industry with a herd of 1.6 million.


Meat cattle

Preliminary estimates indicate the number of meat cattle in Australia was 25.3 million head at 30 June 2008. The dominant states in the industry were Queensland with 12.0 million head and New South Wales with 5.5 million head.


Sheep and lambs

Preliminary estimates indicate the number of sheep and lambs in Australia was 79.2 million head at 30 June 2008. This represents the lowest number since 1920. The dominant states in the industry were New South Wales with 26.8 million head, Western Australia with 18.4 million head and Victoria with 17.5 million head.


Pigs

Preliminary estimates indicate the number of pigs in Australia was 2.2 million head at 30 June 2008. The dominant states in the industry were New South Wales with 646,000 head and Queensland with 541,000 head.


ADVERSE SEASONAL CONDITIONS

In 2007-08, 84% of Australian agricultural businesses reported that they had experienced adverse seasonal conditions, such as drought, severe frosts, hail, severe storms, flood, or an increase in seasonal variability during the 2007-08 season. Estimates ranged from almost 90% of agricultural businesses in New South Wales and Victoria, to just over half in Western Australia.

Of those agricultural businesses reporting that they had experienced adverse seasonal conditions, de-stocking was the most commonly reported management response (57%), followed by the purchase or use of on-farm fodder reserves (46%). Almost one third of these agricultural businesses reported utilising financial reserves and/or increasing business liabilities in response to adverse seasonal conditions.