Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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Estimates of selected financial aggregates of farm businesses in this section are based on data collected in the annual Australian Agricultural and Grazing Industries Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. This collection covers farm businesses engaged in the 'broadacre' industries of grain growing, sheep and beef farming, and beef cattle feedlot operations (Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (Group 012)).

14.7 BROADACRE FARM BUSINESSES, Selected financial performance measures
Annual average for farming	Units	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Total cash receipts	$000	211.2	221.0	254.5	314.3	262.6
less Total cash costs	$000	165.8	169.6	182.7	213.5	216.1
Farm cash income	$000	45.4	51.3	71.9	100.8	46.5
plus Build-up in trading stocks	$000	2.7	-1.2	-1.7	6.4	-3.9
less Depreciation	$000	20.5	21.2	22.3	25.1	26.5
less Operator and family labour	$000	36.9	36.4	38.4	39.7	41.3
Farm business profit	$000	-9.4	-7.5	9.4	42.4	-25.1
Profit at full equity(a)	$000	7.2	8.8	27.9	63.0	-3.1
plus Capital appreciation	$000	15.1	22.7	90.6	77.6	148.8
Profit at full equity (incl. capital appreciation)	$000	22.3	31.4	118.5	140.6	145.7
Farm capital at 1 July	$000	1,323.0	1,317.4	1,432.3	1,699.6	1,953.8
Rate of return (excl. capital appreciation)(b)	%	0.5	0.7	1.9	3.7	-0.2
Rate of return (incl. capital appreciation)(b)	%	1.7	2.4	8.3	8.3	7.5
Off-farm income(c)	$000	18.8	21.1	23.6	25.3	25.9
(a) Farm business profit, plus rent, interest and finance lease payments less depreciation on leased items. (b) Computed by expressing profit at full equity as a percentage of total opening capital. (c) Collected for owner manager and spouse only. Includes income from wages, other businesses, investment and social welfare payments. Average for those responding farms for which details of off-farm income are available for both owner manager and spouse. Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Financial performance

Selected financial performance measures - expressed as annual averages per farm - for all broadacre farm businesses for the years 1998-99 to 2002-03 are shown in table 14.7 and graphs 14.8, 14.9 and 14.10.

In 2002-03 Australia experienced a severe and widespread drought. As a result, the production of most crops was substantially reduced. Drought also affected pasture and water availability resulting in higher than usual turn-off of unfinished livestock. The need for increased supplementary feeding of livestock, coupled with higher grain prices, resulted in an increase in cash costs for livestock farms. Following a large increase in receipts in the previous year, average total cash receipts for broadacre farms are estimated to have decreased by 16% in 2002-03. Average total cash costs for broadacre farms increased by around 1% in 2002-03.