Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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Oilseeds

The oilseeds industry is a relatively young industry by Australian agricultural standards. The specialist oilseed crops grown in Australia include sunflower, soybeans, canola, safflower and linseed. Sunflower and soybeans are summer crops while the others are winter crops. In Australia, oilseeds are crushed for their oil, which is used for edible and industrial purposes, and for protein meals for livestock feeds.

The 1990s saw the emergence of canola as the main oilseed crop, with production increasing from around 70,000 tonnes in 1990-91 to 2.5 million tonnes in 1999-2000 (see table 16.22). Canola production accounted for nearly 90% of the total Australian oilseed crop of 2.8 million tonnes in 1999-2000 (table 16.38). Before the emergence of canola, the main specialist oilseed crop was sunflower seed. Peanuts and cotton are also major sources of oil, but as a by-product to their main output.

16.38 OILSEEDS
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.
AREA (’000 ha)
1994-95(a)	217	95	92	33	104	-	540
1995-96(a)	227	105	57	35	99	-	522
1996-97(b)	247	115	112	42	107	-	622
1997-98(b)	310	125	89	67	248	-	839
1998-99(b)	496	222	145	136	537	1	1,538
1999-2000(b)	613	319	143	216	879	*1	2,172
PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)
1994-95(a)	147	69	64	30	108	-	417
1995-96(a)	339	143	46	51	117	-	697
1996-97(b)	432	147	120	57	108	-	864
1997-98(b)	419	142	82	92	270	-	1,005
1998-99(b)	793	268	166	196	615	1	2,039
1999-2000(b)	968	438	151	249	963	*2	2,770
(a) Excludes linseed. (b) Excludes peanuts and cotton seed.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Cotton

Cotton is grown mainly in New South Wales and Queensland, primarily for its fibre (lint). When the cotton is mature, seed cotton is taken to a gin where it is separated (ginned) into cotton lint and cotton seed. The lint is used for yarn while the cotton seed is further processed at an oil mill, where the short fibres (linters) remaining on the cotton seed after ginning are removed. These fibres are too short to make into cloth, but are used for wadding, upholstery and paper. The seeds are then separated into kernels and hulls. The hulls are used for stock feed and as fertiliser, while the kernels are crushed to extract oil. The oilcake residue (crushed kernels) is ground into meal, which is a protein roughage, and is used as a stock feed.

The quantity and value of seed cotton production have risen significantly over the past five years (table 16.39). The gross value of seed cotton in 1999-2000 was $1.4b, a 5% increase over the previous year.

16.39 COTTON
	Seed cotton(a)
	Area	Quantity	Gross value	Cotton lint
	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	$m	’000 tonnes
1994-95	245	796	851	317
1995-96	315	923	1,003	381
1996-97	378	1,485	1,156	560
1997-98	381	1,519	1,228	564
1998-99	446	1,547	1,353	634
1999-2000	435	1,950	1,416	698
(a) Before ginning.
Source: Agriculture, Australia (7113.0); ABS data available on request, Agricultural Census, Agricultural Commodities Survey.

Sugar

Sugar cane is grown commercially in Australia along the east coast over a distance of some 2,100 km in a number of areas from Maclean in northern New South Wales to Mossman in Queensland. More recently, it has also been grown in Western Australia.

About 93% of production occurs in Queensland (table 16.40), with 75% of the crop grown north of the Tropic of Capricorn in areas where rainfall is reliable and the warm, moist and sunny conditions are ideal for growing sugar cane.

16.40 SUGAR CANE CUT FOR CRUSHING, Area, production and yield
	New South Wales			Queensland			Western Australia
	Area harvested	Production	Yield	Area harvested	Production	Yield	Area harvested	Production	Yield
	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha
1994-95	16	1,825	111.2	347	31,146	89.8	(a)	(a)	(a)
1995-96	18	1,923	107.8	359	33,898	94.6	1	69	69.0
1996-97	18	2,231	124.0	371	36,232	97.6	1	170	164.7
1997-98	19	2,416	127.0	394	36,790	93.4	3	326	126.7
1998-99	20	2,555	126.0	379	35,587	93.9	3	392	135.5
1999-2000	20	2,493	123.8	405	35,316	87.2	3	355	123.2
(a) Data not collected.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Crops and pastures cut for hay or silage

To counter Australia's seasonal conditions and unreliable rainfall, many farmers use hay and silage as methods of fodder conservation to supplement pasture and natural sources of stockfeed.

Considerable areas of Australia are devoted to fodder crops and pastures, which are either used for grazing (as green feed) or harvested and conserved as hay or silage (table 16.41).

16.41 CROPS AND PASTURES CUT FOR HAY OR SILAGE
	Hay		Silage made
	Area	Production	Production
	'000 ha	'000 tonnes	'000 tonnes
1996-97	1,284	4,687	1,686
1997-98	1,427	5,295	2,129
1998-99	1,568	6,245	2,770
1999-2000	1,373	5,331	2,981
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

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