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KEY FIGURES

LAND USE ON FARMS, Australia, year ended 30 June 2017
	2016-17	Change since
		2015-16
		%
AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES AND LAND AREA
Agricultural businesses (no.)	88 073	2.8%
Area of agricultural holdings ('000 ha)	393 797	6.1%
Total land area ('000 ha) (a)	769 202
LAND USE FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ('000 ha)
Land use for agricultural production	372 721	8.5%
Crops	31 074	2.3%
Grazing	340 763	9.1%
- Improved pasture	35 567	-4.5%
- Other grazing land	305 196	11.0%
Forestry (b)	774	-12.5%
- Plantation forest	193	-19.5%
- Native forests	581	-9.9%
Other agricultural purposes	110	-23.1%
Land not used for agricultural purposes	15 447	6.2%
- Land set aside for conservation/protection purposes	7 420	7.3%
- Other land not used for agricultural production	8 027	5.2%
(a) Total land area supplied by Geoscience Australia
(b) Total area of Land used for forestry now includes the area of both Plantation and Native forests.

• Agricultural businesses operated across just over half (51%) of Australia's total land area during 2016-17.
• At 30 June 2017 there were 394 million hectares of agricultural land in Australia, a 6% increase on the previous year. Coinciding with this increase in agricultural land, there were 2,400 more agricultural businesses at 30 June 2017, a 3% increase on 2015-16 estimates.
• Favourable weather conditions across much of the country saw the area of land used for crops in Australia increase to 31 million hectares in 2016-17. The increase was driven by South Australia and Western Australia, up 8% and 4% respectively on last year's estimate. South Australia, in particular, saw a resurgence in agriculture production after a poor year in 2015-16 with record high yields for many crops and farmers taking advantage of the conditions by planting additional areas of crops.
• Of the 394 million hectares of land operated by agricultural businesses in Australia, 341 million hectares (or 87%) was used for grazing, a 9% increase when compared to 2015-16. An estimated 65,000 agricultural businesses (or 74%) of all agricultural businesses, reported grazing land, a 6% increase from the previous year.
• Queensland continues to be the largest contributor to the area of grazing land, with an estimated 129 million hectares of land used for grazing in 2016-17.
  
  

Grazing land area, hectares (millions), 2016-17
by National Resource Management Regions

Area set aside for Conservation or Protection purposes, hectares ('000), 2016-17
by National Resource Management Regions