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AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SURVEY (ARMS) 2009-10


The 2009-10 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, to be despatched at the end of June 2010, will focus on the collection of statistics relating to natural resource use and management by agricultural businesses in addition to the collection of the core commodity production information, water use, water source and land use statistics.

This content is consistent with the collection strategy of the ABS Agricultural Statistics Program as outlined in the initial issue of Agriculture Statistics Strategy - 2008-09 and beyond (cat. no. 7105.0). This strategy is designed to meet the increasingly diverse demand for agriculture related data such as water and other natural resource use, management practices, characteristics of agricultural business operators and business finance information.

The resource management and farm practice questions have been based on an extensive consultation process including meeting the data requirements of the Australian Government's 'Caring for our Country' initiative. They measure progress in the conservation, protection and restoration of the natural resources by the managers of agricultural businesses compared with benchmark data collected in 2007-08.

The selection of agricultural commodities to be collected was based on their contribution to national and state value of agricultural production.

Questionnaire content:

Resource management
- farmer characteristics and farm management activities (e.g. project funding, employee details)
- land use (e.g. conservation protection, native vegetation, wetlands)
- land preparation and management practices (e.g. tillage, controlled traffic, stubble management)
- soil management (including testing, fertiliser application)
- water management (including use and sources)
- seasonal conditions and responses

Commodity data
- key broadacre crops (including wheat, oats, barley, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton, rice, canola)
- key vegetable crops (potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions)
- key fruit crops (apples, pears, oranges, mandarins, peaches, mangoes, bananas, grapes)
- livestock data (dairy cattle, meat cattle, sheep and lambs, pigs, poultry)
- wheat stocks and grain storage capacity

Survey output

Results from the 2009-10 ARMS will be released over a six month period from November 2010. Final data will be available at the national, state and Natural Resource Management (NRM) Region levels.

Nov. 2010: Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7111.0)

April 2011: Final estimates will be released in 3 separate products:

- Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0)
- Water Use on Australian Farms, Australia (cat. no. 4618.0)
- Land Management and Farming, Australia (cat. no. 4627.0)
- plus extensive datacubes


May 2011: Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Final (cat. no. 7503.0)


For information attached is a copy of a sample version of the 2009-10 Agricultural Resource Management Survey questionnaire (404 Kb). Please note: A PDF version of the form should not be printed off and used as a replacement for a lost 'hardcopy' form. Farmers who may have misplaced their original form are asked to ring 1800 647 011 and request a new hardcopy be mailed out.