QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY
INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.
RELEVANCE
The publication, Land Management and Farming in Australia (cat. no. 4627.0), contains estimates on a variety of farming and land management practices collected from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), 2007-08. These practices include cropping and pasture management, soil management, fertiliser use, surface water and effluent management and natural environment conservation protection. Data on adverse seasonal conditions experienced and reported management responses to these conditions are also available. Data are collected at Natural Resource Management (NRM) region, state/territory and Australia levels.
TIMELINESS
Land Management and Farming in Australia (cat. no. 4627.0) is published within 12 months of the end of the reference period and follows the release of Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0) and Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0).
ACCURACY
Data from the 2007-08 ARMS are based on a response rate of 87.4% and have been extensively quality assured. The resultant value estimates have been checked against earlier years where available. Many of the data items are new and have been validated against other relevant sources, including contact with data providers, to ensure the accuracy of the estimates produced.
COHERENCE
The Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) was conducted for the first time in 2007-08 as a result of changes to the ABS Agricultural survey program. The ARMS combines the annual Agricultural Survey with a benchmark survey of land management practices by agricultural businesses, and a survey of management responses to adverse seasonal conditions experienced by affected agricultural businesses.
The 2007–08 Agriculture Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and 2006–07 Agricultural Survey and 2005–06 Agricultural Census were conducted using new, and expanded, frames based on the Australian Taxation Office's Australian Business Register (ABR). Detailed explanatory and technical notes relating to this change in frame were included in the 2005-06 PDF release of Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0).
These expanded frames mean that estimates relating to land and farm management practices from the 2007–08 ARMS may not be directly comparable to similar data collected in earlier agricultural surveys or in the 2004–05 Natural Resource Management Survey. It is therefore recommended that care be taken when comparing similar estimates across different reference periods.
It is also recommended that users take care when comparing related, but different, estimates from within the ARMS collection. The definition of some data items can result in apparently similar items representing different concepts due to scope differences. Data in this publication relating to major agricultural activities should not be compared with industry level data (based on ANZSIC) also available from the ARMS collection due to differences in the way businesses are classified to these groups.
INTERPRETABILITY
The ABS was commissioned by the Australian Government to undertake a survey of farm businesses in 2007-08 to provide benchmark data on resource management practices for the Caring for our Country program. This program is a Commonwealth government initiative that seeks to achieve an environment that is healthy, better protected, well managed and resilient, and provides essential ecosystem services in a changing climate. Data for this publication were collected from the 2007-08 Agricultural Resource Management Survey. Detailed Explanatory Notes are provided with this publication to assist users in determining and specifying their data requirements and to understand the concepts underlying the data.
ACCESSIBILITY
An extensive range of data are available from a variety of agriculture based collections on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>.
If the information you require is not available as a standard product or service, the ABS Consultancy Services can assist with customised services to suit your requirements. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
Quality Declaration 
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