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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents preliminary estimates of principal agricultural commodities and livestock numbers for the 2011-12 season, and comparative data for the previous two years. The preliminary estimates are based on data collected in the 2011-12 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) .

2 The ARMS and the Agricultural Survey are conducted in alternate years, with an Agricultural Census conducted every five years.

3 Additional commodity estimates from the 2011-12 ARMS will be published in Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0) in 2013.

4 The estimates for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are final national estimates for principal agricultural commodities and livestock numbers collected in the 2009-10 ARMS and the 2010-11 Agricultural Census. Estimates for 2011-12 are preliminary and may be subject to revision.


GENERAL

5 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.


SCOPE AND COVERAGE

6 Estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from the ARMS for the year ended 30 June 2012.

7 The scope of the 2011-12 ARMS was all agricultural businesses recorded on the ABS' Business Register (ABSBR) above a minimum size cutoff. The ABSBR is based on the Australian Business Register (ABR) which is administered and maintained by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

8 A minimum size cut-off of $5,000 was applied to determine whether a business was in-scope for the 2011-12 ARMS. The measure of size was based on the ABS' Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) or a derived value based on Businesses Activity Statement (BAS) turnover.

9 While the ABSBR does not include all agricultural businesses in Australia, it provides improved coverage from the former ABS-maintained Agricultural Survey frame as most businesses and organisations in Australia need to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the ATO for their business operations. The ABR-based register is also more up-to-date as it excludes agricultural businesses with cancelled ABNs and incorporates regularly updated information on agricultural businesses from the ATO.

10 The 2011-12 preliminary estimates are based on a response rate of 79% from a sample of 36,000 agricultural businesses selected for the 2011-12 ARMS.


RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES (SAMPLE ERROR)

11 The estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from a sample drawn from the total agricultural business population in scope of the collection, and are subject to sampling variability; that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if all businesses had been included in the survey. One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE) which indicates the extent to which an estimate might vary by chance because only a sample was taken. There are about two chances in three that a 'sample' estimate will differ by less than one SE from the figure that would have been obtained in all businesses had responded and about nineteen chances in twenty that the difference will be less than two SEs

12 In this publication, 'sampling' variability of the estimates is measured by the relative standard error (RSE) which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers.

13 Most published estimates have RSEs less than 5%. For some states with limited production of certain commodities, RSEs are greater than 10%. Estimates that have an estimated RSE between 10% and 25% are annotated with the symbol '^'. These estimates should be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Estimates with an RSE between 25% and 50% are annotated with the symbol '*', indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling error too high for most practical purposes. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% are annotated with the symbol '**', indicating that the sampling variability causes the estimates to be considered too unreliable for general use. Separate indication of the RSEs of all estimates is available on request.

14 A table with RSEs for the principal commodities in this publication follows:

RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS OF SELECTED ESTIMATES - year ended 30 June 2012
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barley for grain - Production (t)	5.5	5.6	9.9	2.2	4.0	4.9	-	-	2.2
Canola - Production (t)	3.4	6.7	57.5	4.2	4.5	8.2	-	-	2.3
Cotton Lint - Production (t)	4.6	-	8.0	-	11.5	-	-	-	3.9
Grain sorghum - Production (t)	8.9	39.6	4.3	25.9	0.4	-	-	-	4.6
Lupins for grain - Production (t)	15.6	12.3	22.3	7.8	5.3	25.1	-	-	4.6
Oats for grain - Production (t)	8.8	15.7	22.1	11.8	6.0	25.0	-	-	4.7
Rice for grain - Production (t)	11.4	64.3	78.0	-	7.0	-	-	-	11.3
Sugar cane cut for crushing - Production (t)	8.9	-	4.7	-	65.3	-	-	-	4.5
Wheat for grain - Production (t)	3.0	4.2	3.8	1.8	2.8	6.1	57.6	-	1.4
Total milk cattle (no.)	4.6	6.1	8.5	8.5	6.0	6.5	47.7	-	4.0
Total meat cattle (no.)	2.9	5.2	3.5	5.0	3.5	3.3	1.3	2.8	1.8
Total sheep and lambs (no.)	2.7	5.6	8.3	3.9	3.0	3.4	-	0.7	1.7
Total pigs (no.)	7.2	3.5	6.1	7.52	7.9	6.0	13.1	32.3	2.9
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)