7121.0 - Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2015-16 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/07/2017   
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KEY FIGURES
LIVESTOCK, Australia, year ended 30 June 2016
Number on holding
Change in number on holding since
2014-15
'000
%
CATTLE AND CALVES
Dairy cattle
Cows in milk and dry
1 562
-5
Calves (under one year)
451
3
Heifers (one to two years)
441
0
Heifers (over two years)
131
4
All other dairy cattle (a)
81
10
Total dairy cattle
2 665
-2
Meat cattle
Calves (Under one year)
5 162
3
Cows and heifers (over one year)
11 452
-1
All other meat cattle (a)
5 693
-6
Total meat cattle
22 306
-1
Total cattle and calves
24 971
-1
SHEEP AND LAMBS
Lambs (under one year)
21 359
2
Breeding ewes (one year and over, merino and all other)
37 182
-1
All other sheep and lambs
9 003
-5
Total sheep and lambs
67 543
-1
PIGS
Breeding sows
240
-11
All other pigs (b)
2 055
3
Total pigs
2 294
1
(a) Includes bulls and steers
(b) Includes boars, gilts, suckers, weaners, growers and finishers


Graph Image for Livestock

Source(s): Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0)


KEY POINTS
  • The national total stock of dairy cattle for 2015-16 decreased by 2% to 2.7 million head. The change was driven by a decline of 6% in Victorian stocks which has about two thirds of the country's dairy cattle.
  • Total meat cattle in Australia decreased by 302,000 head (1%) with Western Australia being the main contributor to the decrease with 12% fewer head.
  • The total number of sheep and lambs remained fairly steady in 2015-16 however numbers in Victoria fell by 5% where unfavourable weather conditions were experienced throughout the state.
  • The total number of pigs continued to steadily rise, increasing nationally by 1% in 2015-16.


CHANGE IN COLLECTION SCOPE
  • The scope for the 2015-16 Agricultural Census was all agricultural businesses with an Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) of $40,000 or greater. This is a change from previous ABS rural environment and agricultural collections, where a scope of EVAO of $5,000 or greater was used. This change was foreshadowed in February 2016 in Agricultural Census: Nature and Content, 2015-16 (cat. no 7100.1).
  • The 2014-15 estimates presented in this publication have been revised to use the new scope of $40,000 or greater.
  • For more information about EVAO and the change in scope, refer to the Explanatory Notes within this release.