Agricultural Commodities, Australia

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Statistics on the production of agricultural commodities including cereal and broadacre crops, fruit and vegetables and livestock on Australian farms

Reference period

2017-18 financial year

Released

30/04/2019

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Key statistics

There were 85,000 agricultural businesses (down 3% from June 2017).
There were 378 million hectares of agricultural land (down 4%).
75 million tonnes of broadacre crops were produced (down 22%).
this covered 24 million hectares (down 8% from 2016-17).

Australian farms and farmers

As at 30 June 2018 there were 85,000 agricultural businesses (down 3% from June 2017) and 378 million hectares of agricultural land (down 4%).

Australian farmers

In 2017-18 the average Australian farmer was:

57 years of age
male (more than two-thirds of farmers were male (77%)), and had
37 years experience in farming

Average age of farmers by state and gender
	Male (years)	Female (years)
NSW	58.5	56.3
Vic.	58.5	55.1
Qld	57.7	55.0
SA	55.8	52.9
WA	55.6	54.5
Tas.	57.3	52.7
NT	52.8	49.5
ACT	62.9	54.0

Average age of farmers by state and gender

["","Male","Female"]

[["NSW","Vic.","Qld","SA","WA","Tas.","NT","ACT"],[[58.5],[58.5],[57.700000000000003],[55.799999999999997],[55.600000000000001],[57.299999999999997],[52.799999999999997],[62.899999999999999]],[[56.299999999999997],[55.100000000000001],[55],[52.899999999999999],[54.5],[52.700000000000003],[49.5],[54]]]

[]

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Sources of farm income

Australian farming businesses received most of their income from agricultural production in 2017-18:

85% of income was from agricultural production
11% was from off farm employment or business activities
0.6% was from grants, government transfers and relief funding

Land use on Australian farms

Most agricultural land was used for agricultural production in 2017-18:

328 million hectares were used for grazing
31 million hectares for crops
731,000 hectares for forestry plantation
17 million hectares was not used for agricultural production, with half (50%) of this land set aside for conservation/protection purposes.

Broadacre crops

Broadacre crop production fell in 2017-18, following record breaking levels in 2016-17, but remains at its second highest level since 2012. Reduced production was reported for most broadacre crops. Cotton was an exception with a 23% increase in production on the previous season.

In 2017-18 there were:

75 million tonnes of broadacre crops produced (down 22%)
24 million hectares planted (down 8%)

Key broadacre crops:

Wheat (21 million tonnes, down 34%)
Barley (9 million tonnes, down 31%)
Canola (4 million tonnes, down 10%)
Sorghum (1 million tonnes, up 26%)
Oats (1 million tonnes, down 46%)
Cotton (950 thousand tonnes, up 23%)

Selected broadacre crop production
	2013-14 ('000 tonnes)	2014-15 ('000 tonnes)	2015-16 ('000 tonnes)	2016-17 ('000 tonnes)	2017-18 ('000 tonnes)
Wheat	24,974	23,402	22,275	31,819	20,941
Barley	9,050	8,466	8,992	13,506	9,254
Canola	3,796	3,517	2,775	4,313	3,893
Sorghum	1,245	2,131	1,791	994	1,257
Oats	1,218	1,143	1,300	2,266	1,227
Cotton	821	416	551	774	950

Selected broadacre crop production

["","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"]

[["Wheat","Barley","Canola","Sorghum","Oats","Cotton"],[[24974],[9050],[3796],[1245],[1218],[821]],[[23402],[8466],[3517],[2131],[1143],[416]],[[22275],[8992],[2775],[1791],[1300],[551]],[[31819],[13506],[4313],[994],[2266],[774]],[[20941],[9254],[3893],[1257],[1227],[950]]]

[]

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Fruit, nuts and vegetables

It was a mixed season for fruit, nuts and vegetables in 2017-18. Reduced production was reported for most fruit, nuts and grapes except citrus and stone fruit. Localised weather events affected vegetable production.

Fruit

Key results for fruit production in 2017-18 included:

1.6 million tonnes of grapes (down 9%)
378,000 tonnes of oranges (up 14%)
374,000 tonnes of bananas (down 9%)
268,000 tonnes of apples (down 15%)
138,000 tonnes of mandarins (up 8%)
104,000 tonnes of pears (up 7%)
70,000 tonnes of almonds (down 7%)
63,000 tonnes of avocadoes (up 12%)
57,000 tonnes of mangoes (up 30%)

Vegetables

Key results for vegetable production in 2017-18 included:

1.2 million tonnes of potatoes (up 8%)
386 thousand of tomatoes (up 4%)
279 thousand tonnes of onions (up 6%)
225 thousand tonnes of melons (down 15%)
51 thousand tonnes of mushrooms (up 11%)
49 thousand tonnes of capsicums (up 27%)

Selected fruit and vegetable production
	2013-14 ('000 tonnes)	2014-15 ('000 tonnes)	2015-16 ('000 tonnes)	2016-17 ('000 tonnes)	2017-18 ('000 tonnes)
Citrus	444	435	524	460	516
Pome	363	400	413	410	372
Stone fruit	82	93	108	100	107
Nuts	86	92	112	122	114
Grapes	1,477	1,641	1,773	1,824	1,664
Potatoes	1,118	1,138	1,130	1,105	1,189
Tomatoes	321	386	405	372	386
Onions	255	315	265	263	279

Selected fruit and vegetable production

["","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"]

[["Citrus","Pome","Stone fruit","Nuts","Grapes","Potatoes","Tomatoes","Onions"],[[444],[363],[82],[86],[1477],[1118],[321],[255]],[[435],[400],[93],[92],[1641],[1138],[386],[315]],[[524],[413],[108],[112],[1773],[1130],[405],[265]],[[460],[410],[100],[122],[1824],[1105],[372],[263]],[[516],[372],[107],[114],[1664],[1189],[386],[279]]]

[]

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Livestock

Changing climatic conditions during the year ending 30 June 2018 limited growth of Australian livestock numbers.

Proportion of livestock by state, 2017-18
	Sheep and lambs	Beef cattle	Dairy cattle	Pigs
NSW	25,222,087	4,425,551	301,503	462,554
VIC	14,673,144	2,064,209	1,699,751	568,425
QLD	2,178,418	11,909,945	141,038	701,633
SA	11,789,190	910,039	117,219	441,443
WA	14,500,325	1,900,977	114,207	341,280
TAS	2,205,342	432,630	253,625	18,675
NT	598	2,119,254	11	20
ACT	38,212	5,775	-	-

Proportion of livestock by state, 2017-18

["","Sheep and lambs","Beef cattle","Dairy cattle","Pigs"]

[["NSW","VIC","QLD","SA","WA","TAS","NT","ACT"],[[25222087],[14673144],[2178418],[11789190],[14500325],[2205342],[598],[38212]],[[4425551],[2064209],[11909945],[910039],[1900977],[432630],[2119254],[5775]],[[301503],[1699751],[141038],[117219],[114207],[253625],[11],[null]],[[462554],[568425],[701633],[441443],[341280],[18675],[20],[null]]]

[]

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Beef cattle

The national beef herd remained relatively steady at 24 million head, with declines in the herd in most states offset by increases in Queensland and Victoria:

At June 2018 the national beef herd comprised:

5 million calves (down 0.3%)
12 million cows and heifers (down 0.2%)
6 million other cattle (up 4%)

Beef cattle herd size
	Beef cattle ('000)
2010-11	23,973
2011-12	23,474
2012-13	24,165
2013-14	24,362
2014-15	22,608
2015-16	22,306
2016-17	23,570
2017-18	23,768

Beef cattle herd size

["","Beef cattle"]

[["2010-11","2011-12","2012-13","2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18"],[[23973],[23474],[24165],[24362],[22608],[22306],[23570],[23768]]]

[]

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Dairy cattle

The national dairy herd increased slightly in 2017-18.

At 30 June 2018, there were 2.6 million dairy cattle, including:

1.5 million cows in milk and dry (up 2%)
452,000 dairy calves less than one year (up 1%)
411,000 heifers 1 to 2 years old (down 6%)
138,000 heifers 2 years and older (up 14%)

Dairy cattle herd size
	Dairy cattle ('000)
2010-2011	2,513
2011-2012	2,604
2012-2013	2,778
2013-2014	2,725
2014-2015	2,724
2015-2016	2,665
2016-2017	2,606
2017-2018	2,627

Dairy cattle herd size

["","Dairy cattle"]

[["2010-2011","2011-2012","2012-2013","2013-2014","2014-2015","2015-2016","2016-2017","2017-2018"],[[2513],[2604],[2778],[2725],[2724],[2665],[2606],[2627]]]

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Sheep and lambs

Dry conditions in 2018 limited flock rebuilding nationally.

At June 2018, there were 71 million sheep and lambs in Australia (down 2%), including:

22 million marked lambs less than one year old (down 4%)
27 million breeding merino ewes (up 1%)
13 million other breeding ewes (down 3%)

Sheep and lamb herd size
	Sheep and lambs ('000)
2010-2011	69,933
2011-2012	71,299
2012-2013	72,394
2013-2014	69,361
2014-2015	68,025
2015-2016	67,543
2016-2017	72,125
2017-2018	70,607

Sheep and lamb herd size

["","Sheep and lambs"]

[["2010-2011","2011-2012","2012-2013","2013-2014","2014-2015","2015-2016","2016-2017","2017-2018"],[[69933],[71299],[72394],[69361],[68025],[67543],[72125],[70607]]]

[]

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Pigs

Increased numbers of pigs in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia were offset by falls in New South Wales and Victoria in 2017-18.

At June 2018, there were 3 million pigs (up 2%) nationally. Of these there were:

274,000 breeding sows (down 1%)
2 million other pigs (up by 2%)

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