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In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Agriculture - Grains Industry - Western Region
Western Region
Benchmarking Rural Industries' Practices and Productivity Performance and Review of Industries' Capacity to Change
Where is grain produced in the Western Region?
The grains industry's Western region includes the following agroecological zones (AEZ):
- WA Northern;
- WA Eastern;
- WA Central;
- WA Mallee and Sandplain; and
- WA Ord.
which cover 3,980,975 hectares.
How much grain does the Western Region produce?
Grain production statistics for this region for 1999 are:
| Grain group | Production (t) | Average yield (t/ha) | Gross value ($m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field grains | 5,276,163 | 1.83 | 931.9 |
| Oilseeds | 286,875 | 1.15 | 107.7 |
| Grain legumes | 959,438 | 1.08 | 125.9 |
| Rice | 0 | - | 0 |
In the 10 years to 1998, grain production in this region increased by 3.3 million tonnes. The graphs below show the trend in area, production and average yield for this region for the four grain groups.
As an example, the average annual increase in productivity and farm performance of wheat for this region is illustrated in the table below.
| Region/AEZ | Productivity a (%) | Wheat Yield a (%) | Rate of Return b (%) | Farm Cash Income b ($) | Grain Area b (ha) | % of Australian Grain Crop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WA Central | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 99,167 | 854 | 18.7 |
| WA Eastern | 4.0 | 3.8 | 8.7 | 172,839 | 1,787 | 3.8 |
| WA Northern | 4.0 | 4.7 | 7.2 | 183,272 | 1,042 | 29.0 |
What land and water resources are invested in grain production in the Western Region?
The southern sections Western region experiences a mediterranean climate, where yields depend upon good winter rains, as spring rainfall is generally unreliable. The Northern Kununurra district is affected by tropical weather systems.
Enterprises in this region are large in size with a narrower range of crop options when compared to other regions. The export market dominates the smaller domestic market of this region. A leader in grain storage practice, this region has transport advantages to South-East Asia.
In 1999, the Western region included:
- 5,405 thousand hectares of field grains
- 87 thousand hectares of oilseeds
- 1,1567 thousand hectares of grain legumes
- no rice production
Grain production is distributed according to sub-regions as presented in the following table.
| Region/AEZ | Field Grain area ('000 ha) | Oilseed area ('000 ha) | Grain legume area ('000 ha) | Rice area ('000 ha) | %of Aust grain area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Region | 5,405.2 | 87.4 | 1,156.3 | 0.0 | 35.7 |
| WA Ord | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.0 | - | 0.0 |
| WA central | 2,639.3 | 58.0 | 524.2 | - | 17.4 |
| WA eastern | 1,004.9 | 2.2 | 141.0 | - | 6.2 |
| WA northern | 1,164.7 | 3.9 | 443.7 | - | 8.7 |
| WA mallee and sandplain | 595 | 23.2 | 46.4 | - | 3.6 |
| AUSTRALIA | 15,921.8 | 574.7 | 2,022.2 | 129.3 | 100.0 |
* based on ABARE dada, 2000
What are the key characteristics of grain producers and farms in the Western Region and how do they compare with industry averages?
Key characteristics of grain producers and farms in this region include:
| Key characteristic | Industry Average | Region Average |
|---|---|---|
| Age of owner/manager | 50 years | 49 years |
| Owner/manager education and skill | ||
| - Completed university/tertiary or trade | 15% | 10% |
| - Completed 5-6 years high school | 35% | 56% |
| - Completed 1-4 years high school | 48% | 34% |
| - Primary or no schooling | 3% | 0% |
| Family members working on farm | 86 hr/wk | 95 hr/wk |
| Owner manager work on farm | 51 hr/wk | 58 hr/wk |
| Number of dependent children | 1 | 1.2 |
| Farm cash income ($) | 93,514 | 137,771 |
| Total farm debt - June 30 | 234,708 | 358,259 |
| Farm business profit ($) | 20,209 | 38,298 |
| Total off farm income ($) | 17,016 | 9,285 |
| Owner work off farm | 3 hr/wk | 1 hr/wk |
| Total farm area - June 30 | 1,570 ha | 3,132 ha |
| Farm ownership/tenure | ||
| Freehold | 77% | 91% |
| Long term crown lease | 15% | 3% |
| Employment of non-family labour | 26 hr/wk | 43 hr/wk |
| Landcare membership | 42% | 69% |
| Length of group involvement | 6 years | 5 years |
What environmental challenges face the grains industry in the Western Region?
The main environmental challenges facing the grains industry in this region are dryland salinity, soil acidity, water erosion and surface waterlogging.
The proportion of farms reporting significant degradation in various forms is demonstrated in the chart below, which shows that the grain farmers of this region see soil acidity as most significant in this region.
What is the grains industry doing to meet these environmental challenges in the Western Region and across Australia?
Research and development
The main body involved in research and development in the grains industry is the Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC). The GRDC is responsible for overseeing research and development, delivering improvements in production, sustainability and profitability across the Australian grains industry.
For more information on GRDC research and development, see the national grains industry page or visit the GRDC website via the link provided in the further information section below.
Until recently, research it on the wider natural resource management issues have traditionally been the responsibility of the state agencies and CSIRO. In the past, this research has concentrated on land management issues and more recently, moved into land and water use assessment and water management issues. In addition, applied research into areas affecting production and environmental values have been undertaken.
Practice Adoption
The grains research industry surveys carried out for GRDC between 1994 and 1998 by TQA Research P/L, provide an indication of the trend in application of research findings by the industry. The chart below shows the trend in the percent of growers indicating that they have changed farming practices in the last 2 years, or 5 years as a direct result of research findings.
The adoption of management practices by growers in the Western region has been surveyed by ABARE (2000). The proportion of growers adopting the practices surveyed are shown in the chart below. Numbers in bold indicate national average.
A positive change in the likelihood of adoption of best practices by grain growers has been identified in the quantitative benchmark studies undertaken for GRDC (Quint, 1994 and Watson and Quint, 1998). This is evidenced by the upward trend in grower movement through the study?s ranking system. This upward trend is illustrated in the chart below.
Grower adoption of certain preventative programs has also been assessed in the quantitative benchmark studies. The 1998 adoption of these preventative measures in this region are:
- use of legume pastures to improve crops - 74% of growers;
- sowing of deep-rooted crops to counter rising water tables - 28% of growers;
- current use of controlled traffic systems - 12% of growers; and
- probably future use of controlled traffic systems - 6% of growers.
Codes of Practice
The grains industry does not currently have a specific industry code of practice, however, some guidance is provided to farmers through codes of practice for general agriculture such as that developed by the State Farmer?s Federation bodies or through the TOPCROP program.
Until recently, the industry?s main source of advice on recommended management practice has historically been developed through state agency and CSIRO research and extended to growers via state agencies and agribusiness support.
TOPCROP is a farmer focused information network based on monitoring and target setting for crops, pastures and finances. The aim of setting these targets is to increase profitability and sustainability. TOPCROP is a partnership between growers, industry and government that assists with:
- access to recent industry recommendations;
- dissemination of local knowledge;
- grower interaction; and
- technology review.
Industry strategic planning
The Grains 2000 Project, initiated by the Grains Council of Australia in 1989, identified a number of issues critical to the longer-term profitability and financial sustainability of the Australian grains industry. Strategic Planning Units (SPUs) were established to address these critical issues as they relate to specific grains and deal primarily with improving/expanding domestic and export markets, improving links and arrangements with various institutions and improving industry profitability.
For more information on industry strategic planning, see the national grains industry page or visit the GCA website via the link provided in the further information section below.
How is the Western Region of the grains industry working with other agricultural industries to overcome some of the challenges faced by this region?
Grain produced in the Western region typically forms part of mixed farming systems and/or mixed farming regions. In the Southern regions of Western Australia, grains are predominantly grown alongside grazing enterprises and some horticultural industries. In the Northern region, the Ord Irrigation Area supports other irrigation industries such as cotton, sugar and horticultural crops.
The natural resource management issues that have potential to impact on environmental values and grain production are:
- containment of herbicides through spray drift and runoff mobilisation;
- runoff coordination affecting erosion rates and water flow patterns;
- unknown effects of genetically modified plantings;
- equitable water allocation.
The resolution of these issues requires on-going research and development. The grains industry in the Western region has involved itself in the planning mechanisms presently proceeding on natural resource management issues such as:
- salinity management and responses to National Salinity Action Plan;
- surface and groundwater management including water allocation; and
- erosion control.
An analysis of adoption rates for management practices surveyed indicates a trend exists for the progressive increase in adoption by Western region farmers. These adoptive rates will have to continue to increase so as to reverse the impact of continued degradation.
How do these factors affect the future prospects of the industry?
The grains industry is the Western region in spread over nearly 4 million hectares in Western Australia. Climate variability is split between the Mediterranean climate effects of the south area to the tropical effects of the north. Field grain production areas have remained generally stable, grain legumes production areas are stabilising after steady growth in the 1990?s and oilseeds are also stabilising, but after sharp rises in areas throughout the 1990?s. Increased production reflects increases in areas planted as yield responses have tended incrementally positive over this period.
The regions main degradation issues are elevated sodicity levels, higher levels of dryland salinity and surface water logging. This indicates a need to manage groundwater levels with a coordinated catchment approach. Degradation is now impacting on production levels and continued farming systems research needs to be undertaken to manage the causes as well as the symptoms of degradation, especially in the southern areas.
The capacity of this grain region to adopt new practices is good based on this historic proportion of growers changing practice. In the order of 80% of Western region growers change practice. The challenge is increasing the rate of change in response to rapidly developing natural resource management degradation issues, especially salinity.
Further information
Link to Map maker to make a map using this information.
Link to data available for download on "A spatially consistent sub-set of agricultural statistics (AgStats) data 1982/93 to 1996/97"
"Benchmarking environmental challenges and agricultural practice - an overview Summary
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