Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Agriculture - Sheep/Wool Industry - Wheat / Sheep Zone

Wheat / Sheep Zone

Benchmarking Rural Industries' Practices and Productivity Performance and Review of Industries' Capacity to Change

Where are sheep and wool produced in the Wheat / Sheep Zone?

The sheep and wool industry's Sheep /Wheat Zone stretches from inland Queensland south of around Longreach, through into the Murray Darling catchment into southern South Australia and across into south western Western Australia. Sheep graze over 11 957 240 hectares in this zone. Pastures used in this zone are both improved and native, depending on location. Some of the areas in southern Australia irrigate their pastures. The following map represents the distribution of sheep within this zone.

Map of region

How many sheep and how much wool does the Wheat / Sheep Zone produce?

In 1997, the statistics on sheep and wool production in this zone were:

Between 1987 and 1994, sheep and wool production in this region has decreased by 7 million head and 5 616 tonnes as shown in the graph below.

Sheep and wool production

What land and water resources are used for sheep and wool production in the Wheat / Sheep Zone?

The Wheat/ Sheep Zone lies predominantly within the dry winter subtropical and temperate regions as well as the persistently dry grasslands climatic zone, which has a moderate variability in the temperature extremes in this region. For more information on the climate of this region, see the Bureau of Meteorology web site.

As at 1999, the pasture composition within the sheep and beef High Rainfall Zones comprised of the following:

The sheep and wool industry in this zone utilises near 12 million hectares or 14% of the total area utilised for sheep and wool production.

What are the key characteristics of sheep and wool producers and farms in the Wheat / Sheep Zone and how do they compare with industry averages?

Key characteristics of sheep and wool producers and farms in this region include:

Region

Key characteristics

 Industry Average Wheat-sheep
Age of owner/manager
 54 years 56 years

Owner/manager education and skill

  • Completed university/tertiary or trade
  • Completed 5-6 years high school
  • Completed 1-4 years high school
  • Primary or no schooling
31%
23%
38%
8%
30%
20%
41%
9%
Family members working on farm 63 hr/wk 60 hr/wk

Owner manager work on farm


 42 hr/wk 40 hr/wk
Number of dependent children 1 1.1

Farm cash income ($)


 12 446 15 199

Total farm debt - June 30 ($)


 134 698 105 340
Farm business profit ($) - 31 183 - 30 060

Total off farm income ($)


 19 667 26 832

Owner work off farm


 5 hr/wk 5 hr/wk
Area operated - June 30 7 561 ha 899 ha

Farm ownership/tenure

  • Freehold
  • Long term crown lease
19%
79%
69%
36%
Employment of non-family labour 19 hr/wk 16hr/wk

Landcare membership


 47% 40%
Length of group involvement 6 years 6 years

Producers in this zone have education levels and work hours on farm close to equal to industry average. Their farm debt levels are lower than the industry average, they have negative business profit and higher than industry average off-farm income. Their holdings are much smaller than industry average and on generally freehold land. Landcare group membership levels are lower than industry average. These combination of attributes suggest that the industry in this region has some capacity to implement change, but financial considerations, holding size and landcare membership levels will need to be taken into account due to high debt levels, economies of size constraints and information sharing limitations.

What environmental challenges face the sheep and wool industry in the Wheat / Sheep Zone?

The proportion of sheep and wool farms with significant degradation problems is shown in the chart below. Weeds, surface water logging and dryland salinity have been identified as the most significant of the nine ABARE (2000) surveyed degradation forms. On average, there are 582 ha of each sheep farm in this region affected by some form of land degradation. The main environmental challenges facing the sheep and wool industry in this region include:

This is shown the graph below.

Proportion of farms with a significant degradation problem

What is the sheep and wool industry doing to meet these environmental challenges in the Wheat / Sheep Zone and across Australia?

Management practices being adopted to face these challenges and the level of adoption of these practices are illustrated in the graph below.

Management practice adoption and applicability
Codes of practice

A specific sheep/wool industry Code of Practice is not in effect. The industry primarily relies on the adoption of best management practice as promoted by research and development initiatives and identified in various strategic plans.

Research and development

The main research and development (R & D) bodies associated with the sheep and wool industry are:

Woolwise (1993 - 2000)

Woolwise has undertaken works in the areas of genetic engineering and wool quality improvement.

Australian Wool Research and Promotion Organisation (AWRAP) (1993 - 2000)

The six major AWRAP programs involve over 2 500 wool growers and seek to deliver improved on-farm practices. These programs include:

Meat and Livestock Australia

MLA initiated the Producer Initiated Research and Development scheme (PIRD) in 1993 to involve producers in the research and development process. Under the scheme, producers with an initiative aimed at improving the efficiency and profitability of their farm business through on farm research and development can apply to the MLA for funds of up to $10 000 per project.

For more information on these research and development programs, see the national sheep and wool industry page or the web page of the relevant organisation through the links provided in the further information section below.

How is the Australian sheep and wool industry working with other agricultural industries to overcome some of the challenges faced by this region

Sheep and wool produced in the zone typically forms part of mixed farming systems and/or mixed farming regions. The majority of the zone falls within the Murray Darling Basin catchment, and this catchment is the most intensively developed catchment agriculturally in Australia. Sheep and wool are produced alongside areas supporting grains, horticulture, cotton and dairying land uses. Historic natural resource management issues that have potential to impact on regional environmental values and sheep and wool production include:

Other regions within this zone are to the north of Murray Darling catchment and in the south-west corner of Western Australia. Sheep and wool produced in these regions also form part of mixed farming systems and/or mixed farming regions in these areas. Localised sheep and wool areas occurring in these areas support mainly grain, beef and some cotton enterprises. Historic natural resource management issues that have potential to impact on environmental values and sheep and wool production in these sections of the zone include:

The resolution of these issues requires ongoing research, consultation and development. The sheep and wool industry in this region has involved itself in the planning processes presently proceeding on the resolution of these and other natural resource management issues such as:

How do these factors affect the future prospects of the industry?

The sheep and wool industry in this region is geographically spread through mainly the developed Murray Darling Basin areas of Australia. The localised nature of agriculture of the grains, dairy and horticultural districts within the region results in natural resource management issues such as erosion, nutrification of waterways and habitat loss. The less intensive areas face similar environmental issues, but with more emphasis on weed infestation. The management of these issues is needed in this region when the sensitivities of the adjoining marine environments are considered.

Research will need continual development, particularly in the areas of woody weeds and water erosion. Cross industry environmental effects such as:

occur in the intensively developed areas. The characteristics of producers in the region suggests that capacity building for the region's sheep and wool producers will be needed to progressively implement

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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