Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

People - Adjustment - Agriculture in the landscape

Agriculture in the landscape

Much of the data in the following sections will be presented in a mapped format. In order to interpret these maps, it is important to understand where farming is a dominant land use or a minor land use. This indicator shows the total area of farm establishments reported to the Australian Bureau of Statistics through the farm census as a percentage of the total privately owned or leased rural land (excluding built-up areas) within each Statistical Local Area. A high percentage indicates a high proportion of rural land is used by farm businesses which produce sufficient gross income to qualify for inclusion within the Australian Agricultural Census. A low percentage indicates a significant proportion of rural land is not managed as part of a farm business.

Data source

The area of privately owned or leased rural land was obtained from a map of Australian land use produced for the National Land and Water Audit by the Bureau of Rural Sciences. This data coverage portrays land use across Australia in the year 1996/97. The data is available at a one kilometre pixel resolution. Land described as being used for primary production is land that is not allocated for conservation, is not part of urban space and is not forest. This will generally be agricultural land. This data coverage is used as a mask in maps presented in the rest of this report. Data on farms, farmers and farm families is thus only portrayed for regions where agriculture is the dominant land use.

The Bureau of Rural Sciences data set allocates land according to agricultural industry. The category of grazing will include land that is not necessarily managed as part of a production oriented farm. This may include land which is used for amenity based grazing activities or which has been removed from agricultural production. Data on farm establishment size in 1996 was obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics farm census for all establishments with an Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations of greater than $5,000.

Indicator creation

We have mapped the area of agricultural land in a Statistical Local Area reported in the Australian Bureau of Statistics farm census as a percentage of agricultural land identified in the Bureau of Rural Sciences land use cover. High percentage values indicate Statistical Local Areas where most agricultural land is managed by farm businesses that qualify for inclusion in the Australian Bureau of Statistics farm census. A low percentage indicates Statistical Local Areas where the Bureau of Rural Sciences is reporting a significant amount of agricultural land that is not being reported in the Australian Bureau of Statistics farm census. This is an indicator of the extent of agricultural land management that is being captured by the Australian Agricultural Census.

Indicator limitations

It is unclear what proportion of farm establishments are being included in the Australian Bureau of Statistics farm census. The next full farm census in 2001 will be based upon a population list that is informed by the Business Activity Statement. This may identify farms that have previously not been included in the census. The current census may be under counting farm establishment area.

Observations

In aggregate, agriculture occupies 61 per cent of the Australian landscape. The mapped indicator displays the relationship between farmland reported to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Farm Census in 1996 (Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations cut-off of $5,000) and the area of agricultural land recorded in the Bureau of Rural Sciences land cover for the same year. Statistical Local Areas with a low percentage displayed have a significant portion of their "agricultural" area not included within farm businesses. These Statistical Local Areas are concentrated around major population centres and along populated coastlines. We can conclude that much of this "agricultural" land is serving an amenity function. Beyond these areas, the Australian Bureau of Statistics census is accounting for at least 80 per cent of the agricultural land identified in the Bureau of Rural Sciences land cover database. Correspondence between the two is higher in the east of Australia.

Figure 1 Farm area reported to Australian Bureau of Statistics as a percentage of agricultural area by Statistical Local Area in 1996

Figure 1 Farm area reported to Australian Bureau of Statistics as a percentage of agricultural area by Statistical Local Area in 1996 Click here to view map

See appendix figures 6-9 for further geographic detail.

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