Crops(a) '000 ha	Agricultural land(b) '000 ha	Non-agricultural land(c) '000 ha
2002-03	2 263	139 042	34 023
2003-04	2 745	144 288	28 777
2004-05	2 694	143 797	29 268
2005-06(d)	2 503	145 519	27 546
2006-07(d)	2 215	143 871	29 194

(a) Excludes crops harvested for hay and seed, and pastures and grasses.
(b) Total area of businesses with an estimated value of agricultural operations of $5,000 or more.
(c) Comprises conserved land, forestry, urban and unused land such as vacant Crown land, commercially unused land on Aboriginal and other Crown reserves and waste land, ephemeral lakes, mangrove swamps, as well as businesses not included in the scope of the Agricultural Census/Survey.
(d) The ABS has moved to a new frame from the 2005-06 Agricultural Census onwards. This means that data are not directly comparable with historical time series. For more information, please see the technical notes at the back of the 2005-06 edition of the source publication.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0).


During the 2006-07 financial year, Queensland farmers spent $269 million controlling weeds, which is more than pests ($182 million) and land and soil problems ($121 million). The total cost of managing these problems was $572 million or an average of $20 067 per agricultural business.

	Weeds	Pests	Land and soil
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM problems (no.)	20 776	22 308	15 272
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM activities (no.)	26 168	24 647	16 739
NRM expenditure of Ag businesses reporting NRM activities:
Total expenditure ($m)	269	182	121
Average expenditure ($/agricultural business)(b)	10 296	7 394	7 206
Average expenditure ($/'000 ha)(c)	2 561	1 368	1 426
NRM effort of Ag businesses reporting NRM activities:
Total effort (person days)	1 085 904	824 303	485 739
Average effort (person days/agricultural business)(d)	41	33	29
Average effort (person days/'000 ha)(e)	10	6	6

(a) The management of weed, pest and land and soil related problems and activities. The management of other types of problems are not included.
(b) Total expenditure on weed, pest and land and soil related activities, divided by the number of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest and land and soil related activities.
(c) Total expenditure on weed, pest and land and soil related activities, divided by the total area ('000 ha) of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest and land and soil related activities.
(d) Total effort on weed, pest and land and soil related activities, divided by the number of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest and land and soil related activities.
(e) Total effort on weed, pest and land and soil related activities, divided by the total area ('000 ha) of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest and land and soil related activities.
Source: Natural Resource Management on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4620.0).


In 2006-07, 28.6% of agricultural businesses reported using water for irrigation, with the total area irrigated being 458,000 hectares. These businesses used 1 849 gigalitres of water for irrigation of crops and pastures.

	Agricultural businesses no.	Agricultural businesses irrigating no.	Area under pasture or crop '000 ha	Area irrigated '000 ha	Volume applied ML	Application rate ML/ha
Totals(b)	(c)30 650	(c)8 757	(d)143 871	458	1 840 252	4.0
Pasture for grazing	na	1 772	na	^52	^142 586	^2.8
Pasture harvested for hay (including lucerne), silage or seed	na	1 154	na	^31	131 873	4.2
Cereal crops harvested for grain or seed(e)	3 332	459	1 240	49	^142 857	2.9
Cereal crops cut for hay or for grazing or fed off	na	^434	na	^9	^20 585	2.4
Sugar cane	3 947	1 949	455	196	931 468	4.7
Cotton	245	215	44	35	193 757	5.5
Other broadacre crops(f)	1 092	^142	113	^9	^23 826	^2.5
Fruit trees, nut trees, plantation or berry fruits(g)	2 946	1 975	52	37	133 057	3.6
Vegetables for human consumption or seed	na	1 660	na	31	86 940	2.8
Nurseries, cut flowers or cultivated turf	719	675	4	4	14 501	4.0
Grapevines	^159	^114	^1	^1	^5 644	^4.7

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
na not available
(a) The ABS has moved to a new frame from the 2005-06 Agricultural Census onwards. This means that data are not directly comparable with historical time series. For more information, please see the technical notes at the back of the 2005-06 edition of the source publication.
(b) Totals include other pastures or crops not elsewhere classified.
(c) Total does not equal the sum as many businesses grow or irrigate more than one crop or pasture.
(d) Total includes area of all agricultural land. This does not equal the sum of area under pasture or crop as not all land on agricultural holdings is under pasture or crop.
(e) Excludes rice.
(f) Excludes sugar cane and cotton.
(g)Excludes grapevines.
Source: Water Use on Australian Farms, 2006-07 (cat. no. 4618.0).

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