4627.0 - Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2011-12 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/06/2013   
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MEDIA RELEASE
28 June 2013
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
115/2013
8.4 million hectares for farmland conservation

Australian farmers set aside more than 8.4 million hectares of farmland for conservation, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The ABS Director of the Rural Environment and Agricultural Statistics Branch, Helen Baird, said; "This was an impressive amount of about 10 per cent, or 794,000 hectares, more than two years ago."

"Of those businesses that have natural environments on their property, over half protected these areas for conservation purposes," she said.

Around 88 per cent of agricultural land (more than 355 million hectares) was mainly used for grazing, around 53 per cent of Australia’s total land area was agricultural land and around 8 per cent or just under 32 million hectares was mainly used for crops.

The publication provides a snapshot of a variety of farm management practices including cropping and pasture management, fertiliser use and natural environment protection for conservation purposes.

The publication found that nearly 24 million hectares of crop stubble was managed in Australia by over 51,700 agricultural businesses and more than 55 per cent of agricultural businesses applied fertiliser in 2011-12. Although this proportion is less than two years ago, the tonnage of fertiliser applied increased by around 6 per cent or 405,000 tonnes to just under seven million tonnes.

More information can be found in Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 4627.0).


Media note: Please ensure when reporting ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) as the source.