7101.0 - Ag Mag - The Agriculture Newsletter, Mar 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/03/2008   
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Ag Mag | the agriculture newsletter


MESH BLOCK CODING - THE 2006 AGRICULTURAL CENSUS

Mesh block outlines for Young NSWMesh blocks are new micro level units of geography used by the ABS. They will allow more accurate comparisons with other ABS data released at aggregated mesh block level such as the 2006 Population Census data. These new units are small enough to aggregate accurately to the wide range of different spatial units used by other organisations. They will also allow 2005-06 Agricultural Census data to be more accurately compared with non-agricultural data released at different geographical levels. Details of the mesh block boundaries can be found in Mesh Blocks Digital Boundaries, Australia (cat no 1209.0.55.002).



During the period June 2006 to December 2007, address information provided in the 2005-06 Agricultural Census was used to assign a latitude and longitude to more than 151,000 farms. Even where address information was inadequate or difficult to interpret, the Geographic National Address File produced by the Public Sector Mapping Agency was very helpful, particularly in areas close to urban development. Farms more difficult to place were contacted directly by phone. Once latitude and longitude had been determined, each farm was allocated to the appropriate mesh block.

With up to 20 people staffing this project at its peak, an enormous volume of address material was assessed and coded. However, it wasn't without the odd slip-up. Occasionally, a head office address, instead of the business's main agricultural property location, was supplied and as a consequence some preliminary estimates had mangoes growing in Melbourne's CBD and cows wandering around George St Perth. These errors were easily spotted and corrected.

Users of agricultural data now have access to the results of these labours. In March 2008, Agricultural Commodities: Small Area Data, 2005-06 (cat. no. 7125.0) was released. This is an electronic product enabling clients to compare agricultural commodities and livestock numbers across small geographic areas within each state. It includes data for SD, SLA and NRM regions.

In June 2008, flexible geography will become available to users. This will provide the capacity to produce data from the 2005-06 Agricultural Census for user defined regions, subject to confidentiality constraints. There will be a range of outputs available in the form of maps, frequency tables and cross tabulations. These customised data services will be prepared on a 'fee for service' basis.

The provision of estimates for a range of regions is made possible by funding provided by the National Water Commission through Raising National Water Standards, and through natural resource management programs administered by the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.


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