1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2004

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2004

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Table 14.11 shows the area of crops in the states and territories of Australia since 1880-81, and table 14.12 is a summary of the area, production and gross value of the principal crops in Australia over recent years.

14.11 AREA OF CROPS
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	'000 ha

1880-81	245	627	46	846	26	57	-	-	1,846
1890-91	345	822	91	847	28	64	-	-	2,197
1900-01	990	1,260	185	959	81	91	-	-	3,567
1910-11	1,370	1,599	270	1,112	346	116	-	-	4,813
1920-21	1,807	1,817	316	1,308	730	120	-	1	6,099
1930-31	2,756	2,718	463	2,196	1,939	108	1	2	10,184
1940-41	2,580	1,808	702	1,722	1,630	103	-	2	8,546
1949-50	2,295	1,881	832	1,518	1,780	114	-	4	8,424
1959-60	2,888	1,949	1,184	1,780	2,628	130	1	3	10,564
1969-70	4,999	2,212	2,208	2,290	3,912	98	6	2	15,728
1979-80	5,243	2,243	2,334	2,771	5,281	79	2	1	17,954
1990-91	4,073	2,063	2,872	2,933	5,359	75	6	-	17,382
1991-92	3,846	2,039	2,302	2,920	5,216	76	5	-	16,404
1992-93	3,906	2,258	2,316	3,073	5,668	73	4	1	17,297
1993-94	4,209	2,317	2,394	2,940	6,100	78	5	-	18,043
1994-95	3,432	2,296	2,056	2,991	6,182	77	4	-	17,040
1995-96	4,757	2,439	2,495	3,219	6,419	75	4	-	19,409
1996-97	5,589	2,552	2,685	3,279	6,950	73	5	-	21,133
1997-98	5,648	2,565	2,682	3,290	7,328	78	4	-	21,595
1998-99	6,173	2,749	3,014	3,648	7,597	76	7	-	23,264
1999-2000	6,114	3,081	3,130	3,670	7,691	77	6	-	23,769
2000-01	6,723	3,044	2,955	3,982	7,731	79	6	1	24,520
2001-02	6,635	2,958	2,683	4,175	7,525	78	6	-	24,060

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0); Agriculture, Australia (7113.0).

14.12 SELECTED CROPS, Area, production and gross value
		Area			Production			Gross value

		1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02
		’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	$m	$m	$m

Cereals for grain
	Barley	2,596	3,454	3,707	5,032	6,743	8,280	865	1,343	1,725
	Grain sorghum	622	758	823	2,116	1,935	2,021	260	279	349
	Maize	82	74	83	406	345	454	62	65	90
	Oats	584	650	784	1,118	1,050	1,434	118	138	251
	Rice	131	177	144	1,084	1,643	1,192	289	350	327
	Wheat	12,168	12,141	11,529	24,757	22,108	24,299	4,831	5,130	6,356
	Lupins for grain	1,347	1,180	1,139	1,968	1,055	1,215	286	217	304
Crops cut for hay
	Cereal crops for hay	357	419	434	1,429	1,657	1,716	146	184	204
	Non-cereal crops for hay	47	42	^41	159	115	124	^25	17	19
Other crops
	Sugar cane cut for crushing	428	403	426	38,165	28,117	31,424	882	657	989
	Tobacco	3	2	^2	8	6	6	^49	39	37
	Cotton	435	536	458	698	666	675	1,416	1,305	1,327
	Peanuts (in shell)	20	17	^15	40	39	^29	^27	28	^21
	Soybean	56	33	32	104	49	63	36	18	^22
	Canola	1,911	1,459	1,332	2,460	1,775	1,756	760	545	675
	Sunflower	162	82	79	170	77	70	64	27	^27
Orchard fruit
	Oranges	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	510	550	451	276	277	281
	Apples	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	320	325	321	274	282	348
	Pears (excl. Nashi)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	156	169	145	72	90	99
	Peaches	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	86	74	89	74	73	76
	Other fruit
	Bananas	12	12	13	257	358	313	284	409	415
	Pineapples	3	3	3	139	120	119	44	44	40
	Grapes	111	131	143	1,311	1,546	1,754	1,118	1,518	1,578
Vegetables
	Carrots	7	8	8	283	321	331	154	189	199
	Potatoes	37	40	38	1,200	1,302	1,333	382	458	485
	Tomatoes	8	10	8	414	556	425	190	257	^230
All crops (excl. pastures and grasses)		23,769	24,520	24,060	. .	. .	. .	16,316	17,759	20,625

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Cereal grains

In Australia, cereals are divided into autumn-winter-spring growing (winter cereals) and spring-summer-autumn growing (summer cereals). Winter cereals such as wheat, oats, barley and rye are usually grown in rotation with some form of pasture such as subterranean clover, medics or lucerne. In recent years, alternative winter crops such as canola, field peas and lupins have been introduced to crop rotation in areas where they had not previously been grown. Rice, maize and sorghum are summer cereals, the latter being grown in association with winter cereals in some areas. In northern Australia there are two rice growing seasons.

Wheat

Wheat is Australia's largest crop. It is produced in all states but primarily on the mainland in a narrow crescent known as the wheat belt. Inland of the Great Dividing Range, the wheat belt stretches in a curve from central Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria and southern South Australia. In Western Australia, the wheat belt continues around the south-west of the state and some way north, along the western side of the continent (map 14.13).

Final estimates for the 2001-02 season show that wheat production increased by 10% over the 2000-01 season to 24.3 million tonnes (table 14.14). Western Australia recorded the largest increase in production, up by 33% to 7.8 million tonnes, followed by South Australia which was up by 15% to 4.8 million tonnes. New South Wales was the largest producer of wheat with a harvest of 8.0 million tonnes in 2001-02.

14.13 WHEAT FOR GRAIN, Production - 2000-01(a)
Map - 14.13 Wheat for grain, Production - 2000-01

(a) This map has been generated using Agricultural Census data at the Statistical Local Area level for 2000-01.
Source: AgStats on GSP (7117.0.30.001) CD-ROM product 1996-97 to 2000-01.

14.14 WHEAT FOR GRAIN
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	3,192	963	980	1,535	4,264	2	10,936
1997-98	2,936	857	1,001	1,438	4,205	3	10,441
1998-99	3,174	949	1,139	1,762	4,515	4	11,543
1999-2000	3,425	1,235	1,096	1,850	4,556	6	12,168
2000-01	3,671	1,143	885	1,976	4,460	7	12,141
2001-02	3,446	1,136	604	1,987	4,350	6	11,529

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	8,363	2,262	1,980	2,795	7,516	8	22,925
1997-98	5,906	1,503	1,392	2,689	7,725	12	19,227
1998-99	6,563	1,462	1,941	3,310	8,170	18	21,465
1999-2000	8,602	2,642	1,904	2,586	9,004	20	24,757
2000-01	7,867	3,080	1,157	4,162	5,814	26	22,108
2001-02	8,043	2,791	901	4,778	7,760	25	24,299

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Oats

Oats are traditionally grown in moist, temperate regions. However, improved varieties and management practices have enabled oats to be grown over a wider range of soil and climatic conditions. They have a high feed value and produce a greater bulk of growth than other winter cereals; they need less cultivation and respond well to superphosphates and nitrogen. Oats have two main uses: as a grain crop, and as a fodder crop (following sowing, fallow or rough sowing into stubble or clover pastures). Fodder crops can either be grazed and then harvested for grain after removal of livestock, or else mown and baled or cut for chaff.

Map 14.15 shows the production of oats for grain in Australia in 2000-01.

14.15 OATS FOR GRAIN, Production - 2000-01(a)
Map - 14.15 Oats for grain, Production - 2000-01

(a) This map has been generated using Agricultural Census data at the Statistical Local Area level for 2000-01.
Source: AgStats on GSP (7117.0.30.001) CD-ROM product 1996-97 to 2000-01.

Production of oats increased by 36% to 1.4 million tonnes in 2001-02, with the largest state production being in Western Australia, increasing 75% to 557,000 tonnes. New South Wales production increased 30% to 320,000 tonnes, whilst production in Victoria decreased by 5% to 334,000 tonnes. Production in South Australia increased by 74% to 203,000 tonnes (table 14.16).

14.16 OATS FOR GRAIN
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	393	175	39	121	316	8	1,052
1997-98	325	172	16	111	305	8	937
1998-99	354	188	18	112	228	8	909
1999-2000	160	138	10	70	199	6	584
2000-01	168	140	13	75	248	7	650
2001-02	231	142	^11	^108	287	6	784

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	607	304	26	156	546	14	1,653
1997-98	488	369	13	153	596	15	1,634
1998-99	669	458	15	178	463	14	1,798
1999-2000	284	296	12	78	439	10	1,118
2000-01	246	351	6	117	317	13	1,050
2001-02	320	334	^7	^203	557	12	1,434

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Barley

This cereal contains two main groups of varieties, 2-row and 6-row. The former is generally, but not exclusively, preferred for malting purposes. Barley is grown principally as a grain crop, although in some areas it is used as a fodder crop for grazing, with grain being subsequently harvested if conditions are suitable. It is often grown as a rotation crop with wheat, oats and pasture. When sown for fodder, sowing may take place either early or late in the season, as barley has a short growing period. It may therefore provide grazing or fodder supplies when other sources are not available. Barley grain may be crushed to meal for stock or sold for malting. Map 14.17 shows the production of barley for grain in Australia in 2000-01.

14.17 BARLEY FOR GRAIN, Production - 2000-01(a)
Map - 14.17 Barley for grain, Production - 2000-01

(a) This map has been generated using Agricultural Census data at the Statistical Local Area level for 2000-01.
Source: AgStats on GSP (7117.0.30.001) CD-ROM product 1996-97 to 2000-01.

Barley production increased by 23% to 8.3 million tonnes in 2001-02 (table 14.18). The largest increase in production occurred in Western Australia, where production increased by 67% to 2.3 million tonnes. South Australia was the largest producer of barley, accounting for 2.8 million tonnes.

14.18 BARLEY FOR GRAIN
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	668	585	180	1,009	909	15	3,366
1997-98	701	618	135	1,017	1,036	13	3,521
1998-99	638	568	163	975	811	11	3,167
1999-2000	476	585	130	845	550	9	2,596
2000-01	615	693	112	1,041	983	10	3,454
2001-02	665	700	96	1,151	1,088	7	3,707

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	1,483	1,189	429	1,923	1,635	35	6,696
1997-98	1,365	928	205	2,027	1,926	31	6,482
1998-99	1,247	870	320	2,051	1,469	30	5,987
1999-2000	1,040	1,189	254	1,409	1,117	22	5,032
2000-01	1,253	1,670	115	2,320	1,358	26	6,743
2001-02	1,382	1,656	171	2,782	2,263	26	8,280

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Grain sorghum

The sorghums are summer growing crops which are used in a number of ways: grain sorghum for grain; sweet or fodder sorghum, Sudan grass and, more recently, Columbus grass for silage, green feed and grazing; and broom millet for brooms and brushware. However, the grain is used primarily as stockfeed and is an important source for supplementing other coarse grains for this purpose.

Grain sorghum has been grown extensively only in the last two decades, with Queensland producing 62% of the total harvest of 2.0 million tonnes in 2001-02 (table 14.19). Grain sorghum is the third biggest cereal crop (in terms of production) in Australia despite it only being grown in significant quantities in Queensland and New South Wales.

14.19 GRAIN SORGHUM
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	117	1	424	-	1	-	544
1997-98	123	3	379	-	1	-	507
1998-99	216	**	367	-	*2	-	587
1999-2000	200	*1	419	-	*2	-	622
2000-01	258	2	494	-	2	-	758
2001-02	258	**	562	-	**	-	823

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	417	3	1,003	-	2	-	1,425
1997-98	382	6	691	-	2	-	1,081
1998-99	822	**	1,059	-	*6	-	1,891
1999-2000	804	**	1,308	-	*2	-	2,116
2000-01	770	4	1,156	-	4	-	1,935
2001-02	767	*4	1,247	-	**	-	2,021

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Maize

Maize is a summer cereal demanding specific soil and climatic conditions. Maize for grain is almost entirely confined to the south-east regions and the Atherton Tablelands of Queensland, and the north coast, northern slopes and tablelands, and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in New South Wales. Small amounts are grown for green feed and silage in association with the dairy industry.

In 2001-02, maize for grain production increased by 32% to 454,000 tonnes (table 14.20).

14.20 MAIZE FOR GRAIN
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	31	1	34	-	1	-	67
1997-98	22	1	34	-	-	-	57
1998-99	27	1	37	**	*-	-	64
1999-2000	22	1	59	-	*-	-	82
2000-01	26	1	47	-	*-	-	74
2001-02	28	*1	53	-	**	-	83

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	256	7	130	-	5	-	398
1997-98	161	10	97	-	3	-	272
1998-99	186	3	145	**	*4	-	338
1999-2000	178	4	224	-	*-	-	406
2000-01	178	8	159	-	*-	-	345
2001-02	246	*9	198	-	*-	-	454

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Rice

Nearly all of Australia's rice is grown in New South Wales, with production centred in the Murrumbidgee and Murray Irrigation Areas. It was first grown commercially in 1924-25 in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, which remains the largest individual producing region to this day.

Rice production fell in 2001-02 by 27% to 1.2 million tonnes (table 14.21).

14.21 RICE FOR GRAIN
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	151	1	-	-	-	-	152
1997-98	146	1	-	-	-	-	147
1998-99	148	1	-	-	-	-	148
1999-2000	131	-	-	-	**	-	131
2000-01	175	2	-	-	*-	-	177
2001-02	143	^2	-	-	-	-	144

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	1,248	6	-	-	-	-	1,255
1997-98	1,320	4	-	-	-	-	1,324
1998-99	1,357	5	-	-	-	-	1,362
1999-2000	1,084	-	-	-	**	-	1,084
2000-01	1,625	18	-	-	*-	-	1,643
2001-02	1,179	*14	-	-	-	-	1,192

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Vegetables and fruit

Vegetables

In 2001-02 the area sown to vegetables was 131,700 ha, a decrease of 4% from the previous year. Potatoes were by far the largest vegetable crop in terms of area and production, accounting for 29% of the total area of vegetables planted in 2001-02 (tables 14.22 and 14.23).

14.22 SELECTED VEGETABLES, Area
	French and runner beans	Carrots	Onions	Green peas	Lettuces	Potatoes	Pumpkins	Tomatoes	All vegetables
	’000 ha	'000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	'000 ha	'000 ha	’000 ha	’000 ha	'000 ha

1996-97	7.9	7.0	4.8	9.3	4.7	41.1	6.3	8.8	129.7
1997-98	6.6	7.2	5.6	7.0	5.7	42.6	5.9	8.0	130.6
1998-99	5.9	6.5	5.4	6.2	6.2	41.3	7.5	8.5	130.2
1999-2000	6.6	7.0	5.3	5.5	5.2	36.8	9.0	8.3	127.4
2000-01	6.6	8.0	5.0	5.8	5.8	39.6	8.3	9.6	137.1
2001-02	6.6	7.7	5.5	6.0	6.0	37.9	6.5	8.5	131.7

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

14.23 SELECTED VEGETABLES, Production
	French and runner beans	Carrots	Onions	Green peas (pod weight)	Lettuces	Potatoes	Pumpkins	Tomatoes
	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes	’000 tonnes

1996-97	37.6	257.4	196.5	94.2	110.8	1,286.1	87.1	393.1
1997-98	35.6	266.5	218.9	76.0	129.1	1,371.6	84.8	380.1
1998-99	30.4	256.6	224.0	65.7	131.1	1,326.8	87.6	394.4
1999-2000	34.5	283.3	247.1	66.9	151.9	1,199.6	108.8	413.6
2000-01	32.8	320.9	221.9	57.7	152.7	1,302.1	109.4	556.2
2001-02	33.7	331.1	282.5	62.4	135.0	1,333.2	96.3	425.0

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Fruit (excluding grapes)

A wide variety of fruit is grown in Australia, ranging from pineapples, mangoes and pawpaws in the tropics to pome, stone and berry fruits in temperate regions. Table 14.24 shows the number of trees for the main types of orchard fruit, and the area under cultivation for bananas and pineapples.

The most significant crops in terms of gross value of production are bananas, oranges and apples. In 2001-02, the value of the apple crop increased 34% (table 14.25). While bananas, oranges and apples remain the principal fruit crops in Australia, some other fruit types have experienced considerable growth in recent years, for example, mandarins and strawberries.

14.24 SELECTED FRUIT, Number of trees(a) and area
	Orchard fruit						Area of tropical fruit

	Apples	Apricots	Oranges	Peaches	Pears	Plums and prunes	Bananas	Pineapples	All area of fruit and nuts (excluding grapes)
	’000 trees	'000 trees	’000 trees	’000 trees	’000 trees	'000 trees	ha	ha	ha

1996-97	5,656	629	6,736	1,475	1,416	931	9,589	2,668	137,086
1997-98	5,845	569	6,667	1,498	1,381	1,015	10,478	2,762	144,082
1998-99	5,969	565	6,400	1,509	1,401	1,024	11,405	2,821	145,265
1999-2000	6,115	520	6,945	1,972	1,401	1,420	11,730	2,817	154,049
2000-01	6,455	498	6,669	1,674	1,373	1,328	11,737	2,733	170,545
2001-02	8,070	^411	6,767	1,587	1,312	1,325	12,583	2,963	161,439

(a) Refers to trees of bearing age, that is four years and over for apples, six years and over for other fruit.

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

14.25 SELECTED FRUIT, Quantity and value of production
	Apples	Apricots	Oranges	Peaches	Pears	Plums and prunes	Bananas	Pineapples

QUANTITY OF PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	353.1	25.9	522.6	72.1	167.6	25.2	199.6	123.0
1997-98	308.9	19.9	499.8	64.8	152.9	26.4	223.0	123.0
1998-99	334.4	21.5	445.8	66.0	156.7	22.7	225.2	131.4
1999-2000	319.7	19.9	510.0	86.0	156.4	24.2	256.9	139.3
2000-01	324.6	20.6	550.2	74.1	168.9	31.3	358.4	119.6
2001-02	320.5	^12.4	450.6	88.7	144.9	25.5	313.3	119.3

GROSS VALUE OF PRODUCTION ($m)

1996-97	378.4	39.1	256.3	60.1	106.2	38.6	216.6	39.3
1997-98	272.7	31.0	257.9	53.4	107.8	44.1	230.3	37.3
1998-99	321.1	27.9	296.2	65.5	112.4	42.4	266.3	39.4
1999-2000	273.7	^31.8	276.4	74.3	72.1	43.4	283.8	43.7
2000-01	282.0	29.5	276.8	72.7	90.2	58.5	408.6	44.0
2001-02	377.5	18.1	280.8	75.7	99.4	52.7	415.3	40.1

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0)

Grapes

Grapes are a temperate crop requiring predominantly winter rainfall and warm to hot summer conditions for ripening. An absence of late spring frosts is essential if the loss of the developing fruit is to be prevented. Grapes are grown for winemaking, drying and, to a lesser extent, for table use. Some of the better known grape producing areas are the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Riverland, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra in South Australia; Sunraysia and the Yarra Valley in Victoria; the Hunter and Riverina in New South Wales; the Swan Valley and Margaret River in Western Australia; and the Tamar Valley and Coal River Valley in Tasmania.

The gross value of grape production for 2001-02 increased by 4% from the previous year, to $1.6b. Table 14.26 and 14.27 shows the area of vines and the grapes produced by grape variety.

14.26 VITICULTURE, Area, production and value
	Area		Production of grapes for		Total production(a)

	Bearing	Total	Winemaking	Drying	Quantity	Gross value
	’000 ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes fresh weight	’000 tonnes fresh weight	’000 tonnes fresh weight	$m

1996-97	72	90	743	136	943	721.4
1997-98	78	99	871	177	1,112	998.2
1998-99	95	123	1,076	119	1,266	1,200.1
1999-2000	111	140	1,111	133	1,311	1,118.2
2000-01	131	148	1,391	90	1,546	1,517.5
2001-02	143	159	1,515	153	1,754	1,577.7

(a) Includes grapes used for table and other purposes.

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0); Australian Wine and Grape Industry (1329.0).

14.27 VITICULTURE, Area and production - 2001-02
	Area of vines at harvest				Production of grapes used for

		Bearing	Not yet bearing	All vines	Winemaking	Drying	Other	Total
Variety		ha	ha	ha	tonnes fresh weight	tonnes fresh weight	tonnes fresh weight	tonnes fresh weight

Red grapes
	Cabernet Sauvignon	27,383	2,190	29,573	257,223	95	279	257,597
	Currant	751	127	879	549	12,103	315	12,968
	Grenache	2,328	200	2,528	26,260	34	184	26,477
	Mataro	1,113	125	1,238	12,452	18	66	12,537
	Pinot Noir	3,785	629	4,414	21,341	66	27	21,435
	Shiraz	33,827	3,204	37,031	326,564	27	276	326,866
	Other red grapes	18,915	2,592	21,506	203,341	2,307	29,604	235,251
	Total	88,102	9,067	97,169	847,730	14,650	30,751	893,131
White grapes
	Chardonnay	18,597	3,127	21,724	256,328	528	40	256,896
	Doradillo	244	3	247	6,977	19	120	7,116
	Muscat Gordo Blanco	2,424	107	2,530	51,064	5,771	155	56,990
	Palomino and Pedro Ximenes	197	13	210	2,462	50	-	2,514
	Riesling	3,431	532	3,962	27,838	223	12	28,072
	Semillon	6,422	188	6,610	100,785	215	76	101,076
	Sultana	10,340	565	10,906	65,358	124,212	26,650	216,219
	Waltham Cross	277	10	287	831	2,368	889	4,087
	Other white grapes	13,438	1,615	15,055	156,126	4,868	27,830	188,827
	Total	55,271	6,153	61,425	666,771	138,213	55,772	860,757
Total grapes		143,373	15,222	158,594	1,514,501	152,863	86,524	1,753,888

Source: Australian Wine and Grape Industry, 2002 (1329.0).

Selected other crops

Oilseeds

The oilseeds industry is a relatively young industry by Australian agricultural standards. The specialist oilseed crops grown in Australia include sunflower, soybeans, canola and safflower. Sunflower and soybeans are summer crops while the others are winter crops. In Australia, oilseeds are crushed for their oil, which is used for edible and industrial purposes, and for protein meals for livestock feeds.

The 1990s saw the emergence of canola as the main oilseed crop, with production increasing from around 70,000 tonnes in 1990-91 to 2.5 million tonnes in 1999-2000 prior to dropping to 1.8 million tonnes in 2001-02 (table 14.12). Canola production accounted for over 90% of the total Australian oilseed crop of 1.9 million tonnes in 2001-02 (table 14.28). Before the emergence of canola, the main specialist oilseed crop was sunflower seed. Peanuts and cotton are also major sources of oil, but as a by-product to their main outputs, which are food and fibre.

14.28 OILSEEDS
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	Aust.

AREA (’000 ha)

1996-97	247	115	112	42	107	-	622
1997-98	310	125	89	67	248	-	839
1998-99	496	222	145	136	537	1	1,538
1999-2000	613	319	143	216	879	*1	2,172
2000-01	569	266	79	157	517	-	1,589
2001-02	585	241	^60	165	394	^1	1,447

PRODUCTION (’000 tonnes)

1996-97	432	147	120	57	108	-	864
1997-98	419	142	82	92	270	-	1,005
1998-99	793	268	166	196	615	1	2,039
1999-2000	968	438	151	249	963	*2	2,770
2000-01	894	383	73	206	353	-	1,910
2001-02	796	349	^52	273	419	^1	1,890

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Cotton

Cotton is grown mainly in New South Wales and Queensland, primarily for its fibre (lint). When the cotton is mature, seed cotton is taken to a gin where it is separated (ginned) into cotton lint and cotton seed. The lint is used for yarn while the cotton seed is further processed at an oil mill, where the short fibres (linters) remaining on the cotton seed after ginning are removed. These fibres are too short to make into cloth, but are used for wadding, upholstery and paper. The seeds are then separated into kernels and hulls. The hulls are used for stock feed and as fertiliser, while the kernels are crushed to extract oil. The oilcake residue (crushed kernels) is ground into meal, which is a protein roughage, and is used as a stock feed.

The estimated preliminary gross value of cotton lint and cotton seed in 2001-02 was $1.3m, a 7% decrease from the previous year (table 14.29).

14.29 COTTON LINT
	Area	Quantity	Gross value(a)
	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	$m

1996-97	378	560	1,156
1997-98	381	564	1,228
1998-99	446	634	1,353
1999-2000	435	698	1,416
2000-01	536	666	1,305
2001-02	458	675	1,327

(a) Includes value of cotton lint and cotton seed.

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Sugar

Sugar cane is grown commercially in Australia along the east coast over a distance of some 2,100 kilometres in a number of areas from Maclean in northern New South Wales to Mossman in Queensland. More recently, it has also been grown in Western Australia.

About 90% of production occurs in Queensland (table 14.30), with 75% of the crop grown north of the Tropic of Capricorn in areas where rainfall is reliable and the warm, moist and sunny conditions are ideal for growing sugar cane.

14.30 SUGAR CANE CUT FOR CRUSHING, Area, production and yield
	New South Wales			Queensland			Western Australia

	Area harvested	Production	Yield	Area harvested	Production	Yield	Area harvested	Production	Yield
	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha	’000 ha	’000 tonnes	tonnes/ha

1996-97	18	2,231	124.0	371	36,232	97.6	1	170	164.7
1997-98	19	2,416	127.0	394	36,790	93.4	3	326	126.7
1998-99	20	2,555	126.0	379	35,587	93.9	3	392	135.5
1999-2000	20	2,493	123.8	405	35,316	87.2	3	355	123.2
2000-01	18	1,826	102.5	382	25,867	67.7	3	423	122.2
2001-02	^25	^2,886	114.4	398	28,250	70.9	3	288	105.9

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).

Crops and pastures cut for hay or silage

To counter Australia's seasonal conditions and unreliable rainfall, many farmers use hay and silage as methods of fodder conservation to supplement pasture and natural sources of stockfeed.

Considerable areas of Australia are devoted to fodder crops and pastures, which are either used for grazing (as green feed) or harvested and conserved as hay or silage (table 14.31).

14.31 CROPS AND PASTURES CUT FOR HAY OR SILAGE
	Hay		Silage made

	Area	Production	Production
	'000 ha	'000 tonnes	'000 tonnes

1998-99	1,568	6,245	2,770
1999-2000	1,373	5,331	2,981
2000-01	1,521	6,433	2,960
2001-02	1,416	5,864	2,966

Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).