EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents results from the ABS Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07. This is the second of an ongoing collection of natural resource management data.


SCOPE AND COVERAGE

2 The scope of the 2006-07 Natural Resource Management Survey was all agricultural businesses above a minimum size cut-off recorded on the Australian Business Register (ABR) maintained by the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

3 The measure of size used was the ABS's Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) where available, or where it was not available, a Business Activity Statement (BAS) turnover size was derived. A minimum size cut-off of $5,000, based on either EVAO or BAS Turnover, was used to determine whether a unit was in scope of the Survey.

4 While the survey frame does not contain all agricultural businesses in Australia, it is expected to provide better coverage than previous non-ABR-based Agricultural Survey frames, since most businesses and organisations in Australia need to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the ATO for their business operations. The frame is also expected to be more up-to-date than previous frames, as it excludes agricultural businesses with cancelled ABNs and incorporates regularly updated information on agricultural businesses from the ATO.

5 A sample of 20,575 agricultural businesses was included in the Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07. The businesses selected were a sub-sample of the 36,000 agricultural businesses included in the 2006-07 Agricultural Survey.

6 The sample was designed to ensure acceptable estimates at the National, State and Natural Resource Management (NRM) levels.

7 The Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07, achieved a live response rate of 87%.


GENERAL

8 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.


INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION

9 Businesses in the Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07 have been classified according to the agricultural subdivision of the 2006 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) (cat. no. 1292.0) as follows:

• 01 Agriculture (Division A)
• 011 Nursery and Floriculture Production
• 012 Mushroom and Vegetable Growing
• 013 Fruit and Tree Nut Growing
• 014 Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming
• 015 Other Crop Growing
• 016 Dairy Cattle Farming
• 017 Poultry Farming
• 018 Deer Farming
• 019 Other Livestock Farming

REFERENCE PERIOD

10 Estimates in this publication relate to agricultural businesses within the survey scope (see paragraph 2), which operated in Australia at any time during the year ended 30 June 2007.


GEOGRAPHY

11 In response to the demand for more tailored, regionally-based output, estimates from the Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07 have been produced at the Australian, state/territory and NRM levels. The 58 NRM regions across Australia were identified for the purposes of addressing natural resource management and sustainable agriculture priorities. Appendix 1 contains a map outlining the specific NRM regions used in this publication. The NRM regions are output as per the boundary specifications of August 2005. Further information on NRM regions can be found at the following website; http://nrm.gov.au

12 Natural resource management data have been collected for all 58 NRM regions, except Torres Straight. However, for a combination of data quality and confidentiality reasons, the estimates for three of the NRM regions have been merged with larger NRM regions. The NRM regions that have been merged are listed below:

• NRM region 801 (ACT) has been merged with NRM region 108 (Murrumbidgee). State totals for NSW also include the ACT;
• NRM region 401 (Alinytjara Wilurara) has been merged with NRM region 406 (SA Arid Lands); and
• NRM region 304,310 (Cape York, Northern Gulf) has been merged with NRM region 310 (Northern Gulf).

COMPARABILITY WITH AGRICULTURAL SURVEY

13 The Natural Resource Management Survey 2006-07 and the Agricultural Survey 2006-07 both produce estimates relating to the number of agricultural businesses and the area of agricultural land. In order to maintain coherence between the two estimates, the Natural Resource Management Survey estimates have been aligned to the Agricultural Survey estimates for NRM regions using a calibration algorithm which minimised the impact to the estimation weights. For further information, please contact the Director, Environment and Agriculture Surveys Business Statistics Centre, on (03) 6222 5850.


RELIABILITY OF DATA

14 Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling error.


SAMPLING ERROR

15 The estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from a sample drawn from the total agricultural business population in scope of the collection and are subject to sampling variability. That is, estimates may differ from figures that would have been produced if all agricultural businesses had been included in the survey. One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE), which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of units was included. There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one SE from the figure that would have been obtained if a complete enumeration had been conducted, and approximately nineteen chances in twenty that the difference will be less than two SEs.

16 In this publication, sampling variability is measured by the relative standard error (RSE) which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers.

17 Where the RSE of an estimate included in this publication falls in the range of 10% to less than 25%, it has been annotated with the symbol '^' indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Where the RSE of an estimate is 25% to 50%, it has been annotated with the symbol '*', indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes. Where the RSE of an estimate exceeds 50%, it has been annotated with the symbol '**', indicating that the sampling variability causes the estimate to be considered too unreliable for general use. Separate indication of the RSEs of all estimates is available on request.

18 The following table contains RSEs for a selection of the statistics presented in this publication:

Relative Standard Errors of Selected Estimates, by State - 2006-07
	NSW(a)	Vic.	QLD	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	Aust.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agricultural Businesses	0.7	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.7	3.5	0.4
Consider climate affecting their holding has changed	3.9	3.0	4.2	4.3	6.0	7.2	10.1	1.9
Changed management practices in response to perceived changes in climate	2.4	2.4	2.8	3.5	5.5	5.2	13.7	1.3
(a) Includes ACT.

NON-SAMPLING ERRORS

19 Errors other than those due to sampling may occur because of deficiencies in the list of units from which the sample was selected, non-response and errors in reporting by providers. Inaccuracies of this kind are referred to as non-sampling errors and may occur in any collection whether it be a census or a sample. Every effort has been made to minimise non-sampling error by careful design and testing of questionnaires, operating procedures and systems used to compile the statistics.

20 The data for NRM Region 112 (Sydney Metro) should be used with caution as it does not truly represent agricultural businesses in the region due to deficiencies in the frame from which the sample was selected.


DATA QUALITY

21 The estimates in this publication rely on the perception of the person completing the survey form. Accordingly, the results may differ from that which may be derived from scientific analysis, observation or measurement.


RELATED PUBLICATIONS

22 A range of NRM and agricultural publications are produced by the ABS including:

• Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0)
• Agricultural Commodities: Small Area Data, Australia (cat. no. 7125.0)
• Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0)
• Natural Resource Management on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4620.0)

23 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are listed in the Catalogue of Publications and Products (cat. no. 1101.0). The Catalogue is available from any ABS office or the ABS web site; https://www.abs.gov.au. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the web site which details products to be released in the week ahead.


ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

24 As well as the statistics included in this and related publications, the ABS may have other relevant data available on request. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


ACKNOWLEDGMENT

25 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated; without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. The Bureau of Meteorology's contribution of the Climate Conditions Appendix in this publication is especially acknowledged.

26 Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence, as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.