LAND USE FOR AGRICULTURE
In spite of Australia's harsh environment, agriculture is the most extensive form of land use. At 30 June 2004, the estimated total area of establishments with agricultural activity was 440.1 million hectares (ha), representing about 57% of the total land area (tables 14.1 and 14.2). The remainder of the land area consists of unoccupied land (mainly desert in western and central Australia), Aboriginal land reserves (mainly located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia), forests, mining leases, national parks and urban areas.
There has been a small decline in the overall area of establishments with agricultural activity in recent years. The reasons for this are varied. They include the resumption of some private land for national parks; the splitting up of farms, some to smaller farms (urban sprawl is a part of this process); the conversion of agricultural land to other business activities, such as forestry; and the transfer of land to Aboriginal ownership, some of which is no longer used for agricultural purposes.
Livestock grazing accounts for the largest area of land use in agriculture, with approximately 368 million ha, or in excess of 80% of all agricultural land, being used for this activity. In the higher rainfall and irrigated areas, livestock grazing has led to the replacement of large areas of native vegetation with more productive introduced pastures and grasses, many of which have now become naturalised.
For the year ended June 2004 approximately 6% of total agricultural land had been cropped.
14.1 AGRICULTURAL LAND USE - Year ended 30 June
|
 | Area cropped
during year | Area of grazing
land at 30 June | Area of establishments
with agricultural activity | Proportion of
Australian land area |
| mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | % |
|
| 1999(a) | 23.3 | n.a. | 453.7 | 59.0 |
| 2000 | 23.8 | n.a. | 455.5 | 59.2 |
| 2001 | 24.5 | n.a. | 455.7 | 59.2 |
| 2002 | 24.1 | n.a. | 447.0 | 58.1 |
| 2003 | 23.6 | 341.3 | 439.5 | 57.1 |
| 2004 | 26.1 | 367.6 | 440.1 | 57.2 |
|
(a) Year ended 31 March.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0). |
14.2 AREA OF ESTABLISHMENTS WITH AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY - 30 June
|
| NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | Aust.(a) |
| mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha | mill. ha |
|
| 1999(b) | 59.3 | 12.8 | 140.3 | 59.4 | 113.1 | 1.9 | 66.9 | 453.7 |
| 2000 | 62.1 | 13.3 | 145.4 | 59.9 | 105.6 | 1.8 | 67.5 | 455.5 |
| 2001 | 61.0 | 13.2 | 146.0 | 57.3 | 109.2 | 1.9 | 67.1 | 455.7 |
| 2002 | 63.4 | 12.8 | 141.4 | 53.5 | 109.0 | 1.8 | 65.2 | 447.0 |
| 2003 | 65.1 | 13.4 | 139.0 | 54.1 | 102.7 | 1.8 | 63.3 | 439.5 |
| 2004 | 63.6 | 13.6 | 144.3 | 52.5 | 101.2 | 1.7 | 63.1 | 440.1 |
|
(a) Includes ACT.
(b) At 31 March.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0). |
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