7103.0.80.002 - Agricultural Census: ABS Views on Content and Procedures, 2010-11

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/10/2009 First Issue

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ESSENTIAL TOPICS

TOPIC	INFORMATION	JUSTIFICATION

AREA OF HOLDING	This topic collects information on the area of holding at 30 June 2011.	This information is essential for monitoring growth or contraction in agricultural land use at the regional and national level. It is a useful classificatory data item for undertaking analysis of industry structure and farm production.
		It is also used by the ABS as an indicator of farm size when undertaking various editing processes and for monitoring changes in area of holding.

LAND USE	This topic collects a breakdown of the total area of holding into a number of predominant land use categories.	This information supports mapping and analysis of land use patterns to inform policy and decision making by Government.

PASTURES AND CROPS CUT FOR HAY	This topic includes information on the total area and production of pasture seed, pastures and crops cut for hay and the production of silage during the 2010-11 financial year period. Information on the quantity of hay sold is also collected.	Core data required for calculating VACP, which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. The data is also used for monitoring trends in production at the regional and national level.

CEREAL CROPS, COTTON AND OTHER CROPS	This topic includes information on the area and production of cereal crops, cotton and other major crops harvested during the 2010-11 financial year period.	Core data required for calculating VACP, which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. The data is also used for monitoring trends in and forecasting production of various commodities at the regional and national level, by both public sector and private sector organisations. Examining relationships between agricultural production, economic/environmental sustainability, and regional infrastructure planning are also important uses of this data. The data is also used for determining the maximum level of government contribution to R&D expenditure for agricultural industries.

NURSERIES, CUT FLOWERS AND TURF	This topic collects information on the area of nurseries, cut flowers and cultivated turf during the 2010-11 financial year period.	Core data required for calculating VACP, which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. The data is also used for determining the maximum level of government contribution to R&D expenditure for agricultural industries.

VEGETABLES	This topic collects information on the area and production of a key selection of vegetables produced during the 2010-11 financial year period.	Core data required for calculating VACP, which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. The data is also used for determining the maximum level of government contribution to R&D expenditure for agricultural industries.

FRUIT AND NUTS	This topic collects information on the number of trees (under 6 years and 6 years and over) standing, and production of fruit and nuts during the financial year period 2010-11. Some area data is also collected. The ABS would like to know whether users would prefer to replace the current ‘under 6 years’ and ‘6 years and over’ classification used in the Agricultural Census for orchard fruit and nut trees with a ‘bearing’ and ‘non-bearing’ classification. Any change to the current classification would result in a break in series for this data.	Core data required for calculating VACP, which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. The data is also used for determining the maximum level of government contribution to R&D expenditure for agricultural industries.

LIVESTOCK	This topic includes information on the number of livestock held at the end of June 2011. Livestock covered include sheep, dairy cattle, meat cattle, pigs, poultry, horses, deer, buffalo and goats.	Core data required for estimating regional VACP (VACP for the livestock industries is derived from slaughterings data), which is used to allocate and/or confront product based output of the Agriculture industry in the National Accounts. In addition livestock industry associations use the data to predict the availability of future livestock products when negotiating trade contracts with international traders. The data is also used for determining the maximum level of government contribution to R&D expenditure for agricultural industries.

WATERING ACTIVITY	This topic collects information on sources of water, area irrigated and volume of water used for agricultural production during the 2010-11 financial year.	This topic is used for identifying the volume and efficiency of water used in agriculture in Australia, which is a critical issue for the Australian farm sector. Breakdowns obtained assist the estimation of the Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production.

ABN	Collects the Australian Business Number associated with the farm business.	The reporting business' ABN is requested to enable an efficient population frame to be maintained and to check that the reporting unit is the unit which has been selected in the collection.

BUSINESS STRUCTURE	Includes information on the number of shire-based farms operated by the business’s ABN and whether there is more than one ABN associated with the farm.	This information is used to update the ABS’ business register from which population frames are taken for future Agricultural Census and Surveys.

BUSINESS NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS	Includes legal name, property name, trading name and mailing address.	The business name and mailing address is required to ensure that the information on the population frame is correct and to confirm that the unit reporting is the unit selected in the collection. Property name is also used to assist with coding of farms to geographic areas, which enables the release of aggregated data at small geographic levels.

FARM LOCATION ADDRESS	Includes Property name, Road/Street number, Road/Street name, Suburb/rural locality or town, Shire, State and Postcode.	Farm location address is required to facilitate geo-coding of farms to enable the release of aggregated data at small geographic levels.

LAND VACATIONS	Includes details of land sold, leased or otherwise vacated since 30 June 2010.	This information is used to assist with maintenance of the population frame where large changes in land ownership have recently occurred.