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EXPLANATORY NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents preliminary estimates of principal agricultural commodities and livestock numbers from the 2013-14 Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey (REACS).

2 Estimates for rice, sugar cane, cotton, and pigs have not been included in this preliminary release, but will be available when final estimates are released in mid-2015.

3 Estimates in this publication from the 2013-14 REACS are preliminary and may be subject to revision.


SCOPE AND COVERAGE

4 The REACS is conducted annually in the years between the five-yearly Agricultural Census. The full range of final estimates from the 2013-14 REACS will be published in Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0), Water Use on Australian Farms, Australia (cat. no. 4618.0) and Land Management and Farming in Australia (cat. no. 4627.0) from mid-2015.

5 Prior to 2012-13, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducted an Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and an Agricultural Commodity Survey (ACS) in alternating years. In 2012-13, the ARMS and ACS were combined to form the REACS.

6 Preliminary estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from the REACS for the financial year ended 30 June 2014.

7 The scope of the 2013-14 REACS was all agricultural businesses recorded on the ABS Business Register (ABSBR) above a minimum cut-off applied to the value of their agricultural production.

8 The ABSBR is based on the Australian Business Register (ABR) which is administered and maintained by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Most businesses and organisations in Australia are required to obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the ATO for their business operations.

9 A minimum cut-off value of $5,000 was used to determine whether an agricultural business operation was in-scope for the 2013-14 REACS. This measure of size was based on the ABS' Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) or a derived value based on turnover reported by an agricultural business operation in its Businesses Activity Statement (BAS).

10 The 2013-14 REACS preliminary estimates are based on a response rate of 83% from a sample of 34,694 agricultural businesses selected for the 2013-14 REACS.


INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATIONS

11 The industry classification used in this publication is the 2006 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). Prior to the availability of the 2006 edition, estimates were based on the 1993 edition of ANZSIC. ANZSIC 2006 was developed to provide a more contemporary industrial classification system that is responsive to changes in the structure and composition of the economy and to trends in international classification standards. For more information, please refer to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0).


RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES (SAMPLE ERROR)

12 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, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if all businesses had been included in the survey.

13 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 was taken or received. 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 all establishments had responded or been reported for, and about nineteen chances in twenty that the difference will be less than two SEs.

14 In this publication, 'sampling' variability of the estimates 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. Most published estimates have RSEs less than 10%. For some states with limited production of certain commodities, RSEs are greater than 10%. Estimates that have an estimated relative standard error between 10% and 25% should be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Estimates with an RSE between 25% and 50% should also be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% indicate that the sampling variability causes the estimates to be considered too unreliable for general use. Separate indication of the RSEs of all estimates is available on request.

15 A table with RSEs for the principal commodities in this publication follows:

RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS OF SELECTED ESTIMATES - year ended 30 June 2014
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barley for grain - Production (t)	3.2	4.4	8.8	3.8	3.3	17.7	-	-	1.7
Canola - Production (t)	3.0	5.4	28.1	5.8	3.3	15.2	-	-	2.0
Grain sorghum - Production (t)	9.5	40.5	5.3	-	-	-	-	-	4.9
Oats for grain - Production (t)	5.2	7.5	26.5	11.6	5.9	19.2	-	-	3.6
Wheat for grain - Production (t)	2.0	3.9	5.6	3.2	2.3	12.9	-	-	1.3
Total dairy cattle (no.)	6.1	4.2	14.4	9.8	10.6	5.3	-	-	3.1
Total meat cattle (no.)	2.4	4.3	5.6	4.7	4.2	6.0	3.5	3.9	2.7
Total sheep and lambs (no.)	2.1	2.6	6.7	2.3	2.4	7.1	-	3.4	1.2
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)