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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains preliminary estimates of the value of agricultural commodities produced (VACP) for the 2008-09 financial year, and comparative data for the previous two years.

2 The full range of VACP estimates for 2008-09 will be published in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) in June 2010.

3 The value estimates in this publication are derived by the multiplication of price and quantity estimates of agricultural commodities.

4 Price data refers to the average unit value of a given commodity realised in the market place. Price information for livestock slaughterings and wool is obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collections. Price information for other commodities is obtained from non-ABS sources, including marketing authorities and industry sources.

5 Quantity data for most crops have been collected from the 2008-09 Agricultural Survey. Some estimates for 2009 cannot be produced at the preliminary estimates stage due to the unavailability of source data. In these instances, 2008 values have been used to provide an 'order of magnitude' estimate only on the contribution of these commodities to the 'Total agriculture' gross value in 2008-2009. Final estimates for all commodities collected in 2009 will be provided in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) due for release in June 2010.

6 The range of commodity data collected in the annual Agricultural collections may fluctuate from year to year. Therefore, commodities and commodity groupings in this publication may also vary.

7 The production statistics used in deriving the preliminary value estimates for 2008-09 and estimates for 2006-07 and 2007-08 relate to the years ended 30 June.


GENERAL

8 Where figures for individual states or territories have been suppressed for reasons of confidentiality, they have been included in relevant totals.

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

10 The method of collection of relevant prices and the costs of marketing for agricultural commodities varies considerably between states/territories and between commodities. Where a statutory authority handles marketing of the whole or a portion of a product, data are usually obtained from this source. Information is also obtained from marketing reports, wholesalers, brokers and auctioneers. For all commodities, values are in respect of production during the year (or season) irrespective of when payments are made. For that portion of production not marketed (e.g. hay grown by the agricultural business for own use), estimates are made from the best available information and, in general, are calculated on a local value basis.


SAMPLE ERROR

11 The preliminary estimates for 2008-09 gross value of most crops are based on information obtained from respondents to the 2008-09 Agricultural Survey, which was a sample survey drawn from the total agricultural business population in scope of that collection. These preliminary estimates are therefore subject to sampling variability; that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if all agricultural businesses had been included in the Agricultural Survey.

12 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 been reported for, and about nineteen chances in twenty that the difference will be less than two SEs.

13 The preliminary estimates of gross value of livestock slaughterings and other disposals, wool and milk are based on data obtained from censuses and are therefore not subject to sampling variability.

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% are annotated with the symbol '^'. These estimates 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% are 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. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% are annotated with the symbol '**' indicating 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 selected estimates of gross values follows:

RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS, Gross values of selected commodities - Year ended 30 June 2009
	Aust.	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barley for grain	2.4	7.2	4.6	11.6	3.1	4.2	5.8	62.9	-
Wheat for grain	1.9	4.0	5.0	6.5	2.6	2.8	11.8	-	36.0
Lupins for grain	4.5	14.0	16.8	-	15.4	5.2	12.8	-	-
Sugarcane cut for crushing	5.2	16.2	-	5.5	-	-	-	-	-
Total crops	1.0	2.0	2.1	3.0	1.3	1.8	2.7	9.4	9.4
Total livestock slaughterings and other disposals	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .
Total livestock products	0.3	1.0	0.3	1.5	0.3	0.4	0.3	45.0	-
Total agriculture	0.5	1.1	0.9	1.5	0.8	1.3	1.2	1.9	2.6
. . not applicable
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0)
Livestock and Meat, Australia (cat. no. 7218.0.55.001)
Livestock Products, Australia (cat. no. 7215.0)
Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7111.0)
Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0)