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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains preliminary estimates of the Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced (VACP) for the 2010-11 financial year and comparative data for the previous two years.

2 The full range of VACP national, state and regional estimates for 2010-11 will be published in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) in June 2012.

3 The Total crops figures in this publication no longer include an Other crops subtotal. As a result, Total crops figures (and resultant Total agriculture figures) for 2009 and 2010 are not directly comparable with the figures contained in earlier issues of Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7501.0) or Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0). However all totals contained in this issue are comparable across periods.

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

5 Price data refers to the average unit value of a given commodity realised in the market place. Price information is obtained from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collections, as well as from non-ABS sources, including marketing authorities and industry sources.

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 2010-11 and estimates for 2008-09 and 2009-10 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 2010-11 gross value of most crops are based on production information obtained from respondents to the 2010-11 Agricultural Census. These preliminary estimates are subject to sampling variability; that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if all agricultural businesses had responded to the Agricultural Census.

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 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.

14 A table with RSEs for selected estimates of gross values follows:

RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS, Gross values of selected commodities - Year ended 30 June 2011
	Aust.	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barley	0.5	1.3	1.0	3.9	0.9	1.1	5.2	58.0	-
Wheat	0.4	0.8	1.0	2.7	0.7	0.7	6.1	-	47.0
Lupins for grain	1.3	2.4	3.7	49.1	2.5	1.9	27.2	-	-
Sugarcane cut for crushing	0.9	2.7	-	1.0	-	73.8	-	-	-
Total livestock and other disposals	0.5	1.0	0.9	1.0	2.0	1.3	1.4	2.0	8.7
Total livestock products	0.4	1.1	0.6	1.7	2.1	0.9	2.3	-	11.5
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)