EXPLANATORY NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains preliminary estimates from a selection of data items collected in the 2016-17 Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced (VACP) Collection. Included are statistics on gross values of crops, livestock disposals and livestock products at the national and state/territory level.

2 Final data at national, state and sub-state levels will be available in mid-2018.

3 Estimates for rice, cotton, sugar cane cut for crushing and eggs have not been included in this preliminary release, but will be available when final estimates are released in mid-2018.

4 Estimates in this publication are preliminary and may be subject to revision. The full range of final estimates from the 2016-17 Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced Collection will be published in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7503.0).

CALCULATING VACP

5 VACP has three major categories:

· the value of crop production
· the value of livestock disposals (domestic slaughtering and exports of live animals)
· the value of livestock products (including wool and whole milk)

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

7 Quantity data for most crops have been sourced from the 2016-17 Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey (REACS) and relate to the year ending 30 June 2017. Remaining commodity data (livestock disposals and livestock products excluding eggs) are obtained from other Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collections, with some information from non-ABS sources. A copy of the 2016-17 survey form can be found in Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7111.0), under the Downloads tab.

8 Price data refers to the average unit value of a given commodity realised in the market place (market value).

COLLECTION METHOD

9 Price information is obtained from other ABS collections, as well as from non-ABS sources, including marketing authorities and industry sources.

10 The method of collection of relevant prices and the costs of marketing for agricultural commodities varies considerably between states and 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 estimates are made from the best available information and, in general, are calculated on a local value basis.

SCOPE CHANGES IN THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES SURVEY

11 The scope for the 2016-17 REACS was all agricultural businesses with an EVAO of $40,000 or greater. This is a change from previous ABS REACS collections, where a scope of EVAO of $5,000 or greater was used, and is a continuation of the scope used in the 2015-16 Agricultural Census.

12 The scope change impacts on some components of VACP but not others. Where information is sourced from the REACS there will be an impact on estimates, including for crops and horticulture where production information is now only collected from businesses with a value of agricultural operations of $40,000 or greater. The value of livestock disposals and livestock products (except for eggs) is sourced from other information and is not impacted by the Agricultural Census scope change.

13 As a result of the change in scope, some components of VACP will not be directly comparable to published VACP outputs prior to 2015-16. To address, a set of estimates has been produced for a number of VACP releases from 2010-11 to 2014-15 using an EVAO of $40,000 or greater. These estimates are now available at the national, state/territory levels on the ABS website.

14 For more information on the scope changes to the 2016-17 REACS please refer to the Explanatory Notes within Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7111.0).

RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES (SAMPLE ERROR)

15 The estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from agricultural businesses that responded to the 2016-17 REACS. However, since not all of the businesses that were selected provided data, the estimates are subject to sampling variability; that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if all information had been collected from all businesses.

16 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 approximately 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 approximately 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than two SEs.

17 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 and territories with limited production of certain commodities, RSEs are greater than 10%. Estimates that have an estimated RSE 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% are considered too unreliable for general use.

18 RSEs for all published estimates are available on request.

ROUNDING AND CONFIDENTIALISATION

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

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


RELATED PUBLICATIONS

21 Preliminary estimates for area and production from the 2016-17 VACP Collection are available at the same time as preliminary quantity and production estimates. These estimates are located in Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7111.0). The full range of final quantity and production estimates from the 2016-17 REACS will also be published from mid-2018, in Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7121.0).

22 The full range of final estimates from the 2016-17 VACP Collection will be published in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7503.0) from mid-2018.

23 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are listed under the Statistics page on the ABS website. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the website which details products to be released in the week ahead.

ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

24 As well as the statistics included in this and related publications, the ABS may have other relevant data available on request. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

GENERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT

25 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated. Without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.