QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY
INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.
RELEVANCE
The value estimates in this publication are derived by the multiplication of price and quantity estimates of agricultural commodities. Price data refer to the average unit value of a given commodity realised in the marketplace. Price information for livestock slaughterings and wool is obtained from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collections. Price information for other commodities is obtained from non–ABS sources, including marketing authorities and industry sources.
For previous years crop and egg production have been collected via relevant Agricultural Surveys (AS) and Agricultural Censuses. For 2007–08 production quantity data for a more limited set of crop commodities have been sourced from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Remaining commodity data are obtained from other ABS collections, with some information from external sources. The data are collected on a state basis and then aggregated to derive Australian totals.
TIMELINESS
Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced (VACP) final data are generally published 13 months after the reference period, which is approximately 2 months after the release of main agricultural production data in Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0).
Preliminary data for the 2007–08 reference period were released in the publication Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7501.0).
ACCURACY
The accuracy of price information is ensured by the collection of data from the best known sources. 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. Production data is obtained from a range of high-quality sources, including ABS agricultural commodity collections and industry bodies. Extensive editing of this data and checking of resultant value estimates against earlier years and relevant other sources are used to ensure the accuracy of the estimates produced.
COHERENCE
The main source of production data used as input into the calculation of VACP (the 2007–08 ARMS, 2006–07 AS and 2005–06 Agricultural Census) were conducted using new and expanded frames based on the Australian Taxation Office's Australian Business Register (ABR).
The expanded frames mean that estimates since 2005-06 may not be directly comparable with earlier years. The range and level of detail of agricultural commodity and livestock estimates was reduced for the 2007–08 ARMS as compared to previous years. It is therefore recommended that care be taken when comparing estimates from these collections across different reference periods. Detailed explanatory and technical notes relating to this change in frame were included in the 2005–06 publication, Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0).
INTERPRETABILITY
The survey provides a broad range of up–to–date data about the value of agricultural commodities produced in Australia through a suite of standard products or as data customised for individual requirements. Detailed explanatory notes are provided in this publication to assist users in determining and specifying their data requirements and to understand the concepts underlying the data.
ACCESSIBILITY
An extensive range of data are available from the Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced collection and from a variety of agriculture based collections. These data can be accessed on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au> via their catalogue number or by searching under the 'Industry' theme and following the links to the Agriculture collections.
If the information required is not available as a standard product or service, then ABS Consultancy Services can assist with customised services. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
Quality Declaration 
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