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
This publication contains final estimates from the 2016-17 Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced (VACP) Collection. The value estimates in this publication are derived by the multiplication of price and quantity of agricultural commodities. Price data refer to the average unit value of a given commodity realised in the marketplace. Price information is obtained from ABS collections, as well as from non-ABS sources, including marketing authorities and industry sources.
Quantity data for crops has been collected via the 2016-17 Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey (REACS). Remaining commodity data are obtained from other ABS collections, with some information gathered from external sources. The data are collected on a state/territory basis and then aggregated to derive Australian totals.
Final estimates from the 2016–17 REACS will be presented in five publications:
Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0) contains detailed statistics on land use, crop and horticultural area and production, livestock numbers and farm management and demographic information. The publication presents data on a national, state and territory and sub-state level, including Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Statistical Area 4 (SA4) and Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions.
Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0) contains detailed statistics on agricultural water use and sources of water, including details of pastures and crops irrigated, expense of irrigation and volume of water applied. The publication presents data on a national, state and territory and sub-state level, including Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Statistical Area 4 (SA4), Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions and the Murray-Darling Basin region.
Land Management and Farming in Australia (cat. no. 4627.0) provides information on a variety of management practices being adopted by Australian agricultural businesses including cropping and pasture management, soil management and fertiliser use. Data are presented at the Australian, State and Australian Agricultural Environment (AAE) regional levels.
Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) presents value of production statistics. It contains detailed statistics on the gross and local values of crops, livestock slaughters and disposals, and livestock products .This publication presents data on a national, state and territory and sub-state level, including Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Statistical Area 4 (SA4) and Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions.
Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (cat. no. 4610.0.55.008) presents the gross value of agricultural commodities that are produced with the assistance of irrigation. The publication presents data on a national, state and territory basis, NRM region and Murray-Darling Basin region.
TIMELINESS
Agricultural Commodities, Australia (cat. no. 7121.0), Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) and Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0) will be published in May 2018. Land Management and Farming in Australia (cat. no. 4627.0) will be released in June 2018, and Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (cat. no. 4610.0.55.008) will be published in the second half of 2018.
Preliminary data presenting principal crops and livestock numbers and gross values of production for principal agricultural commodities for the 2016–17 reference period were released in the publications Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7111.0) and Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 7501.0) respectively, in January 2018.
ACCURACY
The accuracy of price data is ensured by the collection of price 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, dealers and auctioneers. Production data are obtained from a range of high-quality sources, including ABS agricultural commodity collections and industry bodies. Extensive editing of production and prices data and checking of resultant value estimates against earlier years and other relevant sources are used to ensure the accuracy of the estimates produced.
All estimates in this publication are subject to sampling error. For more information about these errors, refer to the Explanatory Notes within this release.
COHERENCE
Most estimates in this publication are directly comparable to previous reference periods. However, estimates of 'Other' categories including are not directly comparable to previous issues due to changes in the composition of these items.
The scope for the 2016-17 REACS was all agricultural businesses with an Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (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. For more information about EVAO, refer to the Explanatory Notes within this release.
INTERPRETABILITY
The VACP Collection provides a broad range of 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 Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, 2016-17 (cat. no. 7503.0) to assist users in determining and specifying their data requirements and to understand the concepts underlying the data.
ACCESSIBILITY
An extensive range of data is available from a variety of agriculture-based collections on the ABS website.
If the information you require is not available as a standard product or service, the ABS Consultancy Services can assist with customised services to suit your requirements. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
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