4615.0 - Salinity on Australian Farms, 2002
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/12/2002
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MEDIA RELEASE
New ABS survey shows farmers are combating salinity Australian farmers have recognised salinity as an important issue and are taking steps to manage and prevent it, according to new survey data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. With data drawn from a sample of 20,000 farmers, the Land Management and Salinity Survey run in May this year is the largest survey of its type ever conducted in Australia. It provides a lot of new information about salinity which affects around two million hectares of Australia's agricultural land. Survey Director, Bob Harrison, said farmers had responded positively to being asked about salinity and salinity management. "Farmers are the ones closest to the issue and are making daily decisions about what to do with around 60% of the nation's land." Salinity Management A key finding was that nearly 30,000 farms have changed land management practices to manage or prevent salinity. The extent of salinity management practices is large:
The main reasons given for changing land management practices were:
The main barriers to change were:
Area showing signs of salinity Australia has two million hectares of agricultural land and 20,000 farms showing signs of salinity. These respectively represent 0.4% of agricultural land and 14% of farms. Australia has 800,000 hectares unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity. The state with the largest area showing signs of salinity is WA, but WA and Vic have the equal highest percentage of agricultural land showing signs of salinity (1.1%). Nearly all (97%) of the land showing signs of salinity was on broadacre farms, that is farms chiefly concerned with the production of beef, sheep and grains. In 2000-01 the gross value of production of cereals for grain, pastures and grasses, beef cattle, meat from sheep and wool was $18.3 billion or 55% of total gross value of agricultural production (provision data from ABS cat. no. 7501.0). Farms without irrigation accounted for 1.8 million hectares or 93% of the area showing signs of salinity. A higher percentage of farms with turnover greater than $500,000 reported land showing signs of salinity than farms with turnover below this level. The 21 priority regions identified in the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP regions) accounted for 87% of farms and 66% of the agricultural land showing signs of salinity. The table below shows the area showing signs of salinity within the NAP regions Percentage of agricultural land showing signs of salinity within the NAP regions(a)
Complete details can be found in the publication Salinity on Australian Farms, June 2002 (cat. no. 4615.0) SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: NSW/ACT FACTS Key results: NSW (including the ACT) had 3,100 farms and 124,000 hectares showing signs of salinity. This represented 7.4% of the state's farms and 0.2% of the state's agricultural land. This compared favourably with other states, with less land in NSW showing signs of salinity than WA, SA and Vic. NSW had 1.1 million hectares of crops, pastures and fodder plants used for salinity management - the largest area of any of the states. It also had 43,000 km of earthworks (levees/banks and drains) for salinity management, the 2nd greatest length of these (after WA). Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 3,100 farms showing signs of salinity.
124,000 hectares of agricultural land showed signs of salinity.
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 44,000 hectares - representing 36% of land showing signs of salinity in NSW. This also represented 0.1% of the state's total agricultural land. Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: VICTORIAN FACTS Key results Victoria had 4,834 farms and 139,000 hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represents 13.7% of the state's farms and 1.1% of the state's agricultural land. Victoria had the 2nd highest amount of land showing signs of salinity and the equal highest proportion of agricultural land showing signs of salinity (along with WA). In addition, Victoria had 680,000 hectares of crops, pastures and fodder plants used for salinity management - the second highest area of any of the states (NSW was highest). It also had 40,000 hectares of land fenced from grazing, the 2nd highest area of any of the states (WA was highest). Victoria had 37,000 km of earthworks (levees/banks and drains) for salinity management, the 3rd greatest length of these (WA had the most). Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 4,834 farms showing signs of salinity
139,000 ha of agricultural land showing signs of salinity
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 60,000 hectares - representing 43.5% of land showing signs of salinity in Victoria. This also represented 0.5% of the state's total agricultural land. Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: QUEENSLAND FACTS Key results: Queensland had almost 1,000 farms and 107,000 hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represented 3.4% of the state's farms and 0.1% of the state's agricultural land. This compared favourably with other states, with only Tasmania and the Northern Territory having less land showing signs of salinity. In addition, Queensland had 126,000 hectares of trees used for salinity management or prevention, the 2nd largest area of any of the states (WA had the largest area). Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 993 farms showing signs of salinity
107,000 ha of agricultural land showing signs of salinity
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 40,000 hectares - representing 37.4% of land showing signs of salinity. This also represented a negligible percentage of the states total agricultural land (less than 0.01%) Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FACTS Key results: South Australia had 3,328 farms and 350,000 hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represented 21.6% of the state's farms and 0.6% of the state's agricultural land. South Australia had the 2nd largest area of land showing signs of salinity (WA had the most) and third greatest percentage of farms showing signs of salinity (behind WA and Vic). It also had 29,000 hectares of land fenced from grazing for salinity management, the 3rd largest area of any of the states (WA having the most). Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 3,328 farms showing signs of salinity
350,000 hectares of agricultural land showed signs of salinity.
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 105,000 hectares - representing 30.1% of land showing signs of salinity. This also represented 0.2% of the state's total agricultural land. Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: WESTERN AUSTRALIAN FACTS Key results: Western Australia had nearly 7,000 farms and 1.24 million hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represented 51.3% of the state's farms and 1.1% of the state's agricultural land. It had the greatest area of land showing signs of salinity of all the states and territories. While Western Australia had the greatest area of salinity, it also had some of the largest responses to salinity including the greatest amounts of trees for salinity management (500,000 hectares), land fenced (352,000 hectares) and earthworks (levees/banks and drains) (98,000 km) for salinity management. Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 6,918 farms showing signs of salinity
1.24 million hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity 567,000 hectares - representing 45.7% of land showing signs of salinity. This also represented 0.5% of the state's total agricultural land. Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: TASMANIAN FACTS Key results: Tasmania had 390 farms and 6,000 hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represented 9.1% of the state's farms and 0.3% of the state's agricultural land. This compared favourably with other states, with Tasmania having the 2nd lowest level of land showing signs of salinity (NT was lowest). In addition, Tasmania had 7,000 hectares of crops, pastures and fodder plants used for salinity management and 3,000 km of earthworks (levees/banks and drains) for salinity management. Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 390 farms showing signs of salinity.
6,000 ha of agricultural land showing signs of salinity.
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 2,000 hectares - representing 27% of land showing signs of salinity. This also represented 0.1% of the state's total agricultural land. Salinity management:
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: NORTHERN TERRITORY FACTS Key results: The Northern Territory had 2,000 hectares of agricultural land showing signs of salinity. This represents 2% of the territory's farms. This compared favourably with other states, with the Northern Territory having the smallest area of land showing signs of salinity of all the states and territories. In addition it had 6,000 hectares of crops, pastures and fodder plants used for salinity management. Number of farms and area showing signs of salinity: 8 farms showing signs of salinity.
2000 ha of agricultural land showed signs of salinity
Area unable to be used for agricultural production because of salinity: 2,000 hectares - representing 97.3% of land showing signs of salinity. Salinity management
SALINITY ON AUSTRALIAN FARMS: NAP REGION FACTS The National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality identified 21 priority regions (NAP regions) for tackling salinity and improving water quality in some of Australia's worst affected areas (a map of these regions can be found on this site. The table below shows the area of agricultural land showing signs of salinity within and outside the NAP regions. Overall the NAP regions accounted for 87% of farms and 66% of the agricultural land showing signs of salinity. The coverage of agricultural land showing signs of salinity in the NAP regions varied between the states and territories. NSW and Vic. had upwards of 90% of the agricultural land showing signs of salinity within the NAP regions. Whereas SA (57%), Qld (38%) and WA (33%) had more than a third of the agricultural land showing signs of salinity outside of the NAP regions. AREA SHOWING SIGNS OF SALINITY, AREA WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF NAP REGIONS (a)
* subject to sampling variability between 25-50% Some summary statistics for the NAP regions are presented below. The NAP regions most affected by salinity was Avon in WA. Specifically the region had:
LAND SHOWING SIGNS OF SALINITY, BY NAP REGION (a)
(b) Farms with land showing signs of salinity as a proportion of total farms in the NAP region/Australia. Source for the denominator is data from the ABS 2001 Agricultural Census. (c) Land showing signs of salinity as a proportion of total farm area in the NAP region/Australia. Source for the denominator is data from the ABS 2001 Agricultural Census. (d) Salinised land unable to be used for production as a proportion of land showing signs of salinity. * subject to sampling variability between 25-50%, ** subject to sampling variability of over 50% Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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