4627.0 - Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2011-12 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/06/2013   
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Image: Vineyards FERTILISER USAGE



In 2011-12:
  • fertiliser was applied to 46.7 million hectares of agricultural land in Australia, an increase of 6% of agricultural land fertilised compared to 2009-10.
  • Western Australian agricultural businesses applied fertiliser to the largest area of agricultural land (18.2 million hectares, or 39% of all fertilised agricultural land in Australia). New South Wales agricultural businesses applied fertiliser to 10 million hectares of agricultural land, or 21% of all Australian agricultural land fertilised.


Graph Image for Area of agricultural land fertilised(a)

Footnote(s): (a) May include areas treated with multiple types of fertiliser. (b) Includes ACT.

Source(s): Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no, 4627.0)



Fertiliser Types
  • the most prevalent types of manufactured fertiliser used by agricultural businesses were urea (1.2 million tonnes used), ammonium phosphates (1.1 million tonnes used) and single superphosphate (709,000 tonnes used).
  • urea was reported as being used by around 38% of all agricultural businesses fertilising, whilst ammonium phosphates and single superphosphate were each reported as being used by 28% of businesses fertilising.
  • animal manure was used by 11% of agricultural businesses who reported fertiliser use, little changed since 2009-10. Around 2.1 million tonnes of animal manure were applied in 2011-12.
  • the application rate for all manufactured fertilisers ranged between 0.08 and 0.14 tonnes per hectare nationally. The application rate for animal manure was 2.84 tonnes per hectare nationally, up from 2.73 tonnes per hectare in 2009-10.