TILLAGE
In 2009-10, just under 60,000 agricultural businesses prepared land for crops or horticulture covering 25.1 million hectares. The majority (54%) of these businesses reported that they did not undertake cultivation. Almost half (29,000) of businesses undertook two cultivations passes or less, with only 19% (11,000 businesses) reporting three or more cultivations.
Nationally 19 million hectares was prepared using zero-till compared with 5 million hectares prepared using one or two cultivation passes. Western Australia performed zero-till on the largest area of land prepared for crops and pastures (7 million hectares) and the Northern Territory the smallest area (1,000 hectares).