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NOTES


ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

This publication presents estimates compiled from the second survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics dedicated to Natural Resource Management (NRM).

The survey asked managers of agricultural businesses to identify the extent and type of weed, pest, and land and soil problems present on their land, and the activities they undertook to prevent or manage them. It also asked managers of agricultural businesses to provide details of the costs and effort spent on addressing these problems.

The results provide an important perspective into NRM activities and problems occurring on Australian agricultural businesses during 2006-07. As as many of the data items on the NRM survey rely on the perceptions and attitudes of the person completing the form, care should be taken when comparing data from this publication to data from other sources (see paragraph 26 of the Explanatory Notes).

The ABS welcomes feedback on this publication in terms of relevance, usefulness, quality and range of data presented. Additional information accompanies this publication on the ABS website as datacubes, and more detailed information may be available on request. Please send any comments or questions to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


INTRODUCTION

Agricultural businesses (in scope for this survey) occupy approximately 425,449,000 ha, or 55.3% of Australia's area, and range from large pastoral holdings occupying millions of hectares, to small market gardens and undercover agriculture industries occupying less than 1 hectare.

This publication provides an overview of the Natural Resource Management (NRM) activities undertaken by this broad spectrum of Agricultural businesses, concerning the management of weed, pest, and land and soil issues.

The different geographical locations, management strategies and requirements of these various types of agricultural businesses are reflected in the difference of intensity of the management of weeds, pests, and land and soil across Australia.

Details of these agricultural industries for the period 2006-07 can be found in ABS publications [Agricultural Commodities, 2006-07 - cat. no. 7121.0, Principal Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary, 2006-07 - cat. no. 7501.0 and Water Use on Australian Farms, 2006-07 - cat. no. 4618.0].


WEED, PEST, AND LAND AND SOIL RELATED PROBLEMS AND ACTIVITIES

State and National

In 2006-07, 94.3% of Australian agricultural businesses reported undertaking NRM activities to prevent or manage weeds, pests, and land and soil. In total, undertaking these activities cost almost $3 billion, or $21,094 per agricultural business or $7,522 for each 1000 ha under management.

Of the approximately $3 billion spent, 32.8% ($982 million) was spent on herbicides, 14.4% ($430 million) on pesticides and insecticides, and 10.2% ($305 million) on soil conditioners (excluding fertilisers). The remaining 42.5% ($1.3 billion) was spent on payment to contractors (excluding herbicides, pesticides/insecticides and soil conditioners), labour, and other costs.

A total of almost 9.4 million person days was spent addressing these problems, an average of 66 person days per agricultural business reporting NRM activities or 24 person days per 1,000 ha under management.

Agricultural businesses in New South Wales spent the most overall on weed, pest, and land and soil activities ($933 million, or 31.2% of NRM expenditure nationally). On an individual basis, agricultural businesses in Western Australia spent the most on weed, pest, and land and soil activities, averaging $41,094. In comparison, agricultural businesses in Victoria and Tasmania spent an average of $16,156 and $14,193 respectively. However, on average, agricultural businesses in Tasmania and Victoria spent the most managing these NRM problems per thousand hectares ($38,644 and $44,822 respectively). These two states also spent the most amount of time per thousand hectares managing their weed, pest, and land and soil problems, both averaging 137 person days per 1,000 hectares.

Agricultural businesses in New South Wales invested over 3 million person days managing their weed, pest, and land and soil problems. On an individual basis, agricultural businesses in Queensland spent on average 84 person days managing their weed, pest, and land and soil problems, followed by Western Australia (75 person days) and the Northern Territory (74 person days).

Nationally, the most commonly reported NRM problems were pests (70.4% of agricultural businesses), followed by weeds (66.0%) and land and soil (56.4%). Weed related management activities were reported by 88.8% of agricultural businesses, followed by pest related management activities (80.4%) and land and soil related management activities (60.1%).

More agricultural establishments manage weeds, even though pest related problems were the most commonly reported NRM issue.

Typically, a higher proportion of farmers reported undertaking activities than those reporting a problem, indicating that NRM problems are managed preventatively as well as remedially.

1.1 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT(a), Problems and Activities - by State - 2006-07
	NSW(b)	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	Aust.
Number
Agricultural businesses	47 629	37 410	30 551	15 815	13 592	4 766	640	150 403
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM problems (no.)
Weed related problems	32 468	23 403	20 776	9 924	9 145	3 101	405	99 222
Pest related problems	33 932	24 356	22 308	11 100	10 306	3 482	462	105 947
Land and soil related problems	28 027	21 203	15 272	8 673	9 104	2 364	279	84 922
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM activities (no.)
Weed related activities	43 278	33 552	26 168	14 443	11 610	3 979	548	133 578
Pest related activities	39 041	29 241	24 647	12 456	11 272	3 798	509	120 963
Land and soil related activities	29 709	22 723	16 739	9 530	8 942	2 473	253	90 368
(a) The management of weed, pest, and land and soil related problems. The management of other types of problems are not included.
(b) Includes ACT.

1.2 WEED, PEST, AND LAND AND SOIL MANAGEMENT, Expenditure and Effort - by State - 2006-07
		NSW(a)	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	Aust.
Number
Agricultural businesses		47 629	37 410	30 551	15 815	13 592	4 766	640	150 403
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM activities(b)		45 243	35 127	28 519	15 110	12 809	4 386	600	141 794
('000 ha)
Area of holding		58 661	13 250	143 871	50 065	96 742	1 659	61 202	425 449
Agricultural businesses reporting NRM activities(b)
NRM expenditure
	Total expenditure ($m)	933	568	572	315	526	62	14	2 991
	Average expenditure ($/agricultural business)(c)	20 632	16 156	20 067	20 826	41 094	14 193	24 004	21 094
	Average expenditure ($/'000 ha)(d)	16 745	44 822	4 139	7 078	6 059	38 644	248	7 522
NRM effort
	Total effort (person days)	3 137 491	1 728 401	2 395 946	886 234	966 817	219 899	44 599	9 379 387
	Average effort (person days/agricultural business)(e)	69	49	84	59	75	50	74	66
	Average effort (person days/'000ha)(f)	56	137	17	20	11	137	1	24
(a) Includes ACT.
(b) Businesses reporting activities comprising weed, pest, and land and soil related activities. Other types of activity are not included.
(c) Total expenditure on weed, pest, and land and soil related activities, divided by the number of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest, and land and soil related activities.
(d) Total expenditure on weed, pest, and land and soil related activities, divided by the total area ('000 ha) of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest, and land and soil related activities.
(e) Total effort on weed, pest, and land and soil related activities, divided by the number of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest, and land and soil related activities.
(f) Total effort on weed, pest, and land and soil related activities, divided by the total area ('000 ha) of agricultural businesses reporting weed, pest, and land and soil related activities.