As at 30 June 2018 there were 85,000 agricultural businesses (down 3% from June 2017) and 378 million hectares of agricultural land (down 4%).
Australian farmers
In 2017-18 the average Australian farmer was:
- 57 years of age
- male (more than two-thirds of farmers were male (77%)), and had
- 37 years experience in farming
Sources of farm income
Australian farming businesses received most of their income from agricultural production in 2017-18:
- 85% of income was from agricultural production
- 11% was from off farm employment or business activities
- 0.6% was from grants, government transfers and relief funding
Land use on Australian farms
Most agricultural land was used for agricultural production in 2017-18:
- 328 million hectares were used for grazing
- 31 million hectares for crops
- 731,000 hectares for forestry plantation
- 17 million hectares was not used for agricultural production, with half (50%) of this land set aside for conservation/protection purposes.