State of the Environment

2006

Indicator: LD-09 Average tonnage and value of other (non-food) agricultural products per hectare of land under production

Data

Cotton: area production and value
Year Tonnes
000		 Value $m Hectares Tonnes per hectare
000		 Value per hectare
$m
1996-97 560 1156 378 1.48 3.06
1997-98 564 1228 381 1.48 3.22
1998-99 634 1353 446 1.42 3.03
1999-00 698 1416 435 1.60 3.26
2000-01 666 1305 536 1.24 2.44
2001-02 675 1327 458 1.47 2.90

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005, Agricultural Commodities, Australia, ABS.

More detailed information can be found in:

Shearing, wool production and value
Sheep and lambs shorn
mill.		 Wool production Gross
value
$m
Average fleece weight
kg		 Total wool
Shorn wool
'000 tonnes		 Other wool(a)
'000 tonnes		 Quantity
'000 tonnes
1995-96 146.7 4.40 646.1 43.6 689.7 2,559.7
1996-97 156.4 4.37 685.0 46.1 731.1 2,621.2
1997-98 155.5 4.12 640.7 48.9 689.6 2,753.9
1998-99 147.9 4.32 638.8 48.8 687.6 2,141.0
1999-2000 142.7 4.50 642.3 52.5 694.8 2,149.2
2000-01 136.8 4.30 589.8 54.9 644.7 2,541.2
2001-02 122.0 4.40 536.5 50.4 586.9 2,713.2
(a) Comprises dead and fellmongered wool, and wool exported on skins.

Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2000, Australian Commodities Forecasts and Issues, March Quarter 2000.

More up to date data may be available from time to time from:

Quantity and value of forestry production

Estimated gross value of forest production - average gross value of logs
Logs category 2000-01
$m		 2001-02
$m		 2002-03
$m		 2003-04
$m
Hardwood sawlogs 225.5 221.1 233.7 na
Softwood sawlogs a 440.6 558.6 580.4 na
Cypress sawlogs 22.2 22.5 22.9 na
Plywood and veneer logs 37.0 34.8 44.8 na
Wood panels pulplogs 50.6 44.0 52.5 na
Export woodchip hardwood pulplogs 221.2 197.0 100.4 na
Export woodchip softwood pulplogs 68.7 48.5 34.2 na
Paper pulplogs 201.3 193.7 238.6 na
Total Australia 1267.0 1319.7 1390.3 na
Broadleaved native 556.9 515.5 541.5 na
Plantation 46.97 68.19 82.44 na
Total 603.9 583.6 623.9 na
Coniferous 663.2 736.1 766.4 na
a Excludes cypress sawlogs
na: not available Forest Production
Quarters
Unit 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 June 2002-03 Sept. 2002-03 Dec. 2002-03 Mar.
2003-04		 June
2003-04
Sawnwood a 000 m3
Coniferous 000 m3 2529 2669 3042 728 825 765 737 684
Broadleaved 000 m3 1108 1063 998 261 218 262 275 243
Total 000 m3 3637 3732 4010 990 1044 1027 1012 927
Wood based panels 000 m3
Plywood 000 m3 192 219 237 55 63 55 58 62
Particleboard 000 m3 965 1025 1048 244 269 246 263 270
Medium density fibreboard 000 m3 732 786 795 211 203 190 196 205
Total 000 m3 1890 2030 2080 510 534 491 518 537
Paper and paperboard b kt 395 412 na
Newsprint kt 624 564 na
Printing and writing kt 198 194 na
Household and sanitary kt 1679 1892 na
Packaging and industrial kt 2897 3061 na
Total kt
a From July 2000 includes railway sleeper production that can no longer be separately identified.
b Quarterly data no available.

Source: ABARE 2004, Australian Forest and Wood Product Statistics, March and June quarters - 2004, ABARE, Canberra.

More up to date data may be available from time to time from:

ABARE data 

Energy production (biofuels)

Energy production (biofuels) Capacity of renewable energy generation in Australia, 2001-02
Bagasse Hydro Landfill gas Solar Waste and wastewater Wind Total
MW MW MW MW MW MW MW
NSW a 11.5 209.9 29.8 2.4 28.5 17.3 287.8
Victoria 0.0 545.7 44.2 0.1 66.0 39.2 695.1
Queensland 347.1 150.5 3.0 0.1 5.2 12.5 171.3
Western Australia 6.0 32.0 7.1 0.1 0.0 25.3 64.6
South Australia 0.0 0.0 14.5 0.1 5.5 0.2 20.2
Tasmania 0.0 2275.7 0.0 0.0 0.1 11.3 2287.0
Snowy region 0.0 3006.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3006.0
NT 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2
TOTAL 368.6 6219.8 98.7 2.8 105.2 105.8 6532.2
a Includes the Australian Capital Territory

Source: Electricity Supply of Australia 2003, Electricity Australia.

Australian production of renewable energy
1990-91 (PJ) 1995-96 (PJ) 2000-01 (PJ) 2001-02 (PJ)
Biomass
bagasse 78.2 101.5 93.8 79.8
Wood and woodwaste 100.1 109.1 108.4 92.0
Biofuels a na na 9.3 9.0
Hydroelecticity 58.3 58.2 59.9 58.5
Solar 2.4 3.5 4.4 4.4
Total 239.0 272.3 275.8 243.7
a Includes landfill and sewage gas
na: not available

Source: Donaldson, K. 2004, Energy Statistics - Australian Energy 2004 ABARE, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, viewed 25 Nov 2005, http://abareonlineshop.com/product.asp?prodid=12814.

More up to date data may be available from time to time from:

ABARE data 

Projected age and number of Australian farmers 1996-2021 using fast and slow adjustment scenarios

Projected age and number of Australian farmers 1996-2021 using fast and slow adjustment scenarios

Source: National Land and Water Resources Audit 2002, Australians and Natural Resource Management: An Overview-Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

What the data mean

There has been a slight but steady increase in cotton production, and in the total value of cotton production, accompanied by a slight downward trend in the value of cotton per hectare. Tonnage per hectare has remained about the same. Total area of land used for cotton production has increased slightly.

A slight downward trend in wool production is also evident, although the value of wool produced has dropped slightly and then recovered.

Forestry production seems to be increasing over recent years, while biofuel energy production has declined after a brief increase.

The farmer numbers and age projections data are contextual data for this indicator. The number of farmers is projected to drop while the median age of farmers continues to increase.

Data Limitations

These data (with the exception of renewable energy fuels) are not environmentally significant in their own right but provide a baseline. It will be useful to track changes in the amount and value of materials produced against future declines and/or improvements in the aspects of the land environment that are vulnerable to degradation, including as a result of agricultural production.

Data on area used in wool and biofuel energy production are not available, and therefore neither is tonnage nor value per hectare for these contributions from the land.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Land — Contributions of land to human life - Living materials from the land 

The tonnage and value of cotton, wool, biofuels and forestry that the land produces for human use, by the area of land used to produce it, is one way of tracking these contributions of the land to human life in the context of the area of land on which their production places pressure.

The indicator includes both exported and domestically consumed products, since the exported products contribute to national income. This income in turn contributes to the purchase of other products consumed in Australia which are not produced domestically.

Other indicators for this issue:

Human Settlements - Services provided by the environment to human settlements - Agriculture 

The produce used in human settlements in Australia derives primarily from the land, much of it from agriculture, but also timber from forestry.

Other indicators for this issue:

Human Settlements - Services provided by the environment to human settlements - Forest products 

The produce used in human settlements in Australia derives primarily from the land, much of it from agriculture, but also timber from forestry.

Other indicators for this issue:

Key

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