ABS confirms bumper year for ag in 2016-7

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has today released its crop production data for 2016-17, confirming the ABARES’s prediction that farm production value will hit an all-time high last year.

According to the ABS, total agricultural production value increased by nine per cent to achieve $60.8 billion from the previous year, with crop values recording the strongest growth.

"Total crop values in 2016-17 rose by 20 per cent compared with the previous year, while total livestock values were steady overall," said ABS Director of Environment and Agriculture Statistics, Lauren Binns.

According to ABS, many farmers who responded to the 2016-17 Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey (REACS) reported crop yields being at 'once in a lifetime' levels, with records broken in most states for key commodities.

Compared with the previous year, the value of wheat grew by nearly 19 per cent to $7.3 billion in 2016-17, with production up by 43 per cent.

The value of barley rose by 17 per cent to $2,658 million with production up by half on the previous year. The value of canola, meanwhile, rose by nearly 63 per cent to $2,412 million.

Sugarcane was another star performer with values reaching $1,624 million in 2016-17, up 27 per cent from 2015-16, thanks to strong export demand and good sugar prices.

The value of livestock products was largely steady with a strong result for wool (up 17 per cent to $3.5 billion) offsetting falls in milk (down 14 per cent to $3.7 billion).

However, overall conditions are expected to ease in the coming year, with ABARES predicting a fall in production value to about $59 billion. The organisation said the decline in figure is no cause for alarm, but rather a ‘return towards trend’.

See ABS’s Agricultural Commodity value report for 2016-17 on the ABS’website.