| | | | Knock knock. Who's there ...? ABARES
ABARES is about to embark on its annual farm survey program, collecting data from producers across Australia.
The information is integral in supporting decision-making about the future of Australian agriculture.
Two surveys will be conducted – the Australian Agricultural and Grazing Industries Survey, and the Australian Dairy Industry Survey.
The farm surveys are a core part of the evidence base that industries and governments across Australia use to develop policy and respond to challenges, such as drought and trade disruptions.
The interviews will cover questions about farm structure, land use and the production and economic profile of the farm business for the 2023-24 financial year. Selected estimates for 2024-25 will also be collected.
ABARES officers will be undertaking face-to-face interviews with about 1900 selected farmers throughout Australia from mid-July to December.
For more information, farmers can contact ABARES Survey Collection by phone 1800 026 308 or email surveysabares@aff.gov.au | | | | Aussie hort to hit a $17.4b high
Our latest forecasts point to the continued growth of Australian horticulture, with a record production value of $17.4 billion (up 3%) expected in 2024-25.
This reflects favourable conditions expected in key horticultural regions across Victoria, the South Australian Riverland and New South Wales Riverina.
Table grape, orange and almond production are forecast to grow 7%, 5% and 31% respectively.
Production is also expected to be supported by lower input prices, and greater labour and water availability.
Read the latest Agricultural overview. | | | | 'Pulsating' crop forecast
The June quarter Outlook for crops shows a strong response from growers to changing market and seasonal conditions.
Pulse production is forecast to rise 19% to 4.2 million tonnes in 2024–?25, with high international prices expected to drive an increase in area planted, particularly for chickpeas and lentils.
The area planted to chickpeas is growing 79% in response to recent Indian tariff reductions and a good start to the season in NSW and Queensland. The area for lentil plantings is also at a record 885,000 hectares.
A forecast 12% jump in wheat production to 29.1 million tonnes reflects improved conditions across New South Wales and Queensland.
Australian winter crop production is on track for its fifth largest harvest on record in 2024-25, with 51.3 million tonnes expected (up 9%).
In terms of overall Australian crop production value, we're forecasting a 2% rise to $48.1 billion in 2024–25.
For detailed state-level crop production forecasts for broadacre crops, see the Australian crop report.
| | | | Rice report's key role in reform
ABARES played a valuable role in preparing an evidence-based report and providing recommendations to inform the NSW Government's recent decisions on the NSW rice vesting arrangements. Our independent report (commissioned by the NSW Department of Primary Industries) on NSW rice vesting arrangements made recommendations for industry reform, which took into consideration the findings of the previous 2021 Review and stakeholder feedback. The NSW Government has since announced it will introduce a Bill to State Parliament to end statutory rice export marketing ('vesting') arrangements by 1 July 2025.
The NSW Government published the ABARES NSW Rice Vesting Review and its response on the NSW Department of Primary Industries website | | | | Mushroom farms weather the elements
ABARES surveyed Australian horticulture farms in 2023, finding that mushrooms had the lowest proportion of crop loss (14% per farm), while apples led crop loss recovered for alternative uses (21% of total loss per farm).
The Crop loss/waste on Australian horticulture farms 2022–23 report found, not unexpectedly, that weather events were the primary cause of crop loss/waste (63% of farms), with most of this loss occurring pre-harvest.
This report, commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, supports an understanding of the extent of the food waste problem and provides insights into how surplus crops are managed by horticulture growers on-farm.
A lack of labour was cited as a primary cause for crop loss/waste by 7% of horticulture farms in 2022–23 (see figure below), down from 16% in 2021–22 in a sign that production is becoming less affected by constrained labour availability.
View the report and dashboard.
What caused the crop loss/waste, 2021–22 to 2022–23 | | | | 
| a 'Environmental factors' in 2021–22 survey. b New category in 2022–23 survey.
Note: Multiple responses allowed per farm.
Source: ABARES | | | Outlook 2025 conference ... a milestone opportunity
Planning is underway for the ABARES Outlook 2025 conference – 4-5 March in Canberra and online.
It will be a special occasion for ABARES as we celebrate 80 years as a research organisation.
A range of exciting sponsorship opportunities are now available from as little as $2500 up to our platinum package $25,000.
A downloadable version of the sponsorship prospectus can be found on the official website or you can reach out to our Events team abaresevents@aff.gov.au | | | | More accurate, timely and detailed ag stats
The ABS and ABARES are partnering to deliver the Agricultural Statistics Modernisation Program, providing new insights to better inform progress on issues such as sustainability, emissions reduction and workforce.
The ABS released the first set of statistics under the program on 14 June on its website.
More accurate, timely and detailed agricultural statistics will enhance decision-making for the benefit of farmers and the agricultural industry.
Stakeholder engagement has been critical to the delivery of modernised statistics, with collaboration from peak industry bodies, RDCs and various government jurisdictions.
This is providing better outcomes by fostering trust and confidence in the new statistics while encouraging data sharing.
If you would like to know more about the changes to agricultural statistics, you can reach out to the Agricultural Statistics Unit by emailing abares-agriculturalstatistics@aff.gov.au. | | | | Pests and weeds - the landholders' perspective
In 2016, 2019 and 2022 ABARES asked land managers about pest and weed problems and management on their property and in their local area via national surveys.
There were over 5000 responses for each survey, and findings are now available on the ABARES website. Nationally at least 85% of land managers reported feral animal problems on their property in all three surveys.
The most common pest animals were foxes, rabbits or hares, rats or mice, and native animals and birds, while feral pigs and feral deer were noted to have recently arrived on people's properties.
About three-quarters of land managers were managing pest animals on their property, with ground shooting the most common management activity.
Around 60% of land managers have problematic weeds, with Blackberry, African boxthorn, Lantana and Fireweed the most common Weeds of National Significance in 2022. More than 80% of land managers were actively managing weeds on their property, mainly with herbicides.
In 2022 land managers median spend on pest and weed management was almost $22,000. An interactive map shows a summary of responses for each Natural Resource Management Region across Australia, for each survey.
More information is available in a report summarising the national findings, and regional data can be downloaded from the website. | | | | 
| - In 2022 land managers' median spend on pest and weed management was almost $22,000.
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