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2000

PRIME LAMBI N D U S T R Y

PRIME LAMB

A u s t r a l i a n

AUTHORSPeter Connell ● Stephen Hooper ● Shane Brittle

I N D U S T R Y

Report of the Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey of prime lamb producers

Proudly supported by

ABARE is a professionally independent economic research agency within theCommonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia

ABARE Research Report 2000.8

I N D U S T R Y

© Commonwealth of Australia 2000

This work is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing forstudy, research, news reporting, criticism or review. Selected passages, tablesor diagrams may be reproduced for such purposes provided acknowledg-ment of the source is included. Major extracts or the entire document maynot be reproduced by any process without the written permission of theExecutive Director, ABARE.

ISSN 1037-8286ISBN 0 642 76421 2

Connell, P., Hooper, S. and Brittle, S. 2000, Australian Prime Lamb Industry2000: Report of the Australian Agricultural and Grazing Industries Surveyof Prime Lamb Producers, ABARE Research Report 2000.8, Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource EconomicsGPO Box 1563 Canberra 2601

Telephone +61 2 6272 2000 Facsimile +61 2 6272 2001Internet www.abareconomics.com

The data presented in this report represent only a small proportion of the data avail-able. Information on how to obtain more detailed survey data and specialised tabu-lations is given at the end of this report.

Meat and Livestock Australia and Sheepmeat Council of Australia disclaimerMeat and Livestock Australia and the Sheepmeat Council of Australia make norepresentation as to the accuracy of any information or advice contained in the reportand exclude all liability, whether in contract, tort (including negligence or breachof statutory duty) or otherwise as a result of reliance by any person on such infor-mation or advice.

ABARE project 1809

Foreword

The prime lamb industry is a growing part of Australia’s agricultural sector.Low wool prices throughout the 1990s prompted a move into prime lambproduction. And lamb exports have become an increasingly important compo-nent of earnings for the sheep and wool industry. Significant changes havealso occurred at the farm level in productivity, the breed composition of theAustralian sheep flock and in the methods of livestock marketing.

Farm surveys conducted by ABARE have been a prime source of informa-tion for the Australian farm sector for the past fifty years. This informationhas been collected through close cooperation between ABARE and indus-try research funding organisations including Meat and Livestock Australia.This collaboration has enabled the collection of information that has madea significant contribution to knowledge of the rural sector, providing assis-tance to both private and public decision makers.

This supplement to the Australian Farm Surveys Report, which was commis-sioned by Meat and Livestock Australia and the Sheepmeat Council of Aus-tralia, is intended to provide a more comprehensive presentation of surveyresults for the prime lamb industry than are presented in ABARE’s usualavenues for reporting survey information, including the Australian FarmSurveys Report, Australian Commodities and various research reports.

Farm level analyses of issues affecting the prime lamb industry and analy-sis of the ways in which prime lamb producers have responded to their chang-ing environment over the years 1996-97 to 1998-99 are presented in thisreport. The report also incorporates a series of farm performance indicatorsfor the industry. These benchmarks have a major role to play in communi-cating what is possible among farmers in the prime lamb industry.

BRIAN S. FISHER BILL WHITEHEAD DAVID CROMBIE

Executive Director President ChairmanABARE Sheepmeat Council Meat and Livestock

of Australia Australia

August 2000

iiiAustralian prime lamb industry 2000

Acknowledgments

This report draws heavily on data collected in ABARE’s surveys of broad-acre industries. Participation in ABARE farm surveys is voluntary. Thesuccess of these surveys depends on the cooperation of farmers, their accoun-tants and marketing organisations in providing data. Without this assistance,the surveys would not be possible.

The overall structure of this report was developed in consultation withmembers of the Advisory Committee of Meat and Livestock Australia andthe Sheepmeat Council of Australia, Peter Weeks, Sylvia Georgiou, BillWhitehead and Peter Klein.

The survey information presented in this report was collected and processedby ABARE staff for the three year period 1996-97 to 1998-99. Acknowledg-ment is made of the contribution of current and previous staff in the DataManagement and Collection Section for the design of the survey question-naire, the collection, entry, editing, tabulation and release of data, the Infor-mation Services area for programming and computer systems support, andthe Survey Design Analysis area for providing information on sample design,sample weights, survey mapping and data handling assistance.

The authors also wish to acknowledge the helpful comments and sugges-tions from Milly Lubulwa, Cid Riley, Trish Gleeson, Nico Klijn and RhondaTreadwell.

iv ABARE research report 2000.8

Contents

Summary 1

1 Introduction 6

2 Industry overview 8Sheep meat production in Australia 8Location of prime lamb industry 13

3 Market outlook for sheep meat 16Markets for sheep meat 16Exports of live sheep 22

4 Physical characteristics and flock performance 24Farm area 24Enterprise diversity 24Size of sheep flock and flock characteristics 27Breed of sheep 27Selling methods 29

5 Financial performance of prime lamb producers 34Receipts 35Costs 39Farm cash incomes 42Farm capital 45Rates of return 46Debt and equity 46Productivity growth in the sheep industry 53

6 Social profile of prime lamb producers 56Farm ownership 56Age distribution of prime lamb of producers 56Education levels of prime lamb producers 58Off-farm income 60

vAustralian prime lamb industry 2000

7 Attitudes and practices in the Australian prime lamb industry 61People, training and workplace safety 62Farm management practices 64Business management attitudes 67

AppendixesA ABARE farm survey methods 70B Annual state farm performance tables 75

References 159

Survey data services 161

Boxes1 Definitions of farm performance measures 362 Characteristics of the top and bottom specialist prime lamb

producers 47

FiguresA Sheep numbers and wool prices 8B Sheep numbers and sheep meat production 11C Major financial performance indicators 34D Sheep meat and wool prices 35E Components of total cash receipts, specialist prime lamb

producers 39F Farm cash incomes, specialist prime lamb producers 42G Productivity growth on broadacre farms 53H Broadacre industry terms of trade 54

Map1 Location of prime lamb farms 15

vi ABARE research report 2000.8

Tables1 Australian sheep numbers, by state and territory 92 Australian supply and use of mutton and lamb 113 Number of prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 144 Consumption of meat per person in Australia 165 Australian exports of sheep meat and live sheep 186 Value of Australian exports of sheep meat and live

sheep (fob) 197 Physical characteristics of prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to

1998-99 258 Number of ewes joined, by breed of ram, 1996-97 299 Method of sheep sales, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 3010 Components of cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to

1998-99 3711 Components of cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to

1998-99 4012 Components of investment returns, prime lamb farms,

1996-97 to 1998-99 4313 Capital structure of prime lamb farms, 1998-99 4514 Characteristics of specialist prime lamb producers 4815 Farm capital, debt and equity at 30 June 1999, prime lamb

farms 4916 Composition of farm debt at 30 June 1999, by purpose,

type and lending institution, prime lamb farms 5017 Broadacre productivity growth, by industry 5418 Age distribution of operator managers, prime lamb farms,

1998-99 5619 Distribution of age of farm family members, prime lamb

farms, 1998-99 5720 Education levels of prime lamb producers, 1998-99 5821 Off-farm income, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 5922 Farm characteristics, people, training and workplace safety

in the prime lamb industry, 1997-98 6323 Farm management practices in the prime lamb industry,

1997-98 65

viiAustralian prime lamb industry 2000

24 Business management attitudes in the prime lamb industry,1997-98 69

25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, by state, 1996-97 7526 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, by state, 1997-98 8127 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 8728 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, by state,

average 1996-97 to 1998-99 9329 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, by state, 1996-97 9930 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, by state, 1997-98 10231 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 10532 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, by state, average

1996-97 to 1998-99 10833 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, by state, 1996-97 11134 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, by state, 1997-98 11735 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 12336 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, by state, average

1996-97 to 1998-99 12937 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, by state, 1996-97 13538 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, by state, 1997-98 14139 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 14740 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, by state, average

1996-97 to 1998-99 153

viii ABARE research report 2000.8

Summary

Prime lamb producers are located predominately in the Riverina, the wheat–sheep zone of New South Wales, the Victorian and New South Wales Murrayregion and the high rainfall areas of south western Victoria and south east-ern South Australia. This means that, prime lamb production in Australiaoccurs under a wide range of climatic conditions and on properties that differgreatly in size, management and enterprise mix. Consequently, results arepresented separately for different groups of prime lamb producers. Threegroups of producers are considered:

• ‘specialist’ prime lamb producers, who have more than 200 sheep and earnin excess of 20 per cent of their farm cash income from prime lamb sales;

• ‘nonspecialist’ or other prime lamb producers, who had more than 200sheep but earned less than 20 per cent of their income from prime lambsales; and

• ‘primarily’ prime lamb producers who considered themselves to be suchin an ABARE survey of the attitudes and business practices of livestockproducers.

Sheep meat productionSheep meat production in Australia is closely associated with the wool indus-try. Since the removal of the reserve price scheme, sheep numbers have fallenfrom over 170 million in 1990 to only 115 million in 1999, the smallest sheepflock since 1954. Reflecting this, mutton production has declined from apeak of 395 000 tonnes in 1991 to around 301 000 tonnes in 1999. Whilelamb production fluctuated markedly over the 1990s, production of 319 000tonnes in 1999 was only 600 tonnes less than the production peak in 1985.

Markets for Australian sheep meat In the three years to 1999, domestic consumption accounted for 70 per centof Australian lamb production and 33 per cent of mutton production.However, lamb’s share of the domestic meat market has fallen, with its shareof total meat consumption falling from 13.8 per cent in 1990 to 11.1 per centin 1999. Over the same period, chicken meat products’ share rose.

1Australian prime lamb industry 2000

Australia’s principal export destinations for lamb, by volume, are the UnitedStates, the European Union, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emiratesand Japan. In recent years, South Africa has become an increasingly impor-tant market.

Growth in Australia’s largest export market for lamb, the United States, willcontinue to be impeded until at least July 2002 by a tariff-quota scheme intro-duced by the US government in July 1999. These import restrictions aresupported by high tariffs on out-of-quota imports.

Physical characteristics and flock performanceOver the survey period, specialist prime lamb producers typically operatedsmaller farms, around half the size of nonspecialist producers. The averageflock size on specialist farms was 31 per cent smaller than on nonspecialistproducers’ farms, and less emphasis was placed on cropping activities. Onaverage, only 10 per cent of the area on prime lamb specialist farms wasdedicated to cropping, compared with 22 per cent on nonspecialist farms.

The reduced cropping activity reflects the location of the specialist primelamb producers — in high rainfall regions that are generally not agronomic-ally suited to annual cropping and in irrigation regions where higher qual-ity pasture is more readily achievable throughout the year.

Reflecting the greater focus on lamb production, wool cut per head on special-ist prime lamb enterprises was slightly lower while lambing rates weremarkedly higher than rates achieved by other prime lamb producers.

Flock composition and breed of sheepOver the survey period, prime lamb specialists had a higher proportion ofewes in their flocks (64 per cent) than other prime lamb producers (54 percent). Reflecting the smaller emphasis on wool production, wethers comprisedonly 9 per cent of the flock on specialist prime lamb producing farms com-pared with 19 per cent for other prime lamb producers.

In 1997 a supplementary survey was included in ABARE’s annual agricul-tural and grazing industries survey to obtain details of the breeds of ramsand ewes mated on farms in 1996-97. On prime lamb specialist farms, Merinoewes made up 59 per cent of all ewes on farm, with a further 31 per centbeing first cross Merinos. For other prime lamb producers, the breakdown

2 ABARE research report 2000.8

was 87 per cent of all ewes were Merinos and 8 per cent were first crossMerino ewes.

Short wool rams were used over 57 per cent of the ewes of prime lambspecialists, with Merinos used over 29 per cent of ewes. The order wasreversed for other prime lamb producers, with Merino rams used over 62 percent of ewes, the bulk of which were Merino ewes, and short wool rams over26 per cent of ewes, with 70 per cent of the ewes being Merino.

Sheep sales methodSale by auction was the dominant method used by prime lamb specialistsfor selling prime lambs and adult sheep. In 1998-99, around 69 per cent ofprime lamb sales and 54 per cent of adult sheep sales were undertaken inthis manner.

Paddock sales were also an important sales method, accounting for around17 per cent of prime lamb sales and about 33 per cent of adult sheep salesin 1998-99.

Financial performanceIn the period 1996-97 to 1998-99, farm cash receipts for specialist primelamb producers averaged $125 500, around half the receipts of non-specialist producers over the same period. Around 35 per cent of specialists’receipts were from prime lamb sales, with cropping and wool providing 22per cent and 18 per cent respectively. For nonspecialist producers, around50 per cent of receipts were generated by cropping activities, followed by18 per cent from wool, 11 per from beef cattle and only 7 per cent from primelamb sales.

Specialist prime lamb producers achieved a higher price for prime lambs —on average, $44 a head compared with $38 a head by nonspecialist produc-ers. However, the average wool price achieved by specialist prime lambproducers was markedly lower, averaging $2.96 a kilogram greasy, aroundthree-quarters of the price achieved by nonspecialists.

Farm cash incomes of specialist prime lamb producers were less than halfthe incomes of nonspecialist producers, averaging $25 300 over the 1996-97 to 1998-99 period.


Specialist prime lamb producers in South Australia had the highest averagefarm cash incomes over the period ($44 800), followed by producers in NewSouth Wales ($30 000) and Victoria ($11 200).

In all three years, specialist producers had consistently negative returns oncapital, averaging –0.8 per cent a year, while nonspecialists had low butconsistently positive rates of return, averaging 1.5 per cent a year.

The low average rate of return for specialist prime lamb producers is attrib-utable to a large proportion of small producers. The average rate of returnof the top 25 per cent of specialist producers over the three years was 3.1per cent, which is well above the average rate of return for all broadacrefarms over this period of around 1.0 per cent.

Almost 35 per cent of specialist prime lamb producers in Australia had nodebt, while 8 per cent owed more than $0.5 million at the end of 1998-99.

Socioeconomic profile of prime lamb producers Over 90 per cent of prime lamb farms in Australia are family owned andoperated. Prime lamb farms use a substantial amount of family and partnerlabor. Less than 20 per cent of total labor input on prime lamb farms wasprovided by hired labor.

The average age of owner managers of prime lamb producing farms in 1998-99 was 53 years and was slightly lower than the average of all broadacreproducers of 54 years. Specialist prime lamb producers were older, averag-ing closer to 57 years.

The education levels of prime lamb producers and their spouses in 1998-99were similar on average to the breakdown by education levels for other broad-acre farmers and their spouses.

Average off-farm income of specialist prime lamb producers was over 20per cent less than that earned by other prime lamb producers. As a propor-tion of total cash receipts, off-farm income for specialist prime lamb produc-ers represented 10 per cent of farm cash receipts, compared with 5 per centfor other prime lamb producers. Off-farm wages and salary income comprised36 per cent of total off-farm income for specialist lamb producers, and 59per cent for other prime lamb producers.


Attitudes and practices

In 1997-98 an estimated 4300 farmers in the broadacre industries surveyedby ABARE described themselves as ‘primarily prime lamb producers’ in asurvey of the of the attitudes and practices of Australian livestock producers.

The average prime lamb producer was 54 years old, had 25 years experiencein the management of their farm business and worked 51 hours a week onthe farm. Around 55 per cent of prime lamb producers assumed financialresponsibility for the farm at less than 30 years of age. The major sourcesof information that prime lamb producers used in managing their propertieswere the rural media, attending field days and other farmers and familymembers.

Most producers had clear production goals; two-thirds had clear breedingstrategies but less than 10 per cent of prime lamb producers participated inany formal quality assurance scheme. Around 17 per cent of producers usedforward/futures contracts to some extent to market their products, with around14 per cent involved in marketing groups to aid in the sale of prime lambsor wool. At least half of all prime lamb producers took a particular interestin monitoring or measuring pasture utilisation, shearing and productmarketing.

While many prime lamb producers were satisfied with their career, less than20 per cent believed that there was much scope to enhance the profitabilityof their farm. Half of producers considered that financial constraints werethe biggest barrier to their adopting potentially attractive innovations.


Introduction

With the increasing importance of export markets and low wool prices duringthe 1990s, lamb production in Australia has changed substantially. Lambcontinues to be produced jointly with wool and as a complement to otherbroadacre activities, particularly cropping. For many farmers, however,revenue from lamb sales is contributing a greater proportion of farm receipts,and prime lamb production is now considered by a growing number of sheepproducers to be their primary activity.

In this report, an analysis is provided of farm financial performance and char-acteristics of those farmers included in ABARE’s Australian agricultural andgrazing industries survey who received at least some of their farm revenuefrom prime lamb sales during the period 1996-97 to 1998-99.

There is no clear definition of which farmers should be included in the primelamb industry. As part of the survey questionnaire, farmers were asked toprovide details of livestock sales. In dealing with lamb sales, farmers weregiven two options: ‘prime lamb sales’ and ‘other lamb sales’. All farmerswho reported some revenue from prime lamb sales were classified as primelamb producers for this report. In 1998-99, there were an estimated 20 500prime lamb producers.

However, following discussions with officials from Meat and LivestockAustralia and the Sheepmeat Council of Australia, it was decided that it wasnecessary to highlight the group of prime lamb producers who received asignificant proportion of their farm income from prime lamb sales. For thisreport this group was defined as prime lamb farms that received more than20 per cent of their farm income from prime lamb sales. These farms havebeen called ‘specialist prime lamb properties’. In 1998-99, there were anestimated 5400 specialist prime lamb properties. All other farms that receivedsome farm revenue from prime lamb sales were classified as ‘other primelamb properties’.

Another category of prime lamb producers is included in chapter 7 of thisreport. These are farmers who described themselves as ‘primarily prime lambproducers’ in a 1997-98 survey of the attitudes and practices of livestockproducers. There were an estimated 4000 of these prime lamb producers.

6

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ABARE research report 2000.8

In the next chapter an overview of the sheep meat industry is provided, givingdetails of trends in sheep and lamb numbers and the location and size distri-bution of prime lamb producers. A market outlook for sheep meat is presentedin chapter 3, setting out trends in Australian lamb and mutton productionand growth prospects in key export markets. Increasing competition ondomestic markets from other meats and the growing interest in vegetariandiets means that prime lamb producers will become increasingly dependenton export markets.

ABARE farm survey data are used to present details of the physical char-acteristics of farms of prime lamb producers, enterprises undertaken andflock performance of prime lamb producers (chapter 4). These physical datasets are then complemented by details of the financial performance of thesefarms for the three years to 1998-99 (chapter 5). A considerable amount ofsocioeconomic data, such as age of farmer, education level, off-farm incomeand farmer attitudes and practices, are also collected in ABARE’s farmsurveys. An analysis of these data for prime lamb producers is presented in chapter 6.

The results of a supplementary survey of livestock producers undertaken in1997-98 of prime lamb producers’ business practices and attitudes are alsopresented in chapter 7. These indicators are intended to provide prime lambproducers with information that will help to set industry benchmarks. Theindicators will also assist the industry in monitoring its performance and inachieving goals critical to the industry’s international competitiveness andto the sustainability of prime lamb production.


Industry overview

Sheep meat production in Australia is closely linked with the wool industry.Sheep numbers over the past two decades have fluctuated greatly in responseto varying seasonal conditions, movements in wool prices (figure A) and therelative profitability of other enterprises.

Throughout the 1980s flock size varied dramatically, responding to droughtconditions in the early 1980s and fluctuating returns for both wool and sheepmeat. Sheep numbers fell over the 1990s from a high of over 170 million in1990 to the current estimate of 115 million in 1999 (table 1) — making itthe smallest sheep flock since 1954. The removal of the wool reserve pricescheme in 1991, generally low and volatile prices in the period since, andrelatively more attractive returns from grains have encouraged farmers todivert resources from wool to other enterprises. In addition, there have beensignificant long term productivity gains in the grains industry relative to otherbroadacre industries that have contributed to the relative attractiveness ofgrains production (Knopke, O’Donnell and Shepherd 2000).

Sheep meat production in AustraliaMutton production peaked at 395 000 tonnes in 1991 (table 2). Over theremainder of the decade, mutton production fell as overall sheep numbersdeclined, reaching 301 000 tonnes in 1999 (figure B).

8

2


Sheep numbers and wool prices

Sheep numbers

30

60

90

120

150

millionc/kg

600

300

900

1500

1200

Wool price

1981-82

1984-85

1990-91

1996-97

1987-88

1993-94

1999-2000

AIn 1999-2000 dollars


1 Australian sheep numbers, by state and territory a

New South WesternSouth Wales Victoria Queensland Australia Australia

million million million million million

Breeding ewes1989 27.537 12.373 6.315 8.388 16.2701990 27.679 12.658 6.702 8.402 15.3781991 26.084 11.673 7.334 7.629 13.7501992 25.036 10.890 6.792 7.669 14.4801993 22.875 10.348 6.052 7.533 13.9421994 21.909 10.097 5.421 7.193 14.4011995 na na na na na1996 20.195 9.789 4.556 6.817 14.1641997 20.541 10.008 4.595 6.747 13.8201998 19.372 9.706 4.549 6.760 13.7141999 p 19.973 9.951 4.106 6.873 13.080

Lambs and hoggets1989 13.998 6.333 2.943 3.991 8.6941990 14.956 6.647 3.614 4.362 9.5941991 13.820 5.952 3.743 3.852 8.0191992 10.728 4.996 2.015 3.341 6.2011993 10.162 4.864 1.796 3.604 7.2991994 10.836 5.131 1.631 3.507 7.5141995 9.136 4.709 2.060 3.110 6.8641996 10.134 4.836 2.134 3.541 7.7571997 11.576 5.427 2.215 3.694 7.3601998 10.755 4.683 2.393 3.660 7.4191999 p 10.211 4.976 2.385 3.556 7.401

Total sheep and lambs1989 59.907 29.387 15.184 17.779 37.3351990 62.947 30.643 17.015 18.748 38.6741991 60.572 28.789 17.796 17.513 36.7071992 54.231 26.081 15.338 16.445 34.2891993 48.906 24.430 13.495 16.009 33.1951994 46.531 23.439 11.548 14.679 31.9511995 40.515 21.371 11.577 13.249 30.2171996 41.091 21.974 10.706 13.575 29.8341997 42.388 22.325 10.528 13.106 27.8211998 40.821 21.122 10.992 13.136 27.4761999 p 40.583 20.944 10.556 13.065 28.378

Continued ➮


1 Australian sheep numbers, by state and territory a continued

AustralianNorthern Capital

Tasmania Territory Territory Australia

million million million million

Breeding ewes1989 2.181 0 0.058 73.1201990 2.120 0 0.059 72.9961991 1.973 0 0.050 68.4931992 1.833 0 0.047 66.7471993 1.770 0 0.042 62.5631994 1.717 0 0.040 60.7791995 na na na 58.9161996 1.631 0 0.029 57.1821997 1.633 0 0.037 57.3801998 1.563 0 0.034 55.7011999 p 1.618 0 0.037 55.638

Lambs and hoggets1989 1.236 0 2.321 37.2191990 1.506 0 0.024 40.7061991 1.250 0 0.030 36.6681992 0.975 na 0.015 28.2711993 1.054 na 0.021 28.7991994 1.099 na 0.020 29.7391995 0.937 na 0.014 26.8301996 0.994 na 0.014 29.4101997 1.141 na 0.019 30.4611998 1.032 na 0.014 29.9571999 p 0.954 na 0.014 29.496

Total sheep and lambs1989 5.196 0 0.119 164.9081990 5.618 0 0.130 173.3771991 5.059 0 0.128 166.5671992 4.499 na 0.112 150.9951993 4.403 na 0.106 140.5421994 4.324 na 0.097 132.5691995 3.853 na 0.078 120.8621996 3.862 na 0.073 121.1161997 3.977 na 0.084 120.2281998 3.869 na 0.076 117.4911999 p 3.801 na 0.080 115.456

a Includes livestock holdings on establishments with an estimated value of agricultural operations(EVAO) of $5000 or more. p Preliminary. na Not available.Sources: ABS, Agriculture, Australia, cat. not. 7113.0, Canberra; ABS Agricultural Commodities,Australia, cat. no. 7121.0, Canberra; ABS, Selected Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary,cat. no. 7112.0, Canberra; ABARE.

Prime lamb production depends on the supply of suitable breeding ewes.While the production of wool and mutton is spread throughout the wheat–sheep zone of Australia, prime lamb production is confined mainly to areaswith higher rainfall and better pastures. As a result, prime lamb produc-tion is relatively less exposed to adverse seasonal conditions than the more


2 Australian supply and use of mutton and lamb

Average Consump ClosingSlaughterings weight a Production a Exports ab -tion ac stocks a

’000 kg kt kt kt kt

Mutton1976 17 467 18.8 329.1 254.8 73.3 33.61977 15 238 18.9 287.8 238.8 50.9 31.81978 12 079 19.4 234.1 197.1 40.6 28.21979 13 550 19.9 270.0 182.5 84.4 31.3

1980 14 590 19.6 286.4 229.8 67.9 20.01981 12 726 19.4 246.4 188.4 51.0 27.01982 14 016 19.6 274.2 205.5 54.7 41.01983 9 719 19.1 186.0 144.8 66.8 15.41984 9 306 20.4 189.6 97.1 93.7 14.31985 11 742 20.1 236.4 125.6 110.4 14.71986 14 223 19.7 280.1 168.6 112.1 14.11987 15 314 19.7 302.4 164.6 131.7 20.21988 13 130 19.9 261.3 155.9 108.9 16.71989 13 698 20.6 282.6 152.1 129.1 18.2

Continued ➮

30

60

90

120

150Sheep numbers

1981-82

1984-85

1990-91

1996-97

1987-88

1993-94

1999-2000

millionkt

250

Mutton

Lamb

150

200

300

350

B Sheep numbers and sheep meat production


2 Australian supply and use of mutton and lamb continued

Average Consump ClosingSlaughterings weight a Production a Exports ab -tion ac stocks a

’000 kg kt kt kt kt

1990 17 254 20.7 358.0 214.7 120.7 40.71991 18 750 21.0 394.6 265.2 143.8 26.31992 18 186 20.7 376.6 251.4 124.7 26.81993 18 047 21.5 387.9 234.4 149.4 30.91994 17 991 20.9 375.3 242.3 154.2 9.81995 15 228 20.5 312.1 208.6 101.4 11.91996 14 447 21.1 304.1 198.4 108.6 9.01997 15 552 20.5 319.6 209.2 113.1 6.31998 15 316 20.6 316.2 208.9 108.1 5.51999 p 14 273 21.1 300.8 210.5 85.9 10.0

Lamb1976 16 221 16.2 262.7 38.3 218.4 12.81977 15 298 16.4 250.6 37.3 220.8 5.31978 15 484 16.8 260.5 50.6 200.7 14.51979 15 950 16.8 268.0 51.6 219.0 12.0

1980 15 736 16.6 260.6 43.1 222.3 7.31981 16 179 16.8 272.5 38.5 234.4 6.91982 17 127 16.9 290.3 34.3 257.2 5.71983 16 804 16.9 283.7 33.5 251.2 4.61984 16 542 17.2 284.6 29.7 253.6 5.91985 18 759 17.1 319.9 42.9 277.2 5.71986 18 356 16.6 304.8 53.2 251.7 5.61987 17 516 16.9 296.8 53.3 244.6 4.51988 16 675 17.4 289.9 47.2 244.1 3.11989 16 864 17.8 299.6 41.5 257.4 3.8

1990 16 549 17.5 289.0 43.5 243.8 5.51991 15 818 17.3 274.3 42.0 232.7 5.11992 15 595 17.6 274.7 45.5 230.5 3.81993 14 668 17.6 258.7 56.2 200.5 5.81994 15 718 17.9 281.3 64.5 220.1 2.51995 14 680 17.9 263.0 55.1 207.7 2.71996 14 069 18.5 260.8 62.6 197.2 3.71997 14 924 18.8 279.9 78.3 201.6 3.71998 15 659 19.2 300.8 88.1 212.2 4.21999 p 16 350 19.5 318.9 101.1 217.0 5.0

a Carcass weight. b Includes canned and miscellaneous product. c Apparent consumption. p Preliminary.Sources: ABS, Agricultural Commodities, Australia, cat. no. 7121.0, Canberra; ABS, LivestockProducts, Australia, cat. no. 7215.0, Canberra; Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia, ExportStatistics, Canberra; ABARE.

widespread wool producing industry. Partly as a result, lamb slaughteringshave not fluctuated as much as adult slaughterings over the years (figure B),with adult slaughter being influenced more by wool prices and seasonalconditions.

During the 1990s, lamb turnoff increased as sheep producers sought toincrease returns by producing prime lambs. Slaughterings of lamb werearound 16 million (out of a sheep flock of only about 115 million) in 1999— roughly equivalent to the number of lambs slaughtered in 1990 when theAustralian sheep flock was 173 million. Lamb turnoff is projected to continueto increase as more producers seek to specialise in prime lamb production.

Lamb production peaked at 320 000 tonnes in 1985 when wool prices werehigh and the flock numbered 150 million. Over the 1990s, lamb productionfluctuated between 258 000 tonnes and the 319 000 tonnes recorded in 1999(table 2), with further increases forecast for coming seasons.

Location of prime lamb industryIn 1998-99 there were approximately 43 700 farms that carried at least 200sheep. Of these, there were around 20 450 farms (47 per cent) that receivedsome revenue from prime lamb sales (map 1). For this report, these farmshave been classified as prime lamb producers.

As noted above, prime lamb producers tend to be located in regions lessexposed to adverse seasonal conditions. Prime lamb producers are predom-inantly located in the Riverina, the wheat–sheep zone of New South Wales,the Victorian and the New South Wales Murray region and the high rainfallareas in south western Victoria and south eastern South Australia.

Approximately 26 per cent of prime lamb producers received in excess of20 per cent of their farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales in 1998-99(table 3). These producers have been classified as specialist prime lambproducers. A further 26 per cent received between 10 and 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales, while 48 per cent received lessthan 10 per cent.

The prime lamb industry is concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria.Over 80 per cent of specialist prime lamb producers are located in these twostates, decreasing to 71 per cent of producers earning between 10 and 20 percent of income from prime lambs.


Under the definitions used for this report, the number of specialist primelamb producers and the number of other prime lamb producers varies fromyear to year. The number of farms obtaining some farm receipts from primelamb sales increased from over 16 900 in 196-97 to nearly 21 200 in 1997-98 before falling back slightly to just under 20 500 in 1998-99.

There was a big increase in the number of prime lamb producers in 1997-98, particularly in New South Wales and South Australia. The continued low


3 Number of prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99

Prime lamb Other prime lamb All prime lambspecialists a producers b producers c

no. no. no.

1996-97New South Wales 1 086 5 259 6 345Victoria 1 857 3 197 5 054Queensland – 198 198South Australia 368 1 617 1 985Western Australia 309 2 192 2 501Tasmania 198 653 850

Australia 3 818 13 117 16 934

1997-98New South Wales 3 161 6 339 9 500Victoria 1 809 3 442 5 251Queensland 9 304 312South Australia 988 2 243 3 231Western Australia 63 2 210 2 273Tasmania 187 431 617

Australia 6 215 14 968 21 183

1998-99New South Wales 2 711 5 595 8 307Victoria 1 722 3 807 5 529Queensland – 140 140South Australia 579 2 208 2 787Western Australia 212 2 747 2 959Tasmania 178 554 732

Australia 5 402 15 051 20 453

a Farms with more than 200 sheep which received more than 20 per cent of their farm cash receiptsfrom prime lamb sales. b Farms with more than 200 sheep but whose revenue from prime lamb salescomprised less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts. c All farms with more than 200 sheep whichreceived some farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.

wool prices, the decline in grain prices and improved lamb prices in 1996-97 would have encouraged some farmers to take up or expand prime lambproduction in the 1997-98 season.

It is possible that the classification of a farm can move between groups overthe three years. Seasonal conditions and commodity prices (grains versuswool versus sheep meat prices) will determine the composition of a farm’scash income, the proportion of farm income attributable to prime lamb salesand the category to which a prime lamb farm is allocated in any year.


Location of prime lamb production, 19991

over 60 per cent

40 – 60 per cent

20 – 40 per cent

0 – 20 per cent

no data

Farms with prime lamb sales

Market outlook for sheep meat

Markets for sheep meatThe domestic market is an important market for Australian sheep meat,accounting for approximately 68 per cent of Australia’s lamb production and29 per cent of mutton production in 1999 (table 2). Total apparent meatconsumption per person in Australia remained fairly constant over the 1990sat around 104 kilograms (table 4). However, chicken has gained a largershare of total meat consumption (having risen from 24 per cent in 1990 to30 per cent in 1999) at the expense of other meat products, mainly owing toits relatively lower price. Lamb’s share of domestic meat consumption fell

16

3


4 Consumption of meat per person in Australia a

Beef PigLamb Mutton and veal meat Poultry Total

kg kg kg kg kg kg

1980 15.2 4.6 44.9 15.5 20.1 100.41981 15.8 3.4 47.4 15.3 20.2 102.21982 17.1 3.6 49.4 14.8 19.4 104.31983 16.4 4.4 42.7 15.9 20.2 99.61984 16.4 6.1 44.5 16.4 19.8 103.11985 17.7 7.0 40.8 16.7 21.6 103.81986 15.8 7.0 41.5 17.2 22.8 104.41987 15.2 8.2 40.3 17.3 23.2 104.11988 14.9 6.6 40.5 17.8 23.8 103.61989 15.4 7.7 42.4 17.8 24.0 107.4

1990 14.4 7.1 39.6 18.5 24.8 104.41991 13.5 8.3 39.2 18.5 25.1 104.61992 13.2 7.1 36.8 19.1 25.1 101.31993 11.4 8.5 36.5 18.4 26.5 101.31994 12.3 8.6 39.1 19.4 27.4 106.81995 11.5 5.6 35.2 19.6 26.9 98.81996 10.8 5.9 40.4 18.9 27.7 103.71997 10.9 6.1 41.8 18.9 29.4 107.11998 11.3 5.8 37.6 18.8 31.0 104.51999p 11.5 4.6 38.1 18.6 31.3 104.1

a Derived by dividing the estimated apparent consumption (carcass weight) of the different meats bythe population. p Preliminary.

from under 14 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 1997 before improvingslightly to 11 per cent by 1999, while mutton’s share fell from 6.8 per centin 1990 to 4.4 per cent in 1999.

Exports accounted for approximately 32 per cent of Australia’s lamb produc-tion in 1999 (table 2). Lamb exports (shipped weight) from Australia in-creased over the 1990s from 41 500 tonnes in 1992 to 89 300 tonnes in 1999;export volumes in 1999 alone rose by 14 per cent (table 5). The value oflamb exports was almost $333 million in 1999 (table 6). Principal destina-tions for Australian lamb, by volume, are the United States, the EuropeanUnion, Japan, Papua New Guinea and the United Arab Emirates, with SouthAfrica increasing in importance in recent years.

Mutton exports accounted for around 70 per cent of production in 1999 (table2). Mutton exports peaked at 265 00 tonnes (carcass weight) in 1991 as aresult of the large reduction in the sheep flock. Throughout the remainder ofthe decade, mutton exports declined in line with production. Export volumes(shipped weight) totaled 159 000 tonnes in 1999, valued at $302 million(tables 5, 6). Principal destinations for Australian mutton, by volume, includeSouth Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Chinese Taipei, Japan and theEuropean Union.

In the short term, lower overall sheep numbers combined with improvedwool prices prompting wool growers to moderate their turnoff of sheep areforecast to result in an easing of mutton production and a decline in muttonexports.

United StatesThe United States is currently Australia’s largest single lamb export desti-nation in both volume and value terms, having taken approximately 19 800tonnes of Australian lamb in 1999, compared with 17 200 tonnes in 1998.However, the introduction on 22 July 1999 of a tariff-quota that initially setimports for the following year at 1998 import levels and a high (40 per cent)tariff on out-of-quota imports, meant that the growth in Australian exportsto the United States was constrained in 1999-2000.

Under the scheme, imports under quota will be allowed to increase from17 139 tonnes in 1999-2000 to 17 601 tonnes in 2000-01 and to 18 062 tonnesin 2001-02, with the tariff on within-quota imports falling over the threeyears from 9 per cent to 6 per cent to 3 per cent. The tariff on overquota


5 Australian exports of sheep meat and live sheep a

Unit 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Mutton bCanada kt 1.9 1.7 2.0 1.1 1.6 0.9 2.6 1.5Chinese Taipei kt 9.0 9.4 9.8 7.7 7.8 12.8 11.1 10.9European Union c kt 9.3 7.8 8.1 11.0 10.7 9.3 9.9 7.1Former Soviet Union kt 12.3 2.8 2.5 1.0 1.2 2.9 5.0 0.5Japan kt 28.9 25.6 21.2 21.3 15.7 13.8 12.7 10.5Korea, Rep. of kt 3.5 2.0 2.1 2.6 1.6 3.2 2.3 1.4Malaysia kt 4.6 3.8 4.8 5.1 6.7 6.6 6.5 7.7Papua New Guinea kt 9.9 13.2 7.3 8.7 11.6 8.5 7.2 7.6Saudi Arabia kt 24.8 25.7 21.1 19.2 15.8 20.1 18.6 20.4Singapore kt 4.8 4.0 5.4 6.2 6.4 7.5 7.6 7.6South Africa kt 11.9 4.3 36.8 20.4 24.9 25.5 24.3 29.1United States kt 10.3 3.4 3.4 8.8 8.6 9.9 14.4 12.8Other kt 36.1 56.0 49.3 28.9 28.8 31.7 34.9 41.9

Total kt 167.5 159.7 173.8 141.9 141.4 152.6 157.2 159.0

LambEuropean Union c kt 5.1 4.8 6.6 5.1 6.4 7.9 8.7 10.3Japan kt 7.2 8.0 6.5 4.9 4.8 4.7 4.2 4.6Papua New Guinea kt 6.6 8.6 10.8 8.3 8.8 10.5 9.8 11.1South Africa kt 0.6 0.3 4.4 3.8 4.5 8.2 8.6 8.3United Arab Emirates kt 4.7 5.3 6.7 5.7 4.9 4.5 5.5 4.2United States kt 6.6 10.6 9.1 8.5 10.7 13.3 17.2 19.8Other kt 10.8 13.8 14.6 12.6 14.9 19.2 24.5 31.0

Total kt 41.5 51.3 58.7 49.1 55.0 68.4 78.5 89.3

Live sheepSlaughter sheep ’000 4 428 5 202 5 692 5 962 5 745 4 716 5 079 4 960

Middle East ’000 3 922 4 901 5 529 5 798 5 559 4 581 5 005 4 891Bahrain ’000 324 351 376 372 335 381 439 465Jordan ’000 237 492 774 1 384 1 500 746 804 1 068Kuwait ’000 1 061 1 019 1 382 1 235 1 057 1 045 1 527 1 250Oman ’000 582 729 699 589 561 537 475 424Qatar ’000 509 311 460 455 303 310 458 281United Arab Emirates ’000 1 051 1 682 1 596 1 656 1 743 1 510 1 225 975Other ’000 158 318 242 108 62 53 77 427

Singapore ’000 36 36 27 22 20 12 13 18Other ’000 470 265 136 295 167 122 61 51

Breeding sheep ’000 69 2 2 9 76 167 83 65

Total ’000 4 497 5 204 5 694 5 971 5 821 4 883 5 163 5 025

a Sheep meat exports measured on a shipped weight basis. b Includes young sheep and hoggets. c Regarded as twelve countries for all years to 1994. From 1995 includes Austria, Finland and Sweden.Sources: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia, Export Statistics, Canberra.


6 Value of Australian exports of sheep meat and live sheep (fob) a

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 p

$m $m $m $m $m $m $m $mMutton bCanada 3.0 2.6 3.1 1.8 2.8 1.7 5.4 2.9Chinese Taipei 13.8 16.8 20.9 15.6 17.0 31.5 26.4 24.9European Union c 30.2 28.2 30.0 40.3 45.6 38.6 41.2 25.2Former Soviet Union 8.9 3.2 2.5 1.3 2.1 4.6 8.9 0.9Japan 61.5 59.4 49.0 60.4 42.4 39.3 37.2 31.4Korea, Rep. of 7.4 3.6 3.5 4.4 2.6 5.3 3.7 2.0Malaysia 7.4 6.3 7.7 9.1 12.8 14.6 13.2 14.8Papua New Guinea 8.3 12.2 7.0 9.0 11.9 9.0 7.8 7.5Saudi Arabia 46.5 49.4 41.8 41.7 32.0 48.2 38.7 37.8Singapore 8.5 7.0 10.5 13.5 13.6 18.0 17.4 16.0South Africa 17.8 6.2 55.1 31.8 36.4 36.5 32.5 33.5United States 14.8 7.2 6.5 14.2 15.3 20.3 31.8 27.0Other 59.4 88.5 86.4 53.9 57.9 74.9 74.5 77.9

Total 287.4 290.5 324.1 296.9 292.4 342.5 338.7 301.8

LambEuropean Union c 23.4 22.7 30.2 24.0 31.4 43.5 42.8 45.2Japan 24.1 33.8 28.9 25.7 25.2 25.0 24.2 25.0Papua New Guinea 6.8 9.2 10.6 9.2 12.0 13.1 11.4 12.7South Africa 1.3 0.8 8.1 7.0 7.7 14.4 11.8 11.5United Arab Emirates 11.6 14.1 17.4 16.2 14.1 14.3 17.4 12.6United States 19.6 37.2 34.9 39.4 57.8 77.6 106.7 129.5Other 36.2 53.3 58.6 49.8 60.2 81.0 86.5 96.3

Total 122.9 170.9 188.7 171.5 208.4 268.9 300.8 332.7

Live sheepMiddle East 87.6 126.0 160.9 215.4 204.0 171.3 192.5 177.5

Bahrain 6.5 7.4 9.8 13.3 11.7 13.4 15.6 15.1Jordan 6.0 17.3 25.1 53.7 53.0 27.9 30.9 35.4Kuwait 22.0 23.1 37.4 43.8 38.5 39.0 56.8 47.2Oman 13.5 16.6 20.6 22.2 21.0 20.3 18.4 17.1Qatar 12.0 8.1 14.8 17.3 12.1 12.9 21.9 13.4United Arab Emirates 23.7 43.7 47.1 60.7 64.8 55.7 46.6 34.5

Other 13.5 9.3 6.5 7.7 9.7 13.2 10.3 6.2

Total 101.1 135.3 167.5 223.2 213.8 184.5 202.8 183.7

a Based on quantity data from Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia and export price datafrom the Australian Bureau of Statistics. b Includes young sheep and hoggets. c Regarded as twelvecountries for all years to 1994. From 1995 includes Austria, Finland and Sweden. p Preliminary.Sources: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia, Export Statistics, Livestock Exports,Canberra; Australian Bureau of Statistics, International Trade, electronic data service, cat. no. 5464.0,Canberra.


imports will fall to 32 per cent in 2000-01 and 24 per cent in 2001-02. Thescheme is to be reviewed by the United States International Trade Com-mission in early 2001.

Australian exporters have responded to the export restrictions imposed bythe United States by exporting greater quantities of higher valued chilledlamb. The fresh/chilled component of the US trade has grown rapidly inrecent years for two main reasons. Improved technologies have resulted ina greater acceptance of chilled sheep meat sent by sea rather than air, result-ing in an increasing proportion of chilled lamb exports being sent to theUnited States. This allows Australian exporters to deliver product at a morecompetitive price — a trend that is expected to continue in the future. Thesecond reason is the type of lamb that Australian producers are able to supply— specifically the smaller and leaner cuts of lamb that US consumers aredemanding.

In addition, the growth in lamb exports to the United States in the last twoyears of the 1990s was caused, in part, by declining availability of US domes-tically produced lamb (as US sheep numbers have fallen following removalof US wool production subsidies in 1995), strong demand for meat gener-ally in the US market, and the increased competitiveness of Australian prod-uct resulting from changed exchange rate relativities (Shaw and O’Rourke1999).

Australia exports mutton to the United States where it is used primarily inthe manufacture of processed foods. Exports of mutton to the United Stateswere 12 800 tonnes in 1999, accounting for approximately 8 per cent ofAustralia’s total mutton exports.

European UnionA quota of 18 650 tonnes (carcass weight, calendar year basis) currentlyrestricts Australia’s sheep meat exports into the European Union. The quotahas not changed for a number of years. The amount of mutton and lamb usedin filling the quota is determined according to the prices of each, with themore profitable meat usually dominating the quota.

Over the nine years to 1999, the breakdown between mutton and lamb variedsignificantly, with the proportion of lamb ranging between 31 and 59 percent of total Australian sheep meat exports to the European Union. Lamb


exports to the European Union in 1999 were 10 300 tonnes (59 per cent ofthe quota), while mutton exports were 7100 tonnes.

AsiaWithin the Asian region, Japan is the largest export destination for Australianlamb. In 1999 Japan accounted for approximately 44 per cent of total lambexports to the Asian region. Japan is also a significant importer of mutton,with imports from Australia totaling 10 500 tonnes in 1999 — accountingfor around 7 per cent of Australia’s total mutton exports.

Chinese Taipei is also a major importer of mutton within the Asian region,importing 10 900 tonnes of mutton from Australia in 1999.

Papua New Guinea is a high volume market for Australia’s frozen lambexports. In 1999, Australian exports of lamb to Papua New Guinea totaled11 000 tonnes, accounting for approximately 12 per cent of Australia’s totallamb exports. However, Papua New Guinea is a low value destination forAustralian lamb, with the average unit value of lamb shipped to Papua NewGuinea averaging 115 cents a kilogram in 1999, compared with an averageof 655 cents a kilogram for lamb exported to the United States.

Middle EastWithin the Middle East region, the United Arab Emirates has been the largestexport market for Australian lamb, with exports of frozen lamb to this marketgrowing in recent years. Exports to the United Arab Emirates fluctuatedbetween 4000 and 7000 tonnes a year in 1990s, and were 4200 tonnes in1999. However, with the high world oil prices in 2000, demand for lamb bythe United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries is expected topick up.

Saudi Arabia is the largest destination for mutton within the Middle East,and Australia’s second largest overall market for mutton. In 1999, Australianexports of mutton to Saudi Arabia were 20 400 tonnes, representing 13 percent of Australia’s total mutton exports. Moderate population and economicgrowth is expected to produce further opportunities for Australia to expandmutton exports to Saudi Arabia in the future.


South AfricaSouth Africa is a high volume market for Australian sheep meat. It imported29 100 tonnes of Australian mutton in 1999, making it Australia’s largestexport destination for mutton. However, it is a low value destination forAustralian sheep meat. The average unit value of mutton shipped to SouthAfrica was 114 cents a kilogram in 1999, compared with an average of 361cents a kilogram received for mutton exported to the European Union.

Lamb exports to South Africa have been increasing in recent years, reach-ing around 8300 tonnes in 1999, approximately 9 per cent of total lambexports. Like mutton, lamb exports to South Africa consist of a lower valuefrozen product, with an average unit value of lamb shipped to South Africain 1999 of 140 cents a kilogram.

Exports of live sheepAustralia’s live sheep export trade is dominated by the Middle East, with thelargest buyers being Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (table 6).Live sheep exports peaked in the late 1980s when sheep numbers were attheir highest and demand from Middle East nations was quite strong.

Live sheep for export from Australia are primarily sourced from WesternAustralia, South Australia and Victoria. A specialised industry has devel-oped to supply sheep for the live trade, with lean male sheep being preferredby Middle East buyers. A growing number of producers specialising in livesheep for export have in recent years increased the proportion of fat tailedsheep breeds in their flocks (such as Dorper and Damara sheep) which areparticularly suited for live export requirements.

Over the past decade, live sheep exports increased to a peak of almost 6.0million in 1995, before declining to 4.9 million in 1997 as overall sheepnumbers declined and higher domestic mutton prices encouraged domesticmutton production in preference to supplying the live export trade. Exportsof live sheep were around 5.0 million in 1999, with a value of $184 million(table 6).

After introducing a self imposed ban in 1990 on exports of live sheep toSaudi Arabia (Australia’s major destination in the 1980s), the first of six trialshipments of live sheep to Saudi Arabia commenced in January 2000 in aneffort to restart the trade. The trial to be continued throughout 2000 may


result in a permanent reopening of trade if each shipment is successful insatisfying Saudi requirements. A quality assurance program, which includessheep vaccination to prevent disease and improved sheep selection criteria,has been established to meet the requirements of the trade. Other terms agreedbetween Australian and Saudi Arabian authorities include direct shipmentto Saudi ports.

Australia is relatively well positioned to supply sheep to the Middle Eastregion, which accounts for around 97 per cent of Australia’s live sheepexports. Disease outbreaks over recent years in North African sheep flocks(which compete with Australia’s supply of live sheep to the Middle East)combined with drought more recently are expected to result in strong demandfor Australian sheep.

However, projected falls in Australian sheep numbers are expected toconstrain the industry’s ability to significantly increase live sheep exports(Gleeson, Brittle and O’Donnell. 2000). Exporters may seek to obtain greaternumbers of sheep for live export from South Australia and Victoria to partiallyoffset the expected reduced availability from Western Australia.


Physical characteristics and flockperformance

Data on the physical and financial performance of sheep meat producers sell-ing prime lambs have been derived from ABARE’s Australian agriculturaland grazing industries survey. Details of the farm survey program areprovided in appendix A. Results are presented for Australia as a whole inthis chapter, while state by state estimates are provided in appendix B.

The following discussion is focused on specialist prime lamb producers.

Farm areaThere were quite large differences in the average farm areas between theprime lamb producer groups. The average farm area for specialist prime lambproducers over the three years to 1998-99 was 720 hectares (table 7), about50 per cent below the average farm area of all other prime lamb producers.

The average farm area of prime lamb specialist farms was much smaller inVictoria and Tasmania (averaging around 500 hectares and 560 hectaresrespectively) compared with the other states, with New South Wales aver-aging around 840 hectares and South Australia over 810 hectares.

Enterprise diversityGiven the smaller average farm area of specialist prime lamb producers, itis not unexpected that the number of livestock carried per farm and the areaunder crops for these farms were less than the averages for all prime lambproducers. The proportion of the farm area under crops was 10 per cent forspecialist prime lamb producers compared with over 22 per cent for otherprime lamb producers.

These differences reflect the regional climatic characteristics at the locationsof the prime lamb specialists (see map 1). Producers receiving less than 20per cent of their farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales tend to be locatedin or adjacent to the major cropping areas of the wheat–sheep zone withinAustralia. Farmers in these regions tend to have some flexibility in movingbetween cropping and livestock enterprises in response to changes in rela-tive commodity prices.

24

4



7 Physical characteristics of prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm

Prime lamb specialists

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Total farm area at 30 June ha 805 (23) 810 (11) 555 (13) 720 (9)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 821 (16) 1 822 (11) 1 580 (13) 1 737 (7)– ewes no. 1 092 16 1 183 10 1 031 14 1 107 (7)– wethers no. 202 37 159 22 120 31 156 (17)– rams no. 25 24 28 11 39 37 31 (18)– lambs no. 503 22 452 19 386 18 442 (11)Ewes mated no. 972 16 1 117 11 956 14 1 025 (8)Lambs marked no. 888 15 1 073 11 880 13 960 (7)Beef herd at 30 June no. 124 (27) 99 (20) 88 (21) 101 (13)Crop area harvested– cereals ha 62 (18) 70 (14) 54 (16) 62 (9)– pulses ha 2 (61) 4 (63) 2 (32) 3 (36)– oilseeds ha 2 (31) 6 (47) 3 (52) 4 (32)– other crops a ha 0 (88) 1 (98) 1 (102) 1 (70)Proportion of farm planted

to crops % 8.2 (25) 9.9 (13) 10.9 (17) 9.7 (10)Wheat production t 58 (21) 70 (16) 37 (40) 56 (14)Sheep sold no. 1 145 (10) 1 696 (9) 1 049 (13) 1 333 (6)Prime lambs sold no. 792 (13) 1 281 (10) 810 (13) 995 (7)Sheep purchases no. 266 (26) 716 (17) 228 (25) 434 (13)Beef cattle sold no. 55 (38) 54 (23) 44 (21) 51 (16)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 960 (15) 2 147 (9) 1 604 (13) 1 910 (7)Wool produced kg 8 262 (16) 8 231 (9) 6 581 (15) 7 661 (7)Labor used weeks 96 (5) 93 (7) 79 (4) 89 (4)Estimated population

of farms no. 3 817 6 216 5 402

Other prime lambs producers

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Total farm area at 30 June ha 1 704 (6) 1 430 (5) 1 334 (8) 1 480 (4)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 717 (6) 2 502 (5) 2 406 (6) 2 534 (3)– ewes no. 1 439 7 1 342 5 1 335 7 1 369 (4)– wethers no. 538 11 464 11 485 12 494 (6)– rams no. 34 10 26 6 28 9 29 (5)– lambs no. 706 6 669 6 559 8 642 (4)Ewes mated no. 1 273 7 1 204 5 1 178 8 1 216 (4)Lambs marked no. 1 014 7 962 5 963 9 978 (4)Beef herd at 30 June no. 152 (8) 124 (26) 139 (23) 137 (12)Crop area harvested– cereals ha 305 (7) 254 (8) 258 (10) 271 (5)– pulses ha 39 (15) 36 (15) 45 (17) 40 (9)– oilseeds ha 14 (20) 17 (32) 27 (18) 20 (14)– other crops a ha 1 (22) 3 (30) 3 (59) 2 (28)

Continued ➮


7 Physical characteristics of prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm continued

Other prime lambs producers

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Proportion of farm plantedto crops % 21.0 (6) 21.6 (7) 25.0 (8) 22.5 (4)

Wheat production t 436 (7) 292 (8) 355 (10) 358 (5)Sheep sold no. 1 087 (7) 1 030 (7) 1 045 (10) 1 052 (5)Prime lambs sold no. 431 (7) 422 (8) 439 (11) 431 (5)Sheep purchases no. 211 (14) 184 (19) 176 (20) 190 (10)Beef cattle sold no. 66 (10) 65 (23) 71 (23) 67 (12)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 3 005 (8) 2 725 (5) 2 721 (7) 2 809 (4)Wool produced kg 12 940 (8) 11 113 (5) 11 456 (7) 11 788 (4)Labor used weeks 113 (4) 109 (4) 108 (4) 110 (2)Estimated population

of farms no. 13 117 14 968 15 051

All prime lamb producers

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Total farm area at 30 June ha 1 501 (6) 1 248 (5) 1 129 (7) 1 280 (3)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 515 (6) 2 302 (4) 2 188 (6) 2 324 (3)– ewes no. 1 361 (6) 1 295 (4) 1 255 (6) 1 300 (3)– wethers no. 462 (10) 375 (10) 388 (11) 405 (6)– rams no. 32 (9) 27 (5) 31 (14) 30 (6)– lambs no. 660 (7) 606 (6) 513 (7) 589 (4)Ewes mated no. 1 205 (6) 1 178 (5) 1 119 (7) 1 165 (3)Lambs marked no. 986 (6) 995 (5) 941 (7) 973 (4)Beef herd at 30 June no. 145 (8) 117 (20) 125 (19) 128 (10)Crop area harvested– cereals ha 250 (7) 200 (7) 204 (9) 216 (4)– pulses ha 30 (15) 27 (15) 34 (17) 30 (9)– oilseeds ha 11 (19) 14 (29) 21 (17) 15 (13)– other crops a ha 1 (21) 2 (30) 2 (53) 2 (26)Proportion of farm planted

to crops % 19.5 (6) 19.4 (6) 23.1 (7) 20.6 (4)Wheat production t 351 (7) 227 (8) 271 (10) 278 (5)Sheep sold no. 1 100 (6) 1 226 (6) 1 046 (8) 1 126 (4)Prime lambs sold no. 512 (6) 674 (7) 537 (9) 580 (4)Sheep purchases no. 223 (12) 340 (13) 190 (16) 254 (8)Beef cattle sold no. 64 (11) 62 (18) 64 (19) 63 (10)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 769 (7) 2 555 (4) 2 426 (6) 2 572 (3)Wool produced kg 11 885 (7) 10 268 (5) 10 168 (6) 10 701 (3)Labor used weeks 109 (3) 104 (4) 101 (3) 104 (2)Estimated population

of farms no. 16 934 21 183 20 453

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheepthat received less than 20 per cent of farm income from prime lamb sales.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

Producers receiving more than 20 per cent of their revenue from prime lambsales tend to fall into two groups: those in higher rainfall areas, where agro-nomic conditions are not entirely suitable for crop production, such as inTasmania where on average only 2 per cent of the farm area is under crop;and those in irrigation areas such as in northern Victoria.

Size of sheep flock and flock characteristicsIn line with the decline in total Australian sheep numbers in recent years,the overall trend in end of year sheep numbers was for a decline in the sizeof the flock over the three years to 1998-99. The average flock size for special-ist prime lamb producers for the three years to 1998-99 was just under 1740— 31 per cent below the average flock size for other prime lamb producers.

Average flock size over this period for prime lamb specialists varied betweenthe states, from around 1450 in Tasmania, 1560 in Victoria, 1680 in NewSouth Wales to 2280 in South Australia.

Average wool cut per head was 4.0 kilograms for prime lamb specialists and4.2 kilograms for other prime lamb producers. Average wool cut in NewSouth Wales and Victoria was around the national average, but was 3.5 kilo-grams in Tasmania and nearly 4.4 kilograms in South Australia.

Lambing rates (measured as a percentage of lambs marked per 100 ewesmated) were much higher for prime lamb specialists, at 94 per cent, comparedwith 80 per cent for other prime lamb producers.

Flock composition was measured as at the end of June of each surveyedyear. The breakdown of stock differed between groups, reflecting the primarynature of the sheep based enterprises being undertaken within the groups.

Prime lamb specialists had a higher proportion of ewes in their flocks (64per cent) than other prime lamb producers (54 per cent). Reflecting the smalleremphasis on wool production, wethers comprised only 9 per cent of the flock,compared with 19 per cent for other prime lamb producers.

Breed of sheepIn 1996-97 a supplementary survey was attached to the full survey to obtaindetails of sheep breeds of rams and ewes mated on farms in that year.


A typical or common breeding scheme used in the prime lamb industry inAustralia is a three-breed cross between a Dorset Horn ram and a BorderLeicester – Merino ewe cross (Kinghorn, Rogan and Davis 1991). Improvedlambing and weaning rates have been achieved from using cross breed ewesfrom a Border Leicester – Merino cross. Merino ewes have traditionally beenused because of the relatively low cost of surplus Merino ewes. Dorset Hornor similar types of rams are used because they contribute directly to a suit-ably fast growing prime lamb, building further on the gains from the hybridvigor achieved from Border Leicester – Merino cross ewe.

There is a clear difference in the flock composition of specialist prime lambproducers and other prime lamb producers. With the prime lamb specialists,59 per cent of all ewes were Merino and 31 per cent were first cross Merino(table 8), compared with 87 per cent Merino ewes and 8 per cent first crossMerino ewes for other prime lamb producers.


8 Number of ewes joined, by breed of ram, 1996-97 Average per farm

Long wool Short wool and other

Merino rams rams a breeds of rams b

Specialist prime lamb producers(Population 3622; Total ewes mated 1057)

Merino ewe 306 (31) 222 (25) 97 (60)1st cross Merino ewe 0 321 (28) 7(143)Other ewe 0 62 (71) 44(108)

Other prime lamb producers(Population 13 080; Total ewes mated 1266)

Merino ewe 768 (9) 228 (12) 111 (21)1st cross Merino ewe 10 (40) 77 (22) 11 (80)Other ewe 5 (80) 19 (48) 38 (48)

All prime lamb producers(Population 16 702; Total ewes mated 1221)

Merino ewe 668 (9) 227 (11) 108 (21)1st cross Merino ewe 7 (40) 130 (18) 10 (71)Other ewe 4 (80) 29 (42) 39 (45)

a Includes rams from the Dorset, Hampshire, Ryeland, Shropshire, Suffolk, Southdown and Wiltshirebreeds. b Includes rams from the Cheviot, Corriedale, Drysdale, Gromark, Leicester, Prendale,Polwarth, Romney Marsh, Tukidale and Zenith breeds. Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


Short wool rams were used over 57 per cent of the ewes of prime lambspecialists, with Merinos used over 29 per cent of ewes. The order is reversedfor other prime lamb producers, with Merino rams used over 62 per cent ofewes, the bulk of which were Merino, and short wool rams over 26 per centof ewes, with 70 per cent of the ewes being Merino.

Selling methodsSheep and lambs may be sold in Australia as stud, store or finished stock. Avariety of different selling methods are used depending on the type of stockand market outlet for the stock.

• Paddock sales: Buyers inspect stock on the producer’s property, price isnegotiated on a dollars per head basis and ownership is generally trans-ferred at the farm gate. This method is used for stud, store or slaughtersales.

• Over the hooks: Price is negotiated on a cents per kilogram carcass weightbasis, with ownership usually transferred at point of slaughter. For slaugh-ter sales only.

• Auction sales: Stock are sold by open auction on either a dollars per headbasis or, if stock are weighed, on a cents per kilogram live weight basis.Auction sales are usually conducted off farm at saleyards, although theymay be held on farm. Ownership is generally transferred at point of sale.This method is used for stud, store or slaughter sales.

• Over the scales: Stock are sold on a cents per kilogram live weight basis.This method is generally used for slaughter sales.

• Other sale methods: These include various computer or video aided sell-ing methods, of which the principal method is Computer Aided LivestockMarketing (CALM). This method is mainly used for slaughter and storesales.

Factors influencing the selling method used include the prices available, theseasonal conditions and the stage of the production cycle for individualproperties.

Increasing competition among the meat industries is resulting in the exten-sive grazing industry readjusting from a production driven system to a moremarket focused system driven by consumer demand (Casburn 1999).

Processors and manufacturers are now placing more emphasis on purchas-ing products that meet their precise specifications.

Such an approach favors ‘over the hooks’ sales where the sale price variesin accordance with how well the lamb meets specifications such as for weightand fat cover. If product falls outside these specifications, the price is dis-counted accordingly. This approach provides feedback to producers and mayprovide the incentive for producers to modify their production systems tomeet buyers’ requirements.

Nevertheless, in 1998-99, the auction system was still the dominant methodused by prime lamb producers for selling prime lambs and sheep andaccounted for around 69 per cent of prime lamb sales and 54 per cent of adultsheep sales in that year (table 9).

The other important sale method used by prime lamb producers for bothprime lamb and sheep was paddock sales, with around 17 per cent of prime


9 Method of sheep sales, prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 a

New South Wales Victoria

Prime Other Prime Otherlamb prime lamb lamb prime lamb

specialists producers specialists producers

Population 2 711 5 595 1 722 3 807Prime lamb salesPaddock sales % 9.8 (71) 7.2 (40) 13.0 (62) 20.4 (30)Over hook sales % 3.4 (84) 17.6 (50) 12.4 (234) 9.9 (69)Over scales sales % 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)Auction sales % 86.8 (8) 75.2 (11) 74.2 (34) 69.7 (11)Other sales method % 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.3 (315) 0.0 (0)Adult sheepPaddock sales % 4.6 (168) 15.5 (35) 39.3 (72) 36.3 (24)Over hook sales % 4.2 (113) 16.0 (47) 8.5 (287) 8.8 (67)Over scales sales % 0.0 (0) 3.0 (66) 0.0 (0) 2.1 (100)Auction sales % 91.2 (10) 65.5 (14) 52.2 (56) 52.6 (15)Other sales method % 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.2 (117)All sheepPaddock sales % 9.3 (76) 11.0 (31) 20.5 (62) 30.4 (20)Over hook sales % 3.5 (85) 17.2 (33) 11.2 (246) 9.1 (57)Over scales sales % 0.0 (0) 1.4 (62) 0.0 (0) 1.2 (101)Auction sales % 87.2 (9) 70.4 (9) 68.1 (35) 59.2 (10)Other sales method % 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.2 (318) 0.1 (116)

Continued ➮

9 Method of sheep sales by prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 acontinued

Queensland South Australia



Population ns 236 579 2 208Prime lamb salesPaddock sales % ns ns 1.8 (124) 46.0 (36) 20.8 (43)Over hook sales % ns ns 15.9 (109) 12.1 (205) 20.3 (62)Over scales sales % ns ns 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.2 (166)Auction sales % ns ns 82.4 (22) 41.8 (37) 58.7 (27)Other sales method % ns ns 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)Adult sheepPaddock sales % ns ns 19.6 (61) 37.1 (29) 50.3 (38)Over hook sales % ns ns 27.0 (92) 2.9 (63) 1.6 (106)Over scales sales % ns ns 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 5.3 (70)Auction sales % ns ns 53.4 (58) 57.0 (18) 42.7 (38)Other sales method % ns ns 0.0 (0) 3.0 (128) 0.0 (0)All sheepPaddock sales % ns ns 9.2 (61) 41.3 (27) 39.1 (27)Over hook sales % ns ns 19.6 (64) 9.1 (148) 9.6 (67)Over scales sales % ns ns 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 3.4 (71)Auction sales % ns ns 71.2 (20) 48.5 (21) 48.0 (19)Other sales method % ns ns 0.0 (0) 1.2 (130) 0.0 (0)

Western Australia Tasmania



Population ns 2 747 178 554Prime lamb salesPaddock sales % ns ns 9.6 (67) ns ns 27.2 (81)Over hook sales % ns ns 24.4 (43) ns ns 7.7 (121)Over scales sales % ns ns 0.0 (0) ns ns 0.0 (0)Auction sales % ns ns 51.2 (26) ns ns 65.1 (43)Other sales method % ns ns 14.8 (53) ns ns 0.0 (0)Adult sheepPaddock sales % ns ns 10.7 (64) ns ns 0.0 (0)Over hook sales % ns ns 21.5 (37) ns ns 0.0 (0)Over scales sales % ns ns 7.4 (77) ns ns 0.0 (0)Auction sales % ns ns 58.2 (20) ns ns 100.0Other sales method % ns ns 2.2 (76) ns ns 0.0 (0)All sheepPaddock sales % ns ns 10.3 (51) ns ns 25.3 (80)Over hook sales % ns ns 22.3 (35) ns ns 7.1 (122)Over scales sales % ns ns 5.0 (79) ns ns 0.0 (0)Auction sales % ns ns 56.2 (19) ns ns 67.6 (38)Other sales method % ns ns 6.2 (49) ns ns 0.0 (0)

Continued ➮


9 Method of sheep sales by prime lamb farms, by state, 1998-99 aContinued

Australia

Prime Other Alllamb prime lamb prime lamb

specialists producers producers

Population 5 402 15 147 20 549Prime lamb salesPaddock sales % 14.2 (68) 18.3 (19) 16.7 (26)Over hook sales % 10.8 (76) 16 (34) 14.0 (33)Over scales sales % 0 0.1 (164) 0Auction sales % 74.1 (15) 65.2 (9) 68.7 (8)Other sales method % 0.9 (83) 0.5 (49) 0.6 (50)Adult sheepPaddock sales % 25.5 (63) 34 (25) 33.1 (24)Over hook sales % 14.8 (79) 8.8 (32) 9.5 (30)Over scales sales % 0 (496) 3.5 (41) 3.1 (41)Auction sales % 59.7 (28) 53.3 (14) 54.0 (13)Other sales method % 0 0.4 (82) 0.3 (82)All sheepPaddock sales % 16.5 (58) 26.8 (17) 24.2 (18)Over hook sales % 11.5 (74) 12.5 (26) 12.3 (26)Over scales sales % 0 1.9 (42) 1.4 (42)Auction sales % 71.3 (16) 58.4 (7) 61.6 (7)Other sales method % 0.7 (83) 0.4 (50) 0.5 (44)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb farms are farms with more than 200 sheep andsold prime lambs but received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. nsNot supplied due to insufficient sample size, but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for that state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


lambs and 33 per cent of adult sheep being sold under this method. About12 per cent of all sheep are sold to processors as over the hook sales.

However, there are differences between the states in the patterns of sellingmethods. In the smaller prime lamb producing states of South Australia,Western Australia and Tasmania, paddock sales and over the hook sales aremuch more important selling methods for prime lamb specialists. The situ-ation in Western Australia reflects the previous existence of a lamb market-ing board that controlled the price of lamb generally through direct sales,but also through paddock sales.

The observations on methods of sale used in the period 1996-97 to 1998-99are similar to the observations recorded for the method of sale used in theperiod 1989-90 to 1993-94 (Ashton, Rudwick and Reynolds 1995). In that

earlier period, 65 per cent of prime lambs were sold at auction, with a further27 per cent being sold at paddock sales. For adult sheep, 49 per cent weresold at auction and 45 per cent at paddock sales.

Sales methods in the prime lamb industry differ from those in the beef indus-try. The proportion of beef cattle sold through the auction system has declined— from an average of 55 per cent in 1992-93 to 41 per cent in 1997-98. Ingeneral, auction sales have retained a relatively large proportion of total beefcattle turnoff per property (especially for smaller properties) because a widevariety of livestock can be sold by this method. Most of the fall in salesthrough the auction system has resulted from increased over the hook sales(ABARE 1999).


Financial performance of prime lambproducing farms

In this chapter, data are presented on the financial performance of prime lambproducing farms for the three years 1996-97 to 1998-99, together with fore-casts for some key financial variables for 1999-2000 (see figure C for thederivation of the major financial performance indicators used by ABAREand box 1 for a definitions of measures).

Results are presented in this chapter as Australia-wide averages for each ofthe three years 1996-97 to 1998-99 and as a three year average. Tables show-ing results for individual states are given in appendix B. Unless otherwisestated, financial data are expressed in nominal dollars.

34

5


=

=

=

=

=

x 100

–

–

–

–

+

+

+ + +

+

Farm cash income1

Farm business profit2

less

Return produced by all the resources

used in the farm business

Total cash receipts

Total revenues received by the

farm business during the financial year

Total cash costsPayments made by the farm

business for materials and services and for permanent and casual hired labor (excluding owner

manager, partner and family labor)

Farm cash

income

Farm business

profit

Wagesoff farm

Otherbusinessincome

Socialwelfare

paymentsInvestment

Rent

Changes in trading

stockDepreciation

Imputed labor costs

Profit at full equity3

Return to all capital used

Owner manager and spouse only

Rate of return4

Off-farm income5

Interest and finance

lease payments

Profit at full equity

Totalopening capital

Depreciation on

leased items

CC Major financial performance indicators

Receipts

Farm revenue received by individual farms will depend on the enterprisemix, prices received and seasonal conditions. Movements in average pricesreceived for the major sheep based products are shown in figure D.

Returns from sales of lamb and sheep at market will also depend on thetiming of sales. Peak prices for lambs in any one season have generally beenreceived around the May to August period when supplies are relatively short.For producers to supply the market at this time of the year requires that lamb-ing gets under way in late summer and early autumn. In the absence of irri-gation, lack of suitable pasture works against lambing at that time of the year.

In line with other commodities such as grains, prices for lambs generallyweakened over the survey period from 1996-97 to 1997-98 before improv-ing in the second half of 1998-99, while sheep prices remained relativelysteady. Wool prices improved a little in 1997-98, but fell away again in 1998-99.

Farm cash receipts for prime lamb specialists averaged $125 500 a year overthe three years to 1998-99 (table 10). In comparison, farm cash receipts forother prime lamb producers averaged almost $246 000 a year.

Prime lamb specialists received 35 per cent of their revenue from the salesof prime lambs. Cropping enterprises provided a further 22 per cent of theirrevenue, followed by wool receipts at 18 per cent. For other prime lamb


D Sheep meat and wool pricesMonthly, ended December 1999

200

400

600

800

1000

Wool price right axis

c/kgc/kg

150

200Lamb price

left axis

50

100

250

Mutton priceleft axis

June1991

June1993

June1995

June1997

June1999


Financial itemsTotal cash receipts are the sum of revenues received by the farm business duringthe financial year, including revenues from the sale of livestock, livestock prod-ucts and crops, plus the value of livestock transfers off a property. It includesrevenue received from agistment, royalties, rebates, refunds, plant hire, contracts,sharefarming, insurance claims and compensation, and government assistancepayments.

Total cash costs are payments made by the farm business during the year, exclud-ing capital and household expenditures.

• Handling and marketing expenses include commission, yard dues, levies etcfor farm produce sold.

• Administration costs include accountancy fees, banking and legal expenses,postage, stationery, subscriptions and telephone.

• Contracts paid refer to expenditure on contracts such as harvesting etc. Capitaland land development contracts are not included.

• Other cash costs include stores and rations, seed purchased, electricity, arti-ficial insemination and herd testing fees, advisory services, motor vehicleexpenses, traveling expenses, insurance and other materials. While ‘othercash costs’ comprise a relatively large proportion of total cash costs, indi-vidually the components are relatively small.

Capital is the value of all the assets used on a farm, including the value of leaseditems but excluding machinery and equipment either hired or used by contractors.

Financial performance measuresFarm cash income is the difference between total cash receipts and total cashcosts.

Buildup in trading stocks is the value of changes in stocks on hand over thefinancial year. If this figure is negative, then stocks have been run down.

Depreciation of farm improvements, plant and equipment is estimated by thediminishing value method, based on the replacement cost and age of each item.The rates applied are the standard rates allowed by the Commissioner of Taxation.

Imputed labor cost is an estimate of the labor input of the owner manger, part-ners and their families valued at the relevant Federal Pastoral Industry Awardrates.

Farm business profit is farm cash income plus buildup in trading stocks, lessdepreciation, less the imputed value of operator, partner and family labor.

Continued ➮

1 Definitions of farm performance measures


Profit at full equity is farm business profit, plus rent, interest and finance leasepayments, less depreciation on leased items.

Capital appreciation is the change in value of land, improvements, plant, live-stock and other tradable stocks, such as wool and grain, arising from changesin their prices during the financial year.

Profit at full equity including capital appreciation is profit at full equity pluscapital appreciation.

Rates of return are computed by expressing profit at full equity as a percentageof total opening capital. The following rates of return are estimated:

– rate of return excluding capital appreciation; and

– rate of return including capital appreciation.

Farm business equity is the value of owned capital, less farm business debt at30 June.

Farm equity ratio is calculated as farm business equity as a percentage of ownedcapital at 30 June.

1 Definitions of farm performance measures continued

10 Components of cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm

Specialist prime lamb producers

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averageSales– sheep $ 7 210 (15) 8 726 (16) 5 120 (14) 7 089 (9)– prime lambs $ 37 637 (14) 56 966 (9) 32 094 (14) 43 481 (7)– beef cattle $ 18 591 (41) 18 511 (21) 18 353 (22) 18 475 (15)– other livestock $ 327 (68) 489 (83) 228 (119) 358 (55)– wool $ 25 871 (20) 26 989 (11) 15 503 (29) 22 692 (10)– wheat $ 10 810 (23) 14 393 (22) 6 059 (39) 10 590 (15)– pulses $ 380 (99) 717 (90) 349 (77) 505 (58)– oilseeds $ 1 007 (60) 2 891 (39) 2 108 (61) 2 151 (30)– other crops a $ 16 102 (31) 14 531 (37) 13 645 (24) 14 609 (19)Off-farm sharefarming $ 187 (145) 322 (131) 5 (0) 177 (103)Off-farm contracts $ 700 (35) 442 (79) 1 197 (45) 770 (32)Other cash receipts $ 3 581 (26) 6 184 (18) 3 536 (16) 4 614 (12)

Total cash receipts $ 122 402 (14) 151 161 (10) 98 196 (14) 125 511 (7)

Estimated populationof farms no. 3 817 6 216 5 402

Continued ➮


10 Components of cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm continued

Other prime lamb producers

1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averageSales– sheep $ 16 081 (11) 13 880 (13) 13 661 (13) 14 473 (7)– prime lambs $ 17 791 (7) 15 963 (8) 15 583 (11) 16 386 (5)– beef cattle $ 23 137 (11) 23 020 (31) 31 531 (29) 26 025 (16)– other livestock $ 4 586 (49) 537 (67) 1 123 (58) 1 972 (37)– wool $ 54 047 (9) 47 580 (6) 35 809 (7) 45 439 (4)– wheat $ 79 560 (8) 58 507 (8) 63 811 (10) 66 760 (5)– pulses $ 8 715 (19) 6 862 (20) 7 406 (13) 7 615 (10)– oilseeds $ 7 724 (17) 7 844 (27) 14 197 (20) 10 024 (13)– other crops a $ 39 785 (10) 44 615 (15) 29 243 (13) 37 783 (8)Off-farm sharefarming $ 2 799 (22) 3 366 (32) 3 939 (25) 3 393 (16)Off-farm contracts $ 4 796 (33) 4 826 (32) 4 177 (29) 4 591 (18)Other cash receipts $ 13 205 (13) 12 335 (11) 8 805 (10) 11 368 (7)

Total cash receipts $ 272 225 (6) 239 336 (7) 229 285 (7) 245 830 (4)

Estimated populationof farms no 13 117 14 968 15 051


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averageSales– sheep 14 081 (10) 12 368 (11) 11 405 (11) 12 527 (6)– prime lambs 22 265 (7) 27 994 (7) 19 944 (9) 23 526 (4)– beef cattle 22 112 (12) 21 697 (24) 28 050 (25) 24 036 (13)– other livestock 3 626 (48) 523 (54) 887 (55) 1 547 (35)– wool 47 695 (8) 41 539 (5) 30 446 (7) 39 445 (4)– wheat 64 062 (8) 45 564 (8) 48 557 (10) 51 957 (5)– pulses 6 836 (19) 5 059 (19) 5 542 (13) 5 742 (10)– oilseeds 6 210 (17) 6 391 (24) 11 004 (19) 7 949 (12)– other crops a 34 446 (9) 35 788 (14) 25 123 (11) 31 676 (7)Off-farm sharefarming 2 210 (22) 2 473 (31) 2 900 (25) 2 546 (16)Off-farm contracts 3 873 (31) 3 540 (31) 3 390 (27) 3 584 (17)Other cash receipts 11 036 (12) 10 530 (9) 7 413 (9) 9 588 (6)

Total cash receipts 238 450 (5) 213 465 (6) 194 661 (6) 214 122 (3)

Estimated populationof farms 16 934 21 183 20 453

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lambsales.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

producers, cropping enterprises provided 50 per cent of their revenue,followed by wool (18 per cent) and beef cattle (11 per cent). Prime lambsales made up 7 per cent of their revenue.

Over the three years, the average price for prime lambs received by the primelamb specialists was $44 a head, compared with $38 a head received by otherprime lamb producers. On the other hand, the other prime lamb producergroup received higher average prices for its wool at $3.85 a kilogram greasy,compared with $2.96 a kilogram received by the prime lamb specialists.

There were sharp differences between the states in the average cash receiptsover the three years to 1998-99 for prime lamb specialists (figure E). Over


$’000

50

100

150

Other Crops

Other livestockPrime lambs

New South Wales1997 1998 1999 Average Average Average1997 1998 1999 1997 1998 1999

Victoria South Australia

E Components of farm cash receipts, specialist prime lamb producers

the three years, average farm cash receipts were highest, and relatively morestable, in South Australia, averaging $158 000 a year, followed by New SouthWales ($137 400) and Victoria ($100 100).

CostsThe purchase of livestock was the major cost item for prime lamb special-ists, with sheep purchases comprising 13 per cent of total cash costs overthe three years to 1998-99 (table 11). Fertiliser costs were the second majorcost item (9 per cent). The influence of cropping enterprises on the break-down of costs incurred by other prime lamb producers is evident; fertilisercosts were the major cost item (12 per cent).


11 Components of cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Purchases– sheep 10 234 (22) 19 122 (17) 8 130 (24) 13 077 (12)– beef 2 240 (58) 2 739 (27) 1 809 (23) 2 290 (20)Hired labor 3 434 (58) 4 102 (46) 2 373 (33) 3 332 (28)Shearing and crutching 4 741 (22) 4 705 (17) 4 732 (16) 4 723 (10)Fertiliser 10 036 (20) 10 241 (14) 7 842 (12) 9 351 (9)Fodder 2 498 (28) 2 991 (26) 903 (16) 2 138 (17)Crop and pasture chemicals 1 795 (30) 4 454 (21) 2 010 (27) 2 941 (15)Fuel, oil and grease 6 720 (12) 7 133 (12) 5 106 (12) 6 322 (7)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery 6 033 (13) 6 946 (16) 4 615 (12) 5 904 (9)– other 2 831 (15) 3 723 (24) 1 452 (16) 2 707 (14)Other materials 6 557 (12) 8 719 (15) 5 293 (13) 6 985 (9)Administration 3 855 (13) 4 658 (10) 3 482 (11) 4 048 (7)Contracts paid 3 663 (18) 3 884 (23) 3 514 (21) 3 700 (13)Rates 4 071 (12) 7 262 (12) 4 966 (6) 5 669 (7)Freight 2 574 (27) 4 072 (11) 2 530 (21) 3 162 (10)Handling and marketing costs 6 674 (16) 8 497 (13) 5 399 (16) 6 962 (8)Other services 5 886 (9) 8 048 (12) 6 030 (13) 6 807 (7)Interest 5 633 (51) 9 523 (17) 8 388 (37) 8 164 (18)Rent 932 (97) 1 255 (68) 1 132 (19) 1 132 (37)Payments to sharefarmers 112 (94) 720 (73) 829 (104) 608 (61)Other cash costs 122 (90) 1 001 (56) 1 586 (136) 989 (80)

Total cash costs 90 639 (14) 123 794 (11) 82 119 (12) 101 008 (7)

Estimated population 3 817 6 216 5 402


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Purchases– sheep 6 927 (9) 5 876 (15) 5 442 (14) 6 044 (8)– beef 3 561 (25) 3 200 (26) 8 567 (71) 5 183 (42)Hired labor 8 459 (11) 8 337 (21) 7 113 (17) 7 947 (10)Shearing and crutching 8 114 (10) 7 844 (8) 7 317 (9) 7 742 (5)Fertiliser 23 495 (7) 21 836 (11) 22 411 (10) 22 541 (6)Fodder 3 419 (23) 4 086 (18) 3 244 (53) 3 590 (19)Crop and pasture chemicals 14 023 (9) 11 847 (10) 14 390 (11) 13 396 (6)Fuel, oil and grease 13 653 (7) 13 087 (8) 12 039 (7) 12 894 (4)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery 14 296 (8) 13 001 (12) 11 919 (9) 13 017 (6)– other 5 441 (8) 5 108 (10) 3 866 (9) 4 776 (5)Other materials 11 251 (6) 10 529 (6) 9 294 (7) 10 318 (4)Administration 6 286 (7) 6 713 (6) 6 395 (5) 6 472 (4)

Continued ➮


11 Components of cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aAverage per farm continued


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Contracts paid 6 459 (8) 6 652 (13) 6 689 (15) 6 606 (7)Rates 6 932 (6) 8 273 (10) 7 057 (9) 7 441 (5)Freight 11 562 (9) 7 883 (12) 7 581 (12) 8 897 (6)Handling and marketing costs 17 766 (6) 13 746 (8) 14 613 (7) 15 271 (4)Other services 14 444 (7) 14 323 (7) 11 912 (6) 13 518 (4)Interest 16 631 (11) 16 418 (14) 15 088 (12) 16 019 (7)Rent 2 131 (20) 1 746 (24) 3 142 (20) 2 350 (13)Payments to sharefarmers 3 466 (26) 2 256 (35) 2 687 (19) 2 774 (16)Other cash costs 435 (29) 1 377 (95) 659 (27) 840 (55)

Total cash costs 198 751 (6) 184 138 (7) 181 424 (8) 187 635 (4)



1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Purchases– sheep 7 673 (9) 9 762 (12) 6 152 (13) 7 897 (7)– beef 3 263 (23) 3 065 (20) 6 782 (66) 4 420 (36)Hired labor 7 327 (11) 7 095 (19) 5 861 (15) 6 731 (9)Shearing and crutching 7 354 (9) 6 923 (7) 6 634 (8) 6 947 (5)Fertiliser 20 461 (7) 18 434 (10) 18 563 (9) 19 065 (5)Fodder 3 212 (20) 3 765 (15) 2 626 (48) 3 207 (16)Crop and pasture chemicals 11 266 (9) 9 678 (9) 11 120 (11) 10 641 (6)Fuel, oil and grease 12 090 (6) 11 340 (7) 10 208 (6) 11 162 (4)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery 12 434 (7) 11 224 (11) 9 990 (8) 11 143 (5)– other 4 853 (8) 4 702 (10) 3 228 (8) 4 231 (5)Other materials 10 192 (6) 9 998 (6) 8 237 (6) 9 439 (3)Administration 5 738 (6) 6 110 (5) 5 625 (5) 5 833 (3)Contracts paid 5 829 (8) 5 840 (11) 5 850 (13) 5 840 (7)Rates 6 287 (5) 7 976 (8) 6 505 (7) 6 974 (4)Freight 9 536 (8) 6 765 (10) 6 247 (11) 7 385 (6)Handling and marketing costs 15 266 (6) 12 206 (7) 12 179 (7) 13 081 (4)Other services 12 515 (6) 12 482 (6) 10 358 (5) 11 750 (3)Interest 14 151 (11) 14 395 (12) 13 318 (11) 13 949 (7)Rent 1 861 (21) 1 602 (24) 2 611 (18) 2 029 (12)Payments to sharefarmers 2 710 (26) 1 806 (32) 2 196 (20) 2 203 (15)Other cash costs 364 (28) 1 267 (74) 904 (65) 879 (45)

Total cash costs 174 379 (5) 166 432 (6) 155 195 (7) 164 806 (4)


a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of their farmcash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheep andprime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

Farm cash incomes

Farm cash incomes for specialist prime lamb producers declined over thethree year period from $32 300 in 1996-97 to $17 900 in 1998-99 (table 12).The decline in incomes for other prime lamb producers was larger, with aver-age incomes falling from $72 000 in 1996-97 to $45 000 in 1998-99. Thefalls in income largely reflect falling commodity prices, particularly grainprices.

Average farm cash incomes for specialist prime lamb producers in SouthAustralia were relatively steady over the three years to 1998-99 (figure F),averaging around $44 800 a year. Farm cash incomes declined over the threeyear in the two major prime lamb states, New South Wales and Victoria,averaging $30 000 and $11 200 respectively. Average farm cash income inTasmania over the three years was $4400.

It is expected that there would have been little improvement in average farmcash incomes for specialist prime lamb producers in 1999-2000. Averagefarm cash receipts for prime lamb specialists in 1999-2000 are expected tohave increased by around 4 per cent on the previous year. While total lambslaughterings are estimated to have risen by around 2.8 per cent from 1998-99 levels, average saleyard prices for lambs in 1999-2000 are estimated tohave declined by 2 per cent from their 1998-99 levels. Higher wool pricesin 1999-2000 will have provided some support for producers.

Cost increases during 1999-2000 are estimated to have been moderate.ABARE’s index of prices paid by farmers is estimated to have increased by


$’000

10

20

30

40

50

New South Wales Victoria South Australia1997 1998 1999 Average Average Average1997 1998 1999 1997 1998 1999

F Farm cash incomes, specialist prime lamb producers


12 Components of investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to1998-99 a Average per farm


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average

Total cash receipts $ 122 402 (14) 151 161 (10) 98 196 (14) 125 511 (7)less total cash costs $ 90 639 (14) 123 794 (11) 82 119 (12) 101 008 (7)

Farm cash income b $ 32 315 (23) 27 317 (19) 17 880 (33) 25 252 (14)plus buildup in tradingstocks 5 851 (74) 4 640 (92) 6 276 (46) 13 277 (7)less depreciation 13 495 (14) 13 571 (12) 12 786 (9) 13 362 (8)less cost of operator andfamily labor 14 269 (12) 14 753 (12) 11 120 (19) 20 725 (2)

Farm business profit b $ –10 263 (55) –16 796 (33) –22 560 (28) –17 169 (20)Profit at full equity $ –4 595 (158) –5 553 (102) –13 165 (43) –7 980 (44)

plus capital appreciation $ –1 417 (396) 735(1484) 16 708 (35) 5 794 (87)Profit at full equity incl.

capital appreciation $ –6 012 (178) –4 818 (262) 3 543 (176) –2 187 (281)Total capital $ 922 002 (16)1 065 655 (10) 963 830 (11) 994 488 (7)

Rate of return c– excluding capital

appreciation % –0.5 (171) –0.5 (102) –1.3 (51) –0.8 (47)– including capital

appreciation % –0.6 (186) –0.5 (260) 0.4 (173) –0.2 (281)


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average


Farm cash income b $ 71 970 (9) 53 457 (9) 45 043 (10) 56 479 (6)plus buildup in tradingstocks 175(2012) 2 607 (116) 4 334 (79) 2 470 (78)less depreciation 18 924 (6) 21 424 (10) 21 876 (11) 20 821 (6)less cost of operator andfamily labor 17 943 (7) 16 371 (6) 18 276 (7) 17 514 (4)

Farm business profit b $ 16 589 (37) –2 275 (170) –12 187 (36) 355 (787)Profit at full equity $ 37 758 (17) 18 437 (22) 9 469 (51) 21 183 (14)

plus capital appreciation $ 15 768 (51) 30 278 (24) 11 568 (36) 19 338 (20)Profit at full equity incl.

capital appreciation $ 53 525 (21) 48 715 (19) 21 037 (33) 40 520 (13)Total capital $1 340 870 (5)1 435 242 (8)1 391 743 (7)1 391 367 (4)


appreciation % 2.8 (15) 1.3 (21) 0.7 (50) 1.5 (13)– including capital

appreciation % 4.0 (19) 3.5 (19) 1.5 (31) 2.9 (12)

Continued ➮

2.9 per cent in 1999-2000 (ABARE 2000a), with increases in fuel and inter-est rates being major contributory factors to the increase. However, withincreased farm activity in 1999-2000 compared with the previous season,average farm cash costs for prime lamb producers in 1999-2000 are expectedto have increased by around 4–5 per cent on the previous year.

A small improvement is expected in average farm cash incomes for otherprime lamb producers in 1999-2000. Increased production of grains andhigher prices for wool and beef are expected to have boosted farm incomes,although the outcome on individual farms will depend on their enterprisemix. As a group, many of the other prime lamb producers would be classi-fied as mixed livestock–crops farms in ABARE’s Australian agricultural and


12 Components of investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to1998-99 a Average per farm continued


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year average


Farm cash income b $ 62 967 (9) 45 892 (8) 37 519 (10) 48 157 (5)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 1 455 (199) 3 204 (78) 4 847 (54) 3 272 (47)less depreciation $ 17 700 (6) 19 120 (9) 19 475 (9) 18 833 (5)less cost of operator andfamily labor $ 17 115 (6) 15 896 (6) 16 386 (6) 16 420 (4)

Farm business profit b $ 10 493 (47) –6 477 (49) –15 061 (24) –4 315 (52)Profit at full equity $ 28 210 (18) 11 398 (30) 3 491 (110) 13 497 (17)

plus capital appreciation $ 11 894 (53) 21 610 (28) 12 926 (27) 15 768 (20)Profit at full equity incl

capital appreciation $ 40 104 (23) 33 008 (23) 16 417 (33) 29 266 (14)Total capital $1 246 444 (5)1 326 801 (7)1 278 719 (6)1 286 777 (4)


appreciation % 2.2 (16) 0.9 (28) 0.3 (109) 1.1 (16)– including capital

appreciation % 3.2 (21) 2.6 (23) 1.3 (31) 2.3 (14)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lambsales. b Includes additional farms surveyed by phone – see appendix A. Consequently, farm cashincome will not always equal total cash receipts less total costs. c Profit at full equity, excludingcapital appreciation, as a percentage of total opening capital. Profit at full equity is defined as farmbusiness profit plus rent, interest and lease payments less depreciation on leased items.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

grazing industry survey. Farm cash incomes for mixed livestock–crops farmsare forecast to have increased from $44 000 in 1998-99 to $53 000 in 1999-2000 (ABARE 2000b).

Farm capitalThe average closing capital value of specialist prime lamb producing farmswas $0.94 million at the end of June 1999 (table 13). Reflecting to someextent the larger farm size of other prime lamb producers, the average clos-ing capital value of these farms was $1.39 million.


13 Capital structure of prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aAverage per farm

Prime lamb Other price All prime lambspecialists lamb producers producers

Sheep $ 41 857 (16) 62 451 (6) 56 868 (7)Beef cattle $ 26 062 (25) 41 895 (13) 37 603 (13)Dairy cattle $ 0 (0) 15 (110) 11 (106)Other livestock $ 559 (120) 253 (47) 336 (45)Total livestock $ 68 478 (18) 104 613 (7) 94 817 (7)Other trading stocks $ 4 072 (29) 12 054 (11) 9 890 (11)Motor vehicles, tractors

and aircraft b $ 20 516 (14) 36 251 (13) 31 985 (9)Planting, fertilising and

spraying equipment b $ 6 327 (16) 18 261 (13) 15 026 (9)Harvesting, handling and

packing equipment b $ 11 173 (18) 35 508 (14) 28 911 (12)Livestock equipment b $ 2 209 (15) 3 135 (9) 2 884 (8)Irrigation and water supply

plant b $ 4 638 (32) 2 817 (14) 3 311 (19)Office equipment and furniture b $ 397 (33) 794 (14) 687 (10)Other plant and equipment b $ 3 103 (28) 4 044 (11) 3 789 (10)Total plant and equipment b $ 48 363 (11) 100 809 (10) 86 592 (7)Land and fixed improvements $ 812 913 (13) 1 163 754 (5) 1 068 649 (5)Total capital excl. leased plant $ 933 826 (13) 1 381 229 (5) 1 259 948 (5)‘

Leased plant and equipment $ 2 104 (67) 6 597 (24) 5 379 (23)

Total closing capital $ 935 931 (13) 1 387 826 (5) 1 265 327 (5)

Area operated at close of year ha 538 (16) 1 476 (9) 1 222 (8)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lambsales. b Excludes leased items.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

Land and fixed improvements make up the bulk of farm capital, comprising87 per cent of farm capital of prime lamb specialists and 84 per cent of farmcapital for other prime lamb producers. The average capital value of landand fixed improvements for prime lamb specialists was $1500 per hectarecompared with nearly $800 per hectare for other prime lamb producers.

Rates of returnA range of financial measures may be used to assess the ability of farms toobtain a return on their investment. One measure is the rate of return to capi-tal at full equity, which indicates the return to all of the resources used in thefarm business.

Specialist prime lamb producers had an average rate of return on capital of–0.8 per cent for the three year period (table 12). The average rate of returnon capital for other prime lamb producers for the three year period was 1.5per cent. This is closely in line with the average rate of return achieved byall broadacre farms over the same period (ABARE 2000b).

Average rates of return for specialist prime lamb producers differed betweenthe states, with rates of returns for producers in South Australia being thehighest at 1.3 per cent over the three years. Average rates of return in otherstates were negative over the three years ranging from –0.5 per cent inWestern Australia, to –0.7 per cent in New South Wales, –1.4 per cent inVictoria and –5.3 per cent in Tasmania.

In view of the relatively low rates of return for specialist prime lamb produc-ers, an analysis was undertaken of the variability of rates of return amongindividual producers and characteristics of the producers with higher ratesof return compared with those with lower rates of return. This analysis isreported in box 2 and table 14.

Debt and equityThe average farm debt of specialist prime lamb producing farms was$107 000 at the end of June 1999 (table 15). Reflecting to some extent thelarger farm size of other prime lamb producers, the average closing debtlevel was $179 000.

Debt is a unique characteristic to individual farms and varies considerablybetween farms and regions. The distribution of debt differs among the two



The low average rates of return by specialist prime lamb producers over theperiod 1996-97 to 1998-99 indicate that some producers may be under pressureto adjust. An analysis was therefore undertaken to identify the characteristicsof specialist prime lamb producing farms showing very poor rates of returns andcomparing these farms with those with high rates of returns.

Farms were ranked according to their rates of return over the three years 1996-97 to 1998-99 and averages were estimated for the top 25 per cent and bottom25 per cent of farms. Key items are shown in table 14.

The top 25 per cent of farms had much larger farms (on average approximately250 per cent larger than the bottom 25 per cent of farms), ran stock at slightlyhigher stocking rates, had higher lambing rates and wool cut per head and hada much larger proportion of the farm under crops.

Prime lamb specialists with higher rates of return were principally found in thewheat–sheep areas. Income from crops made up around 23 per cent of total cashreceipts for the top 25 per cent of producers, compared with only 12 per cent ofcash receipts received by the bottom 25 per cent of producers.

There appeared to be no regional pattern to where the bottom 25 per cent ofprime lamb specialists were located. Farms with low rates of return were scat-tered throughout the main prime lamb producing regions. A common factor fortheir low rates of return appeared to be their small farm size.

In geographic distribution, nearly 60 per cent of the top producers were in NewSouth Wales, 21 per cent in South Australia and 16 per cent in Victoria. Amongthe bottom 25 per cent of producers, 51 per cent were from Victoria, 44 per centwere from New South Wales and 5 per cent were from South Australia.

The top 25 per cent of producers were younger, with 45 per cent of ownermanagers being under 50 years of age compared with 25 per cent of the bottom25 per cent of producers.

2 Characteristics of the top and bottom specialist prime lamb producers

prime lamb groups. Thirty-five per cent of specialist prime lamb producershad no debt, compared with 22 per cent of other prime lamb producers. Atthe other end of the scale, the percentage of producers with debts in excessof $0.5 million was similar for the two groups at 8–9 per cent.

The main purpose of the farm debt was for land purchases followed by work-ing capital requirements (table 16). Farmers involved in growing grains typi-cally have higher working capital requirements at the end of June throughthe purchase of fertilisers and seed for sowing their crops. Reflecting the


14 Characteristics of specialist prime lamb producers aAverage per farm

1996-97 to 1998-99 average

Bottom 25% b Top 25% b

Farm physical characteristicsArea operated ha 329 (9) 1 175 (92)Sheep no. 799 (9) 2 978 (26)Ewes mated no. 446 (6) 1 751 (36)Lambs marked no. 399 (6) 1 691 (24)Beef cattle no. 56 (12) 147 (27)Crop area harvested ha 30 (66) 100 (103)Sheep sold no. 797 (21) 2 171 (30)Prime lambs sold no. 514 (11) 1 737 (29)Sheep purchased no. 515 (37) 645 (43)Beef cattle sold no. 25 (17) 77 (36)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 845 (9) 3 444 (26)Wool production kg 3 048 (7) 14 413 (35)Total labor hours worked hrs 82 (8) 102 (18)

Farm cash receiptsPrime lamb $ 19 697 (9) 80 715 (27)Other sheep $ 4 738 (21) 9 161 (21)Wool $ 9 176 (11) 40 177 (37)Beef cattle $ 7 751 (13) 30 401 (32)Crops $ 6 475 (36) 51 019 (59)

Total receipts c $ 51 985 (10) 218 178 (34)

Farm cash costsSheep purchases $ 9 860 (18) 22 703 (41)Beef cattle purchases $ 166 (26) 4 396 (32)Wages $ 1 030 (41) 5 031 (37)Shearing and crutching $ 1 430 (20) 8 743 (22)Fertiliser $ 3 012 (21) 14 265 (40)Fuel an oil $ 4 004 (19) 8 947 (11)Repairs and maintenance $ 4 829 (18) 11 221 (42)Contracts $ 2 452 (12) 6 773 (15)Marketing and handling $ 2 962 (8) 12 528 (28)Interest $ 2 912 (23) 10 840 (120)

Total cash costs d $ 55 008 (10) 150 196 (40)

Financial indicatorsFarm cash income $ 3 023 (69) 67 982 (23)Profit at full equity $ 40 830 (5) 43 904 (54)Rate of return % 8.2 (4) 3.1 (20)

Age of operatorAverage yrs 59.6 (5) 53.8 (3)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. b Top and bottom are the average for the top and bottom 25 per cent of farms ranked by rate of return. c Total receipts includes items additional to those listedin table 13. d Total costs includes items additional to those listed in table 11.

larger area of cropping being undertaken by the other prime lamb produc-ing group, working capital requirements were much higher for this groupcompared with the specialist prime lamb producing group.

Nearly 60 per cent of the debt incurred by all prime lamb producers at theend of 1998-99 was in the form of term loans. Bank overdrafts accountedfor around 15 per cent and hire purchase commitments (incurred mainly byother prime lamb producers) accounted for a further 6 per cent. Almost three-quarters of the farm business debt held by prime lamb producers at 30 June1999 was owed to banks.


15 Farm capital, debt and equity at 30 June 1999, prime lamb farms ab

Average per farm

Specialist prime Other price All prime lamblamb specialist lamb producers producers

Capital, debt and equityTotal closing capital $ 968 351 (11) 1 402 206 (12) 1 291 249 (10)less closing value of leased plant

and equipment $ 2 327 (45) 6 737 (30) 5 609 (57)Total closing capital excluding

leased plant and equipment $ 966 025 (11) 1 395 469 (12) 1 285 640 (10)Total farm business closing debt

at 30 June 1999 $ 106 873 (139) 178 901 (18) 160 480 (28)Change in farm debt between

1996-97 and 1998-99 $ 40 724 62 4 511Farm business equity at

30 June 1999 $ 771 148 (12) 1 128 197 (11) 1 036 883 (9)Farm business equity ratio

at 30 June 1999 % 80 (3) 81 (3) 81 (3)

Distribution of farm debt at 30 June 1999 (percentage of farms)Nil % 35 (14) 22 (14) 25 (10)Less than $20 000 % 21 (30) 13 (19) 15 (20)$20 000 and than $50 000 % 8 (40) 4 (68) 5 (36)$50 000 and less than $100 000 % 16 (18) 13 (28) 14 (15)$100 000 and less than $150 000 % 2 (30) 12 (26) 9 (29)$150 000 and less than $250 000 % 6 (34) 11 (12) 10 (28)$250 000 and less than $500 000 % 6 (23) 16 (36) 13 (21)$500 000 and less than $1 million % 7 (22) 7 (67) 7 (24)$1 million and over % 1 (88) 2 (821) 2 (98)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheepthat received less than 20 per cent of farm income from prime lamb sales. b Only includes farms thatresponded to debt questionnaire.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


16 Composition of farm debt at 30 June 1999, by purpose, type andlending institution, prime lamb farms a Average per farm


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averagePurposeLand purchase 37 369 (43) 68 325 (12) 63 067 (189) 59 386 (71)Land development 4 465 (134) 3 639 (56) 1 606 (42) 3 111 (52)Structural development 22 (99) 48 (74) 110 (132) 64 (84)Plant and equipment purchase 3 274 (46) 6 206 (19) 2 228 (70) 4 131 (20)Livestock purchase 1 633 (60) 112 (96) 243 (29) 506 (45)Working capital 8 479 (24) 27 874 (21) 20 630 (141) 20 879 (51)Debt reconstruction 10 908 (50) 10 796 (37) 18 989 (24) 13 713 (19)Other purposes 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)

TypeBank overdraft 4 456 (29) 12 274 (16) 12 279 (238) 10 487 (99)Fully drawn advance 625 (88) 3 308 (128) 2 133 (62) 2 280 (81)Bank bills 1 761 (321) 4 175 (93) 610 (103) 2 365 (88)Commercial bills 81 (136) 1 362 (48) 0 (0) 588 (47)Term loan 54 162 (33) 85 333 (10) 87 607 (136) 79 002 (54)Personal loan 306 (74) 546 (89) 0 (0) 298 (70)Hire purchase 2 892 (51) 3 785 (28) 1 936 (81) 2 928 (27)Sundry creditors 1 867 (28) 4 590 (16) 2 308 (19) 3 162 (12)Credit card 0 (0) 3 (0) 0 (0) 1 (0)Other loans 0 (0) 1 623 (0) 0 (0) 679 (0)

LendersBanks 42 926 (37) 96 003 (9) 79 659 (184) 78 089 (67)Government agencies 2 201 (57) 828 (88) 795 (108) 1 131 (46)Pastoral companies 1 584 (25) 10 188 (50) 5 896 (64) 6 704 (38)Merchants 283 (124) 705 (49) 714 612 (27)Finance company 2 857 (67) 3 744 (28) 1 357 (115) 2 699 (31)Private 8 903 (52) 2 438 (43) 11 022 (56) 6 947 (35)– relative 3 243 (76) 2 022 (0) 6 123 (56) 3 749 (36)– other 277 (136) 0 1 124 (159) 460 (139)Other lenders b 3 876 (72) 1 070 (23) 183 (0) 1 399 (46)

Total farm business debt 66 149 (28) 116 999 (9) 106 873 (139) 101 789 (52)

Continued ➮


16 Composition of farm debt at 30 June 1999, by purpose, type andlending institution, prime lamb farms a Average per farm continued


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averagePurposeLand purchase 86 493 (43) 76 226 (14) 80 120 (18) 80 725 (16)Land development 6 905 (33) 15 338 (72) 2 047 (31) 8 117 (48)Structural development 3 274 (37) 3 212 (54) 3 517 (49) 3 337 (28)Plant and equipment purchase 11 296 (15) 12 985 (18) 21 969 (25) 15 607 (14)Livestock purchase 1 407 (44) 752 (165) 754 (127) 953 (60)Working capital 54 259 (13) 76 014 (17) 51 047 (45) 60 641 (16)Debt reconstruction 15 205 (24) 24 802 (25) 19 448 (30) 19 997 (16)Other purposes 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)

TypeBank overdraft 29 348 (17) 30 319 (13) 28 749 (21) 29 473 (10)Fully drawn advance 12 607 (33) 14 269 (21) 13 213 (33) 13 392 (17)Bank bills 10 894 (29) 14 299 (62) 6 528 (184) 10 543 (50)Commercial bills 6 349 (30) 16 869 (36) 7 516 (82) 10 385 (29)Term loan 103 110 (36) 112 927 (14) 95 851 (17) 103 960 (13)Personal loan 522 (86) 397 (62) 241 (68) 381 (45)Hire purchase 8 376 (18) 11 267 (20) 18 143 (26) 12 785 (15)Sundry creditors 7 062 (53) 8 876 (23) 7 548 (79) 7 857 (32)Credit card 17 (60) 105 (635) 37 (4) 54 (425)Other loans 555 (108) 0 (0) 1 077 (0) 546 (33)

LendersBanks 133 418 (25) 162 014 (15) 119 540 (21) 138 433 (11)Government agencies 6 646 (20) 8 695 (24) 8 018 (36) 7 832 (17)Pastoral companies 8 121 (47) 7 580 (24) 6 390 (87) 7 330 (32)Merchants 243 (53) 2 048 (67) 1 174 (75) 1 191 (47)Finance company 9 043 (20) 9 155 (23) 17 053 (28) 11 880 (16)Private 7 661 (54) 11 745 (26) 11 940 (18) 10 564 (17)– relative 9 218 (30) 4 185 (32) 4 011 (36) 5 663 (19)– other 2 320 (169) 1 163 (40) 7 208 (19) 3 628 (36)Other lenders b 2 168 (28) 2 743 (31) 3 568 (37) 2 856 (20)


Continued ➮


16 Composition of farm debt at 30 June 1999, by purpose, type andlending institution, prime lamb farms a Average per farm continued


1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 3 year averagePurposeLand purchase 76 524 (39) 73 919 (11) 75 758 (43) 75 309 (19)Land development 6 410 (34) 11 921 (66) 1 934 (26) 6 846 (43)Structural development 2 614 (37) 2 288 (53) 2 645 (49) 2 506 (28)Plant and equipment purchase 9 668 (14) 11 005 (15) 16 921 (24) 12 694 (13)Livestock purchase 1 453 (36) 565 (156) 623 (114) 839 (52)Working capital 44 969 (13) 61 954 (15) 43 268 (43) 50 548 (15)Debt reconstruction 14 333 (21) 20 712 (22) 19 330 (23) 18 402 (13)Other purposes 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)

TypeBank overdraft 24 296 (16) 25 049 (11) 24 537 (36) 24 654 (14)Fully drawn advance 10 176 (33) 11 068 (22) 10 379 (31) 10 571 (16)Bank bills 9 040 (31) 11 342 (56) 5 014 (179) 8 467 (47)Commercial bills 5 077 (30) 12 340 (35) 5 593 (82) 7 898 (29)Term loan 93 177 (32) 104 868 (11) 93 743 (35) 97 625 (15)Personal loan 478 (76) 441 (51) 179 (68) 360 (38)Hire purchase 7 263 (17) 9 082 (18) 13 998 (25) 10 283 (14)Sundry creditors 6 008 (49) 7 624 (19) 6 208 (72) 6 666 (28)Credit card 13 (60) 75 (627) 27 (4) 41 (422)Other loans 442 (108) 474 (0) 802 (0) 580 (24)

LendersBanks 115 053 (24) 142 735 (12) 109 340 (38) 123 116 (14)Government agencies 5 744 (19) 6 398 (23) 6 170 (35) 6 131 (16)Pastoral companies 6 794 (45) 8 342 (24) 6 264 (68) 7 171 (26)Merchants 251 (50) 1 656 (59) 1 056 (62) 1 044 (40)Finance company 7 788 (20) 7 575 (20) 13 039 (27) 9 549 (15)Private 7 913 (44) 9 027 (24) 11 705 (19) 9 646 (15)– relative 8 006 (28) 3 553 (27) 4 551 (31) 5 177 (17)– other 1 906 (164) 823 (40) 5 652 (20) 2 824 (35)Other lenders b 2 515 (29) 2 255 (27) 2 703 (37) 2 486 (19)


a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep and received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheepthat received less than 20 per cent of farm income from prime lamb sales. Only includes farms thatanswered the debt questionnaires. b Includes offshore borrowing, life assurance, pension/trusteefunds.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

Productivity growth in the sheep industry

A recent study into productivity growth andproductivity changes in the grains industryhighlighted the differences in performancebetween the different broadacre industries(Knopke, O’Donnell and Shepherd 2000).Over the 22 year period to 1998-99, totalfactor productivity growth in the broadacresector was around 2.6 per cent a year. Table17 and figure G give some basis for compar-ing the productivity performance acrossbroadacre industries.

There were major differences between broad-acre industries, with cropping industriesperforming better than livestock industries.Average productivity for all crop farms was estimated to have increased byan average 3.2 per cent a year for the 22 year period. This compares withgrowth of 2.1 per cent on beef specialist farms, 0.6 per cent on sheep special-ist farms and 1.4 per cent on sheep–beef farms.

Declining terms of trade (the ratio of prices received to prices paid), withthe associated cost pressures, have been a feature of Australian farmingthroughout its history. Agriculture shares this phenomenon with most othercommodities produced worldwide. In a competitive economy, it reflects


Total factor productivityFarm productivity growth canbe measured by changes intotal factor productivity growthwhich is defined as the volumeof farm production (convertedto an index of the total value ofagricultural production at con-stant prices) divided by thevolume of farm inputs (con-verted to an index of the totalvalue of farm resources used atconstant prices).

G Productivity growth on broadacre farms

1978-79

1982-83

1994-95

1990-91

1986-87

1998-99

Beef

Sheep

Crops

index

50

100

150

200

Mixed crops–livestock

technological advances that enable more of a commodity to be producedprofitably at lower prices.

Trends in the terms of trade for different broadacre industries for the 22 yearsto 1998-99 are shown in figure H and table 17. They show an average declineof 3.1 per cent a year on crop specialist farms, 2.4 per cent on sheep special-ist farms, and 2.1 per cent on beef specialist farms, and give some indica-tion of the productivity gains that are necessary to maintain farm incomelevels. For example, the financial performance of sheep farms that have notbeen able to achieve productivity gains of around 2.4 per cent a year is likelyto have declined.


17 Broadacre productivity growth, by industry Average annual growth 1977-78 to 1998-99

Outputs Inputs Productivity Terms of trade

% % % %Crop farmsCrop specialist 4.8 1.3 3.6 –3.1Mixed crops–livestock 3.6 1.0 2.6 –2.9

All crop farms 4.5 1.3 3.2 –3.1

Livestock specialist farmsSheep 1.2 0.6 0.6 –2.4Beef 2.4 0.3 2.1 –2.1Sheep–beef 0.4 –0.9 1.4 –2.2

All broadacre farms 3.3 0.7 2.6 –2.9

H Broadacre industry terms of trade

1978-79

1982-83

1994-95

1990-91

1986-87

1998-99

index

50

100

150Beef

Crops

Sheep

These terms of trade data also cast a different light on the reason for the shiftof broadacre resources to cropping and the rapid decline in the size of theAustralian sheep flock. The reason most frequently given is the collapse ofwool prices in the 1990s. While wool prices are well down from their 1987-88 peak, over the 22 year study period the terms of trade facing crop farm-ers declined by 3.1 per cent a year (table 17) which was faster than the declinein the terms of trade for the sheep industry (2.4 per cent a year). This wouldindicate that the superior productivity improvements in grain productioncompared with wool production have been a major contributor to the shiftin broadacre resources (Knopke et al. 2000).

It has been argued that improved farm management is critical to maintain-ing profitability on sheep and wool properties (Burbidge 1999). The majorpractices which need to be followed are for increased labor efficiency, theuse of decision support software, ongoing evaluation of genetics and im-proved pasture management to maintain higher stocking rates.


Social profile of prime lamb producers

Farm ownership

Farm ownership patterns in prime lamb producing farms is in line with othergroups of broadacre farms. Over 90 per cent of farms are family owned andoperated. As with many small businesses, prime lamb farms use a substan-tial amount of family and partner labor.

Around half of the labor input on family owned farms was contributed bythe owner operator; a further third was contributed by other partners and byfamily of the operator or partners. Less than 20 per cent of total labor inputwas provided by hired labor.

Age distribution of prime lamb producersThe average age of owner managers of prime lamb producing farms in 1998-99 was 53 years (table 18), slightly lower than the average of all broadacreproducers of 54 years.

Specialist prime lamb producers were older, averaging around 57 years. Over45 per cent of specialist prime lamb producers were over 60 years of age,

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6


18 Age distribution of operator managers, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 a

Specialist Other Allprime lamb prime lamb prime lamb

producers producers producers

Average age of operator yrs 56.6 (5) 52.1 (2) 53.3 (2)

25–40 years % 7.1 (72) 10.4 (30) 9.5 (28)40–50 years % 32.1 (29) 32.1 (11) 32.1 (11)50–60 years % 15.3 (40) 34.9 (12) 29.7 (12)60–75 years % 33.3 (23) 20.8 (16) 24.1 (13)Over 75 years % 12.2 (43) 1.8 (45) 4.6 (33)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheepthat received less than 20 per cent of farm income from prime lamb sales. Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

compared with less than 23 per cent for other prime lamb producers. Theaverage age of other prime lamb producers was 52 years. Around 35 per centof other prime lamb producers were aged between 50 and 60 years, comparedwith only 15 per cent of specialist producers being in this age group.

The age of the owner manager, defined as the key decision maker on thefarm, is likely to be indicative of the generation in control of the farm.However, many farms have a number of individuals who contribute to thefarm’s decision making. The ages of these individuals, although not avail-able from the surveys, also need to be considered when drawing conclusionsabout the relationship between the age of owner managers and the charac-teristics of their farms.

In 1998-99, 67 per cent of the family members who worked less than 26weeks a year on prime lamb farms were less than 20 years of age (table 19).For family helpers working more than 26 weeks a year on the farm, 76 percent were over 40 years of age.


19 Distribution of age of farm family members, prime lamb farms,1998-99 a

Specialist prime Other prime All primelamb producers lamb producers lamb producers

Worked Worked Worked Worked Worked Workedless than at least less than at least less than at least26 weeks 26 weeks 26 weeks 26 weeks 26 weeks 26 weeks

Age of family helperUnder 20 years 60.5 (16) 4.7 (24) 68.9 (5) 7.7 (17) 67.0 (5) 7.0 (15)20–25 years 1.2 (101) 0.9 (71) 9.0 (29) 3.2 (36) 7.2 (29) 2.7 (34)25–30 years 0.0 (467) 2.4 (86) 1.0 (59) 2.5 (31) 0.8 (59) 2.5 (31)30–35 years 0.0 2.9 (87) 0.3 (70) 4.9 (23) 0.2 (70) 4.4 (24)35–40 years 0.6 (95) 8.1 (34) 1.5 (47) 6.9 (20) 1.3 (43) 7.2 (17)40–50 years 16.3 (58) 29.7 (21) 9.2 (29) 27.0 (10) 10.8 (27) 27.6 (9)50–60 years 0.0 13.9 (34) 6.1 (38) 28.8 (8) 4.7 (38) 25.4 (8)60–75 years 12.3 (61) 29.0 (13) 3.7 (35) 18.2 (7) 5.6 (35) 20.7 (7)Over 75 years 9.0 (81) 8.3 (24) 0.4 (70) 0.7 (51) 2.4 (70) 2.5 (22)


Education levels of prime lamb producers

On average, owner managers in broadacre industries have lower levels offormal education than the Australian population as a whole (Garnaut, Lapizand Lindsay 1996). For example, in 1994, 39 per cent of the Australian popu-lation in the 15–64 years age group had completed some form of trade, tech-nical, university or other tertiary education. By comparison, 22 per cent ofprime lamb owner operators and 35 per cent of their spouses had completedsuch education in 1998-99 (table 20).

In this report, ‘tertiary education’ has been defined to include trade/techni-cal and tertiary studies. The proportions of prime lamb producers and theirspouses in 1998-99 at the various education levels (table 20) were similaron average to the breakdown by education levels for other broadacre farm-ers and their spouses.

There are also similarities across age groups, reflecting the common factorsinfluencing the education levels of farmers and the Australian population


20 Education levels of prime lamb producers, 1998-99 a



% % %

OperatorPrimary school 9 (35) 2 (87) 4 (41)1–4 years high school 43 (22) 47 (9) 46 (9)5–6 years high school 32 (27) 25 (12) 27 (12)Trade/technical course 4 (74) 12 (26) 10 (25)Tertiary studies 11 (64) 13 (21) 12 (22)

SpousePrimary school 5 (97) 3 (32) 3 (31)1–4 years high school 50 (23) 33 (8) 34 (7)5–6 years high school 26 (34) 27 (8) 27 (8)Trade/technical course 5 (47) 10 (15) 10 (15)Tertiary studies 14 (33) 26 (9) 25 (9)



21 Off-farm income, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 Average per farm a

Specialist prime Other prime All primelamb producers lamb producers lamb producers

$ $ $

New South Wales 8 354 (42) 16 278 (21) 13 691 (19)Family wages and salaries 4 017 (51) 10 640 (32) 8 478 (28)Government assistance 1 520 (46) 1 267 (29) 1 349 (25)Other off-farm income b 2 817 (89) 4 372 (21) 3 864 (26)

Victoria 12 615 (36) 10 838 (21) 11 391 (19)Family wages and salaries 2 711 (35) 6 243 (26) 5 143 (22)Government assistance 1 759 (68) 1 712 (39) 1 726 (34)Other off-farm income b 8 145 (55) 2 883 (30) 4 521 (34)

Queensland ns ns 3 323 (108) 3 323 (108)Family wages and salaries ns ns 2 685 (115) 2 685 (115)Government assistance ns ns 153 (0) 153 (0)Other off-farm income b ns ns 486 (103) 486 (103)

South Australia 9 616 (31) 10 243 (25) 10 113 (21)Family wages and salaries 7 224 (30) 7 867 (30) 7 733 (25)Government assistance 1 042 (100) 370 (58) 510 (54)Other off-farm income b 1 350 (87) 2 006 (59) 1 870 (52)

Western Australia ns ns 11 729 (26) 12 467 (23)Family wages and salaries ns ns 4 571 (41) 4 243 (41)Government assistance ns ns 1 020 (51) 946 (51)Other off-farm income b ns ns 6 139 (37) 7 277 (29)

Tasmania ns ns 22 026 (0) 12 836 (23)Family wages and salaries ns ns 0 (0) 4 795 (45)Government assistance ns ns 0 (0) 3 331 (27)Other off-farm income b ns ns 22 026 (0) 4 710 (36)

Australia 10 202 (23) 13 058 (12) 12 303 (11)Family wages and salaries 3 705 (30) 7 763 (18) 6 691 (16)Government assistance 1 456 (36) 1 300 (19) 1 341 (17)Other off-farm income b 5 042 (38) 3 995 (15) 4 271 (16)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm income from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200 sheepthat received less than 20 per cent of farm income from prime lamb sales. b Includes interest,dividends, rent and non-farm business income earned by either the operator or spouse. ns Not supplieddue to insufficient sample size, but farms are included in the all industry sample for the state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

more generally. For example, educational opportunities have increased overtime in Australia and younger owner managers are more likely to have formaltertiary education than older farmers. In addition, spouses generally hadhigher levels of education than the owner managers.

Off-farm incomeAverage off-farm income of owner managers and their partners on special-ist prime lamb farms was over 20 per cent less than that achieved by ownermanagers and their partners on other prime lamb farms (table 21). As aproportion of total cash receipts, off-farm income for specialist prime lambproducers represented nearly 11 per cent of farm cash receipts, comparedwith 5 per cent for other prime lamb producers. Off-farm wages and salaryincome comprised 36 per cent of total off-farm income for specialist lambproducers, and 59 per cent for other prime lamb producers.

The average off-farm income earned by owner managers and their partnerson all prime lamb farms in 1998-99 of $12 300 was substantially less thanthat earned by owner managers and their partners on all broadacre farms in1998-99 of $18 900 (ABARE 2000b).


Attitudes and practices in theAustralian prime lamb industry

Variability in the performance of prime lamb farms will not only be influ-enced by seasonal conditions and commodity prices but by personal factorsincluding attitudes and experiences that affect the way in which producersmanage their business.

In 1997-98 owner managers and key decision makers in the agriculture andgrazing industries survey with livestock were asked a range of questionsaimed at determining practices in management of the property’s physicaland financial resources. The survey included questions on formal training,management focus, barriers to investment, sources of technical informationand participation in group activities.

The information obtained from the survey — which was funded by Meatand Livestock Australia and the Woolmark Company (formerly the Inter-national Wool Secretariat) — is to be used to identify operational and busi-ness practices of the ‘high achievers’, enabling the creation of best practicebenchmarks. They will also assist the prime lamb industry in monitoring itsperformance and in achieving goals critical to the industry’s sustainability.The study of attitudes and practices in the beef industry has already beenpublished (ABARE 1999).

Results are presented here for 43 producers who identified themselves asprimarily focused on prime lamb production. These enterprises representaround 4300 properties and are referred to in this chapter as prime lambproducers. This definition differs from that used in the majority of this reportof specialist prime lamb producers. This group was defined as having morethan 200 sheep and earning more than 20 per cent of their income from primelamb sales, for which the population is estimated to be around 5100.

Producers were ranked in terms of their rate of return on capital, and resultsare presented by comparing the results for bottom 50 per cent of growerswith the results for the top 50 per cent of growers. Some characteristics ofthe farms of the top and bottom 50 per cent of producers are given in table22. Results are similar to those presented in chapter 5. The top 50 per centof producers had, on average, larger farms, carried more livestock and hada greater area of the farm under crops.

61

7

Australian prime lamb industry 2000

Three main categories of responses are addressed — people and training,farm management practices and business attitudes.

People, training and workplace safetyManagerial experience is important to the performance of any business. In1997-98 owner managers in the prime lamb industry had an average of 25years experience in the management of their business. Nearly 55 per cent ofprime lamb producers assumed sole financial managerial responsibility fortheir farm when they were less than 30 years of age (table 22). The averageowner manager in the top 50 per cent group was on average two years olderand had five more years of experience than producers in the bottom 50 percent group.

The owner manager of prime lamb properties worked an average of 51 hourson the property in 1997-98, with the top 50 per cent of producers workingapproximately 7 hours more a week on their properties than producers in thebottom 50 per cent group. The type of work carried out by the owner managerwas dominated by physical tasks. However, for many farmers, decisionmaking and farm planning is not necessarily exclusive work as they oftenthink about management issues while they are undertaking physical work.Time worked in these circumstances was not double counted and conse-quently it may be that the time spent on management related duties is muchhigher than indicated.

Better outcomes can often result when people share their knowledge andskills with others (Kilpatrick 1999). In the farming business, farm numbershave dropped by around 1 per cent a year over the past decade. Improvementsin productivity are fundamental to improving farm performance, and it isbecoming increasingly important for farmers to share experiences, skills andnew ideas.

In 1997-98, around 41 per cent of prime lamb producers in the top 50 percent group stated that interaction with family and other farmers was the firstor second most important source of technical data on the management of thefarm. This was exceeded only by rural media (52 per cent) and was on a parwith subscriptions to journals and technical reports (41 per cent) and fielddays (43 per cent).

The major differences with the bottom 50 per cent of producers were thatthe bottom 50 per cent of producers were less likely to subscribe to journals



22 Farm characteristics, people, training and workplace safety in theprime lamb industry, 1997-98

Bottom 50% Top 50% Average

Farm characteristicsArea operated 412 (34) 938 (13) 688 (14)Closing number of sheep 1 198 (46) 2 044 (13) 1 642 (18)Closing number of beef 62 (36) 89 (23) 76 (20)Total area sown to crops 63 (18) 129 (21) 98 (16)Farm cash income 8 568 (167) 56 635 (21) 33 777 (27)Profit at full equity –30 317 (10) 18 874 (42) –4 518 (98)

Age of owner manager yrs 53 (10) 55 (4) 54 (5)

Age at which owner manage assumed financial responsibilityUnder 25 years % 14 (54) 38 (20) 27 (20)25 to 30 years % 28 (33) 28 (37) 28 (25)30 to 39 years % 45 (27) 27 (30) 36 (20)40 to 49 years % 13 (86) 3 (96) 8 (70)50 to 59 years % 0 4 (102) 2 (102)60 years and older % 0 0 0Average yrs 31 (7) 28 (7) 29 (5)

Hours worked per week by the owner managerPhysical work hrs 41 (20) 46 (5) 43 (10)Office administration hrs 2 (24) 3 (15) 3 (13)Management related hrs 3 (15) 6 (21) 5 (15)Total farm related work hrs 47 (17) 54 (4) 51 (8)

Proportion of farms undertaking training by any farm worker related to enterprise aUndertaken formal training % 34 (50) 39 (22) 37 (25)At least 7 days of formal training % 1 (435) 20 (21) 11 (32)

Most valuable source of technical information in the management of the property bField days % 51 (14) 43 (25) 47 (14)Other farmers/family % 45 (40) 41 (24) 43 (23)Rural media % 55 (28) 52 (19) 53 (17)Subscriptions, technical reports % 12 (89) 41 (22) 28 (25)Consultants % 19 (58) 1 (169) 9 (55)Rural agents/ company reps % 12 (86) 19 (26) 16 (35)Government extension services % 6 (148) 3 (85) 5 (96)Other % 0 0 0

InjuriesAverage time lost during year days 1 (323) 1 (103) 1 (150)Percentage of farms with– no days lost % 83 (18) 88 (8) 86 (9)– more than five days lost % 1 (659) 4 (83) 2 (139)

Extent to which practices and procedures are implemented to avoid health and safety hazards related to farm workNot at all % 0 0 0Somewhat % 36 (46) 64 (17) 51 (19)To a large extent % 64 (26) 36 (30) 49 (20)

Estimated population no. 4310

a Includes formal training in business skills, leadership and people management, computer skills andtechnical and farm systems. b Totals add up to 200 as owner managers were asked to specify their twomost valuable sources of technical information on the property. Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

and read technical reports (12 per cent versus 41 per cent), but were morelikely to engage consultants for advice (19 per cent versus 1 per cent).

People working in agriculture are more likely to be injured and/or die on thejob than those in most other industries. Only mining and transport industrieshave higher work related deaths (Driscoll, Mitchell, Mandryk, Healey andHendrie 1998). However, in 1997-98 an average of 0.6 days on farm werelost through farm related injuries on prime lamb properties. On 86 per centof properties, no days were lost through injury, with only 2 per cent havinginjuries that involved more than five days off work. All farmers indicatedthat they followed some practices and implemented procedures to avoidhealth and safety hazards related to farm work.

Loss of time in the prime lamb industry from injury (0.6 days per farm) wasmuch less than in the beef industry, where an average of 4.6 days on farmwere lost through farm related injuries. The higher figure for the beef indus-try was influenced by serious motorbike and horse riding accidents duringmustering and yard work. Such accidents are less likely on properties runningsheep.

Farm management practicesThe setting of goals has become an increasingly accepted practice in farm-ing. Just under a third of prime lamb producers said they had developedproduction plans for their prime lamb enterprise that were fully or partlydocumented (table 23). Prime lamb producers had placed less emphasis ongoals for their wool enterprises (17 per cent versus 32 per cent).

Nearly two-thirds of prime lamb producers said that they had a breedingstrategy in place, but less than 30 per cent of producers participated in formalflock improvement schemes with only limited measuring of flock perfor-mance against production goals.

Less than 10 per cent participated in any formal quality assurance scheme.Futures and/or forward contracts were used by 17 per cent of producers, with14 per cent of producers involved in any marketing groups/alliances in dispos-ing of their products.

The most common factors that prime lamb producers focused on was increas-ing reproductive rates (84 per cent of producers) and improving wool qual-ity (80 per cent of producers). Over 60 per cent of producers monitored or



23 Farm management practices in the prime lamb industry, 1997-98

Bottom 50% Top 50% AverageProduction goalsPrime lambs

No clear production goals not at all % 14 (98) 10 (60) 12 (61)Developed or partly developed % 48 (42) 63 (18) 56 (20)Developed and fully or partly documented % 38 (39) 27 (35) 32 (27)

WoolNo clear production goals not at all % 20 (76) 10 (60) 15 (53)Developed or partly developed % 55 (32) 80 (11) 68 (14)Developed and fully or partly

documented % 25 (44) 10 (67) 17 (37)

Measure performance against production goals Not at all % 13 (98) 9 (59) 11 (60)Somewhat % 65 (26) 67 (16) 66 (15)To a large extent % 22 (53) 23 (40) 23 (33)

Quality assurance scheme % 0 13 (61) 7 (61)

Production practiceHave a clear breeding strategy

Not at all % 10 (105) 7 (73) 8 (65)Somewhat % 20 (61) 33 (40) 27 (34)To a large extent % 69 (23) 60 (24) 64 (17)

Select breeding stock usingLambplan


Sire evaluationNot at all % 57 (36) 43 (32) 50 (25)Somewhat % 7 (35) 32 (34) 19 (28)To a large extent % 36 (56) 20 (54) 28 (41)

Sales techniques usedFutures and/or forward contracts

Not at all % 86 (11) 80 (13) 83 (9)Somewhat % 14 (73) 15 (54) 14 (44)To a large extent % 0 5 (122) 3 (122)

Marketing groups/alliancesNot at all % 88 (3) 84 (11) 86 (6)Somewhat % 11 (15) 14 (63) 13 (37)To a large extent % 1 (342) 2 (120) 1 (124)

Extent that farming business focuses onSustainable resource management


Continued ➮


23 Farm management practices in the prime lamb industry, 1997-98continued


Production goalsFlood and drought management

Not at all % 0 7 (73) 4 (73)Somewhat % 36 (40) 35 (30) 36 (25)To a large extent % 64 (22) 58 (21) 61 (15)

Fire risk managementNot at all % 4 (64) 7 (68) 6 (50)Somewhat % 39 (31) 36 (20) 38 (18)To a large extent % 56 (21) 57 (15) 56 (13)

Increasing wool cutNot at all % 27 (64) 13 (56) 20 (46)Somewhat % 41 (53) 55 (20) 49 (24)To a large extent % 31 (46) 32 (28) 31 (26)

Reducing wool fibre diameterNot at all % 50 (42) 30 (36) 39 (29)Somewhat % 43 (49) 58 (22) 51 (23)To a large extent % 7 (81) 13 (55) 10 (46)

Increasing reproductive rateNot at all % 24 (72) 5 (75) 14 (61)Somewhat % 3 (103) 37 (30) 21 (29)To a large extent % 73 (24) 54 (22) 63 (17)

Wool qualityNot at all % 24 (72) 11 (63) 17 (52)Somewhat % 32 (54) 39 (24) 36 (27)To a large extent % 43 (29) 45 (26) 44 (19)

Monitor or measurePasture utilisation


ShearingNot at all % 17 (83) 10 (63) 13 (55)Somewhat % 30 (50) 41 (30) 36 (26)To a large extent % 53 (38) 49 (22) 51 (22)

Wool productionNot at all % 26 (64) 10 (63) 18 (48)Somewhat % 37 (50) 55 (23) 47 (23)To a large extent % 36 (27) 35 (31) 36 (20)

Product marketingNot at all % 17 (83) 30 (38) 24 (37)Somewhat % 25 (48) 25 (38) 25 (30)To a large extent % 58 (31) 45 (21) 51 (19)

Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

measured pasture utilisation to a large extent and around half of producerstook an active interest in shearing and product marketing outcomes.

A comparison of results for the top 50 per cent and the bottom 50 per centof producers showed up very few major differences in farm practices. Moreof the bottom 50 per cent of producers were particularly committed to increas-ing the reproductive rate of their flocks (73 per cent versus 54 per cent), butmore producers in the top 50 per cent participated in quality assuranceschemes (13 per cent to nil). However, generally there were more produc-ers in the bottom 50 per cent group than in top 50 per cent of producers thatdid not focus at all on a range of farm business practices dealing with woolquality, the size of the wool clip and increasing lambing rates.

However, while there were more producers in the bottom 50 per cent groupwho were particularly focused on monitoring and measuring farm perfor-mance such as pasture utilisation and product marketing, there were alsogenerally more producers in this group that showed no interest in thesemeasures.

Business management attitudesAround 85 per cent of prime lamb producers said that they had an equalfocus on increasing output and reducing costs when making farm manage-ment decisions (table 24). People working on the farm were the main groupthat owner managers discussed their goals with. Just over half of the produc-ers participated in off-farm groups to discuss farm goals.

Prime lamb producers were not very optimistic about there being scope forthem to improve the profitability of their enterprise, with only 16 per centbelieving that large gains could be made.

Around a quarter of prime lamb producers consider that they are among thefirst to adopt new farm practices or products. Half of the producers gavefinancial constraints as the major barrier to the adoption of potentially attrac-tive innovations, with a third giving insufficient proof of success on theirfarm as a reason for their slow adoption of new practices.

Only 3 per cent of prime lamb producers were dissatisfied with farming asa career, with 42 per cent of being satisfied. Nearly half of prime lamb produc-ers had some form of succession plan in place.



24 Business management attitudes in the prime lamb industry, 1997-98


Clear financial goalsPrime lamb production


Wool productionNot at all % 27 (64) 21 (40) 24 (39)Somewhat % 60 (30) 62 (14) 61 (16)To a large extent % 13 (32) 17 (55) 15 (36)

Focus of the farmIncreasing output (quantity and value) % 14 (101) 6 (92) 10 (75)Reducing direct costs % 12 (80) 0 6 (80)Equal focus % 74 (23) 94 (6) 85 (10)

Scope for improving profitabilityNot at all % 21 (71) 23 (44) 22 (40)Somewhat % 57 (26) 66 (18) 62 (16)To a large extent % 21 (28) 12 (60) 16 (29)

Extent to which enterprise is the first to take up new farm products or practicesNot at all % 21 (66) 29 (33) 25 (33)Somewhat % 53 (30) 44 (27) 48 (20)To a large extent % 27 (29) 27 (27) 27 (20)

Most important barrier to adoption of potentially attractive innovationsFinancial constraints % 70 (26) 32 (26) 50 (20)Technical complexity % 0 4 (81) 2 (81)Insufficient proof % 13 (84) 51 (20) 33 (23)Other % 16 (90) 14 (53) 15 (53)No barriers % 1 (342) 0 0 (342)

Discussion of goals and progress with people working on the farmDo not discuss goals and progress % 8 (105) 21 (35) 15 (38)Limited discussion % 34 (50) 37 (31) 35 (28)Frequent discussion % 58 (27) 42 (25) 50 (19)

Participate in groups aimed at improving the farm businessNot at all % 45 (36) 46 (27) 46 (22)Somewhat % 32 (55) 35 (35) 34 (32)To a large extent % 22 (52) 19 (43) 20 (34)

Career satisfactionDissatisfied % 0 5 (90) 3 (90)Mixed feelings % 57 (17) 54 (16) 55 (12)Satisfied % 43 (22) 41 (24) 42 (16)

Continued ➮

In spite of recent periods of low prices, more than half of prime lamb produc-ers were either against or neutral toward greater government support beingprovided in difficult times.

The bottom 50 per cent of prime lamb producers generally had much clearerfinancial goals for their prime lamb enterprise. However, this may well reflectthat these producers had smaller farms and that the prime lamb enterprisewas seen as a more important enterprise for farm profitability. Financialconstraints was the main barrier for producers in the bottom 50 per cent toadopting new innovations, whereas for the top 50 per cent, the lack of proofthat such innovations would be worth adopting was the main barrier to adop-tion.


24 Business management attitudes in the prime lamb industry, 1997-98continued


Should greater government support be provided for wool, beef and sheep industries during difficult times?Disagree % 10 (64) 22 (27) 17 (27)Neutral % 42 (31) 33 (30) 37 (22)Agree % 47 (31) 45 (23) 46 (19)

Succession planDo have a well formed plan % 47 (42) 44 (15) 45 (22)Do not have a well formed plan % 35 (50) 37 (30) 36 (28)Uncertain about existence of plan % 18 (61) 5 (97) 11 (52)Not applicable (includes

managed properties) % 1 (659) 15 (57) 8 (64)

Estimated population no. 4310

Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.

ABARE farm surveys

Surveying farmers

Farm surveys conducted by ABARE have been a prime source of physicaland financial information for the Australian farm sector for the past fiftyyears. This information has been collected through close cooperation, inoperational and financial terms, between ABARE and key research and devel-opment funding organisations. This information has been used to undertakeeconomic research into industry and government policy areas.

Surveys undertaken for 1998-99 included the Australian agricultural andgrazing industries survey, which covers the broadacre sector of agricultureand forms the basis for much of the data presented in this report.

ABARE’s annual surveys of the Australian broadacre industries provide aunique database that integrates detailed financial and physical informationfor just over 70 per cent of Australian farm business units.

Between June and November, sample farms are visited by ABARE surveyofficers. These officers interview the farm operators or managers to obtainphysical and financial details of the farm business for the latest financial yearended 30 June. Further information is subsequently obtained from accoun-tants, selling agents and marketing organisations on the signed authority ofresponding farmers.

Considerable effort is made to reconcile the information obtained from thevarious sources to produce an accurate description of the physical and finan-cial characteristics of each sample farm in the survey.

Information is collected on production, sharefarming, livestock, cropping,irrigation, fertiliser, land tenure, labor, costs, returns, debts and capitalinventory.

Respondents to the surveys are also contacted by telephone in October eachyear to obtain estimates of production and expected receipts and costs forthe current financial year. The responses received in October 1999 were usedby ABARE to make estimates for 1999-2000.

70

A


Appendix

Target populations

ABARE surveys are designed and samples selected on the basis of a frame-work drawn from the Business Register maintained by the Australian Bureauof Statistics (ABS). This framework includes agricultural establishments ineach statistical local area classified by size and major industry.

The estimates published in this report cover establishments with an estimatedvalue of agricultural operations of $22 500 or more. A definition of the esti-mated value of agricultural operations is given in ABS, Australian StandardIndustrial Classification, 1983 (ABS cat. no. 1201.0).

Definitions of industriesIndustry definitions are based on the Australian and New Zealand StandardIndustrial Classification (ANZSIC). This classification is in line with an inter-national standard that is applied comprehensively across Australian indus-try, permitting comparisons between industries, both within Australia andinternationally.

Farms assigned to a particular ANZSIC class have a high proportion of theirtotal output characterised by that class. Further information on ANZSIC andon the farming activities included in each of these industries is provided inABS, Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 1993(ABS cat. no. 1292.0).

Enterprise changes and movement in industryclassificationFarms classified to a particular industry in one year do not necessarily main-tain that classification in the following year.

Changes in industry classification occur because of changes in commodityprices and enterprise mix. For example, if the price of output from one indus-try rises, relatively more farms are likely to be classified as being in thatindustry. Similarly, in years of high production and/or prices, more farmsare likely to exceed the EVAO threshold. Farm amalgamations and partialownership changes can also lead to industry changes and changes in EVAO.

Analysis of data on farm numbers and EVAO over the past few years hasshown a considerable degree of mobility between the broadacre industries,


particularly the wheat and other crops and the mixed livestock–crops indus-tries, the beef and sheep–beef industries, the sheep and sheep–beef indus-tries, and between the sheep and mixed livestock–crops industries.

Further discussion of enterprise changes and movement in industry, classi-fication can be found in the Australian Farm Surveys Report 2000.

Methods of collectionInformation is collected from farmers by face to face and telephone inter-views. The main method of collection for the broadacre industry survey isface to face interviews with farmers.

Of the 1998-99 AAGIS sample of 1426, 197 farmers were interviewed bytelephone. Of the 1997-98 sample of 1519, 197 were interviewed by tele-phone. It is not possible in such interviews to collect the full range of dataitems usually collected by ABARE. Only items necessary to derive farmcash income and farm business profit were collected.

Estimates of farm cash income and farm business profit in table 12 are basedon the whole sample. Estimates of all other variables are based on the sampleof farmers interviewed face to face. The weighting of those farms was recal-culated at the region level to produce the same farm cash income as that esti-mated for the whole sample.

Respondents to the broadacre industry survey are also contacted by tele-phone in October each year to obtain estimates of production and expectedreceipts and cost for the financial year.

Survey estimatesThe 1996-97 and 1997-98 estimates presented in this report are final. Alldata from sampled farmers, their accountants and marketing agents havebeen reconciled and no further changes are expected in the estimates.Estimates for key physical variables and population numbers have beenreconciled with estimates from the 1997 and 1998 Australian CommoditySurveys undertaken by the ABS.

The 1998-99 estimates are preliminary. They are based on data collectedfrom farmers and their marketing agents, and farm accounts informationavailable up to April 2000. These estimates are subject to revision as


additional accounting information becomes available and will be reweightedwhen final population data for 1998-99 are available from the ABS.

The 1999-2000 data are provisional estimates based on estimates for 1998-99, the results of the October 1999 telephone survey and the most recentcommodity market information.

Reliability of estimates

Sampling errorsOnly a small number of farms out of the total number of farms in a particu-lar industry are used to produce the survey estimates. The differences betweenthese estimates and the estimates that would have been obtained if infor-mation had been collected from all farms are called sampling errors.

The more farms there are in the sample, the lower the sampling error is likelyto be. So regional estimates are likely to have greater sampling errors thanstate estimates, and state estimates are likely to have greater sampling errorsthan national estimates.

To give a guide to the reliability of the survey estimates, sampling errorshave been calculated. These estimated errors, expressed as percentages ofthe survey estimates and termed ‘relative standard errors’, are given next toeach estimate in parentheses.


Example of the use of relative standard errorsTo obtain the standard error from the relative standard error, multiply the rela-tive standard error by the survey estimate and divide by 100.

For example, if average total cash receipts are estimated to be $100 000 with arelative standard error of 6 per cent, the standard error for this estimate is $6000.

There is roughly a two in three chance that the ‘census value’ (the value whichcould be obtained if all the farms in the target population had been surveyed) iswithin one standard error of the survey estimate.

There is roughly a nineteen in twenty chance that the census value is within twostandard errors of the survey estimate.

Thus, in the above example, there is an approximately two in three chance thatthe census value is between $94 000 and $106 000, an approximately nineteenin twenty chance that the census value lies between $88 000 and $112 000.

In general, the smaller the relative standard error, the more reliable the esti-mate. Note, however, that numerically small estimates tend to have largerelative standard errors.

Nonsampling errorsThe values obtained in a survey are affected by error other than those relat-ing directly to the sampling procedure. For example, it might not be possi-ble to contact certain types of farms, the respondents may provide inaccurateinformation or may differ from nonrespondents in a variable being surveyed.

ABARE’s experience in conducting surveys of rural industries has resultedin procedures designed to minimise nonsampling errors. However, whendrawing inferences from estimates derived from sample surveys, users ofsurvey data should bear in mind that both sampling and nonsampling errordo occur.

Sample weightingThe estimates in this report are calculated by appropriately weighting thedata collected from each sample farm and then using these weighted data tocalculate population estimates. Sample weights are calculated so that sampleestimates of numbers of farms in various geographic regions and industries,as well as outputs at these levels, correspond as closely as possible to knownABS data.

Since output level and mix vary from farm to farm, a consequence of thisapproach is that sample weights differ from farm to farm. Typically, largerfarms have smaller weights, reflecting the strategy of sampling a higher frac-tion of the larger farms than of small farms (the former having a wider rangeof characteristics and accounting for a much larger proportion of total output).


Annual farm performance, by state

75

B

Australian prime lamb industry 2000

Appendix

25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 1 579 (36) 1 874 (9) 1 824 (9)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 731 (16) 2 510 (14) 2 548 (12)– ewes no. 1 627 (24) 1 305 (15) 1 360 (13)– wethers no. 299 (48) 436 (22) 413 (20)– rams no. 35 (44) 29 (14) 30 (14)– lambs no. 771 (33) 740 (12) 745 (11)Ewes mated no. 1 388 (19) 1 161 (15) 1 200 (12)Lambs marked no. 1 261 (15) 971 (16) 1 020 (13)Beef herd at 30 June no. 127 (18) 186 (11) 176 (10)Area harvested– cereals ha 121 (13) 235 (11) 215 (10)– pulses ha 0 (110) 9 (24) 8 (24)– oilseeds ha 5 (32) 17 (25) 15 (24)– other crops ha 0 (88) 1 (47) 1 (43)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 8 (37) 14 (8) 13 (9)Wheat production t 135 (25) 455 (9) 400 (9)Sheep sold no. 1 561 (15) 926 (17) 1 035 (13)Prime lambs sold no. 1 110 (17) 422 (10) 540 (9)Sheep purchases no. 401 (47) 222 (24) 252 (22)Beef cattle sold no. 62 (13) 68 (10) 67 (9)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 3 089 (19) 2 509 (15) 2 608 (13)Wool produced kg 13 098 (20) 11 063 (17) 11 411 (14)Labor used weeks 107 (5) 117 (6) 115 (5)

Estimated population of farms no. 1 086 5 259 6 345

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aVictoria Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 365 (27) 950 (9) 735 (9)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 204 (23) 2 407 (8) 1 965 (8)– ewes no. 700 (20) 1 238 (6) 1 040 (7)– wethers no. 175 (46) 600 (20) 444 (18)– rams no. 16 (19) 32 (19) 26 (15)– lambs no. 314 (33) 537 (14) 455 (13)Ewes mated no. 638 (17) 1 106 (7) 934 (7)Lambs marked no. 581 (19) 856 (7) 755 (8)Beef herd at 30 June no. 119 (48) 143 (18) 134 (20)Area harvested– cereals ha 20 (31) 236 (13) 156 (13)– pulses ha 3 (67) 33 (22) 22 (21)– oilseeds ha 0 . 18 (35) 11 (35)– other crops ha 0 (116) 1 (67) 0 (67)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 6 (32) 30 (9) 26 (10)Wheat production t 29 (46) 270 (9) 181 (9)Sheep sold no. 683 (17) 882 (10) 809 (9)Prime lambs sold no. 507 (24) 381 (13) 427 (13)Sheep purchases no. 174 (23) 166 (25) 169 (18)Beef cattle sold no. 48 (78) 63 (31) 57 (32)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 323 (18) 2 778 (9) 2 243 (8)Wool produced kg 5 612 (23) 11 371 (10) 9 255 (10)Labor used weeks 76 (11) 108 (7) 96 (6)




25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aQueensland Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 8 077 (55) 8 077 (55)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 4 786 (58) 4 786 (58)– ewes no. ns ns 1 994 (70) 1 994 (70)– wethers no. ns ns 1 717 (74) 1 717 (74)– rams no. ns ns 77 (148) 77 (148)– lambs no. ns ns 998 (29) 998 (29)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 884 (68) 1 884 (68)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 536 (85) 1 536 (85)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 201 (12) 201 (12)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 129 (247) 129 (247)– pulses ha ns ns 11 (247) 11 (247)– oilseeds ha ns ns 0 0– other crops ha ns ns 0 0Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 2 (194) 2 (194)Wheat production t ns ns 252 (247) 252 (247)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 799 (47) 1 799 (47)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 348 (104) 348 (104)Sheep purchases no. ns ns 385 (1) 385 (1)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 55 (42) 55 (42)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 983 (57) 4 983 (57)Wool produced kg ns ns 26 633 (59) 26 633 (59)Labor used weeks ns ns 97 (19) 97 (19)

Estimated population of farms no. 198 198

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for that state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 1 092 (21) 1 620 (7) 1 523 (7)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 305 (31) 2 363 (12) 2 352 (11)– ewes no. 1 443 (28) 1 210 (15) 1 253 (13)– wethers no. 93 (128) 448 (16) 382 (16)– rams no. 45 (73) 34 (32) 36 (30)– lambs no. 724 (45) 670 (16) 680 (16)Ewes mated no. 1 452 (27) 1 093 (16) 1 160 (14)Lambs marked no. 1 441 (30) 903 (13) 1 002 (12)Beef herd at 30 June no. 231 (64) 116 (31) 137 (29)Area harvested– cereals ha 81 (31) 420 (12) 357 (12)– pulses ha 6 (137) 30 (35) 25 (34)– oilseeds ha 0 5 (56) 4 (56)– other crops ha 0 (145) 4 (41) 3 (41)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 8 (44) 28 (10) 26 (10)Wheat production t 17 (145) 354 (19) 292 (19)Sheep sold no. 1 620 (27) 978 (11) 1 097 (11)Prime lambs sold no. 1 243 (29) 369 (14) 531 (15)Sheep purchases no. 332 (37) 209 (31) 232 (25)Beef cattle sold no. 108 (77) 66 (30) 74 (30)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 195 (35) 2 428 (13) 2 385 (12)Wool produced kg 10 176 (27) 11 194 (11) 11 005 (11)Labor used weeks 112 (15) 104 (8) 106 (7)

Estimated population of farms no. 368 1 617 1 985



25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 935 (14) 1 757 (13)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 152 (13) 2 960 (13)– ewes no. ns ns 1 984 (14) 1 878 (14)– wethers no. ns ns 421 (29) 371 (29)– rams no. ns ns 36 (13) 34 (13)– lambs no. ns ns 712 (14) 676 (16)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 694 (11) 1 589 (13)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 202 (10) 1 131 (13)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 79 (24) 70 (24)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 586 (15) 529 (15)– pulses ha ns ns 139 (22) 122 (22)– oilseeds ha ns ns 11 (76) 10 (76)– other crops ha ns ns 0 (80) 0 (80)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 38 (6) 38 (6)Wheat production t ns ns 837 (15) 740 (15)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 745 (12) 1 771 (11)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 583 (19) 618 (16)Sheep purchases no. ns ns 228 (31) 245 (34)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 49 (29) 44 (29)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 267 (22) 3 925 (21)Wool produced kg ns ns 17 227 (17) 15 710 (16)Labor used weeks ns ns 115 (15) 116 (13)

Estimated population of farms no. 2 192 2 502



25 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aTasmania Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 516 (13) 1 312 (24)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 4 689 (10) 4 081 (22)– ewes no. ns ns 2 073 (10) 1 853 (25)– wethers no. ns ns 1 313 (12) 1 102 (22)– rams no. ns ns 73 (18) 63 (22)– lambs no. ns ns 1 230 (12) 1 064 (20)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 848 (10) 1 681 (25)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 628 (9) 1 506 (26)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 232 (13) 207 (22)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 25 (24) 21 (26)– pulses ha ns ns 0 (84) 1 (62)– oilseeds ha ns ns 3 (41) 3 (40)– other crops ha ns ns 8 (26) 6 (26)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 2 (25) 2 (28)Wheat production t ns ns 5 (84) 5 (75)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 230 (11) 1 187 (26)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 414 (15) 497 (42)Sheep purchases no. ns ns 238 (76) 206 (68)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 127 (20) 108 (28)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 704 (10) 4 079 (21)Wool produced kg ns ns 21 522 (10) 18 422 (18)Labor used weeks ns ns 133 (8) 138 (10)




26 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 822 (14) 1 601 (8) 1 342 (7)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 530 (13) 2 459 (8) 2 150 (7)– ewes no. 1 019 (15) 1 356 (7) 1 244 (7)– wethers no. 63 (75) 406 (24) 292 (23)– rams no. 22 (15) 26 (10) 25 (8)– lambs no. 427 (19) 672 (8) 590 (8)Ewes mated no. 969 (16) 1 217 (7) 1 134 (7)Lambs marked no. 883 (17) 953 (6) 930 (7)Beef herd at 30 June no. 97 (22) 167 (14) 144 (12)Area harvested– cereals ha 79 (16) 245 (10) 190 (9)– pulses ha 2 (72) 9 (19) 7 (19)– oilseeds ha 9 (53) 13 (35) 12 (29)– other crops a ha 0 (109) 3 (52) 2 (50)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 11 (11) 17 (8) 16 (7)Wheat production t 98 (18) 297 (11) 230 (10)Sheep sold no. 1 543 (15) 1 004 (8) 1 183 (8)Prime lambs sold no. 1 310 (16) 451 (8) 737 (10)Sheep purchased no. 700 (31) 164 (26) 342 (23)Beef cattle sold no. 54 (33) 90 (17) 78 (15)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 874 (10) 2 567 (9) 2 337 (7)Wool produced kg 7 371 (12) 10 510 (9) 9 466 (7)Labor used weeks 93 (9) 109 (8) 104 (6)







Total farm area at 30 June ha 681 (10) 876 (14) 808 (10)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 957 (15) 2 172 (12) 2 098 (9)– ewes no. 1 247 (17) 1 087 (11) 1 142 (9)– wethers no. 248 (18) 537 (18) 437 (15)– rams no. 33 (22) 22 (14) 26 (13)– lambs no. 430 (18) 527 (12) 494 (10)Ewes mated no. 1 150 (19) 939 (11) 1 012 (10)Lambs marked no. 1 084 (23) 738 (11) 858 (12)Beef herd at 30 June no. 87 (19) 89 (23) 88 (16)Area harvested– cereals ha 74 (27) 180 (18) 143 (15)– pulses ha 6 (111) 39 (25) 27 (24)– oilseeds ha 0 11 (58) 7 (58)– other crops a ha 1 (149) 0 (111) 0 (131)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 12 (27) 26 (8) 22 (9)Wheat production t 61 (35) 139 (18) 112 (16)Sheep sold no. 1 863 (9) 793 (11) 1 161 (7)Prime lambs sold no. 1 145 (15) 310 (11) 598 (11)Sheep purchased no. 968 (12) 118 (30) 411 (11)Beef cattle sold no. 44 (18) 43 (21) 44 (15)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 112 (15) 2 373 (12) 2 283 (9)Wool produced kg 7 672 (18) 9 180 (13) 8 661 (11)Labor used weeks 87 (6) 103 (7) 97 (5)



26 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aQueensland Average per farm

Specialist Other prime All primeprime lamb lamb lamb


Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 4 129 (7) 4 716 (6)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 266 (15) 3 325 (14)– ewes no. ns ns 1 367 (33) 1 396 (31)– wethers no. ns ns 1 203 (27) 1 244 (25)– rams no. ns ns 23 (24) 23 (23)– lambs no. ns ns 673 (45) 661 (44)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 081 (29) 1 113 (27)Lambs marked no. ns ns 873 (32) 871 (31)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 312 (7) 304 (7)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 171 (64) 166 (64)– pulses ha ns ns 0 0 .– oilseeds ha ns ns 0 0 .– other crops a ha ns ns 0 (194) 0 (194)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 4 (64) 4 (64)Wheat production t ns ns 190 (32) 185 (32)Sheep sold no. ns ns 718 (17) 723 (17)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 506 (27) 517 (26)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 293 (61) 356 (49)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 76 (7) 74 (7)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 3 236 (18) 3 321 (17)Wool produced kg ns ns 14 280 (14) 14 272 (14)Labor used weeks ns ns 109 (11) 108 (11)





26 Physical characteristics,prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 815 (25) 1 215 (20) 1 093 (16)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 404 (26) 1 689 (10) 1 908 (12)– ewes no. 1 461 (18) 879 (13) 1 057 (11)– wethers no. 301 (44) 258 (23) 271 (22)– rams no. 33 (19) 17 (16) 22 (12)– lambs no. 610 (53) 535 (13) 558 (20)Ewes mated no. 1 484 (12) 829 (9) 1 029 (7)Lambs marked no. 1 658 (12) 711 (10) 1 001 (8)Beef herd at 30 June no. 126 (60) 69 (295) 86 (165)Area harvested– cereals ha 45 (49) 244 (11) 183 (11)– pulses ha 6 (105) 35 (29) 26 (28)– oilseeds ha 3 (147) 10 (54) 8 (50)– other crops a ha 7 (117) 6 (38) 7 (45)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 7 (38) 24 (21) 21 (18)Wheat production t 18 (87) 225 (23) 162 (22)Sheep sold no. 2 009 (14) 859 (10) 1 211 (8)Prime lambs sold no. 1 535 (15) 385 (15) 737 (11)Sheep purchased no. 428 (33) 192 (52) 264 (31)Beef cattle sold no. 76 (53) 43 (200) 53 (115)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 828 (13) 1 824 (11) 2 131 (8)Wool produced kg 11 855 (14) 8 579 (9) 9 581 (8)Labor used weeks 103 (11) 96 (13) 98 (10)




26 Physical characteristics,prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 661 (14) 1 655 (13)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 537 (10) 3 579 (10)– ewes no. ns ns 2 065 (12) 2 120 (12)– wethers no. ns ns 473 (13) 464 (13)– rams no. ns ns 44 (13) 46 (13)– lambs no. ns ns 955 (16) 948 (16)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 862 (13) 1 914 (13)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 485 (14) 1 530 (14)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 77 (29) 81 (28)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 462 (21) 452 (21)– pulses ha ns ns 123 (27) 119 (27)– oilseeds ha ns ns 51 (64) 51 (63)– other crops a ha ns ns 0 (123) 0 (123)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 38 (11) 38 (11)Wheat production t ns ns 654 (19) 636 (19)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 568 (27) 1 625 (25)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 522 (36) 579 (32)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 324 (51) 330 (49)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 35 (30) 38 (28)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 193 (9) 4 299 (9)Wool produced kg ns ns 16 517 (12) 16 723 (12)Labor used weeks ns ns 124 (6) 124 (5)







Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 391 (14) 1 111 (52)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 4 150 (11) 3 238 (32)– ewes no. ns ns 1 856 (10) 1 549 (35)– wethers no. ns ns 1 254 (17) 901 (16)– rams no. ns ns 40 (17) 32 (37)– lambs no. ns ns 1 000 (14) 756 (56)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 797 (9) 1 382 (38)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 567 (10) 1 215 (39)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 166 (22) 132 (74)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 16 (38) 13 (35)– pulses ha ns ns 1 (78) 1 (54)– oilseeds ha ns ns 4 (32) 3 (32)– other crops a ha ns ns 10 (25) 8 (86)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 2 (28) 38 (11)Wheat production t ns ns 7 (76) 5 (76)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 662 (10) 1 281 (33)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 519 (11) 464 (64)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 179 (58) 134 (60)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 115 (17) 86 (64)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 650 (9) 3 645 (32)Wool produced kg ns ns 18 676 (11) 14 084 (30)Labor used weeks ns ns 138 (8) 126 (36)




27 Physical characteristics,prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 567 (22) 1 282 (10) 1 049 (9)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 426 (18) 2 000 (11) 1 813 (10)– ewes no. 944 (16) 1 156 (11) 1 087 (9)– wethers no. 71 (53) 369 (27) 271 (25)– rams no. 21 (20) 23 (10) 23 (9)– lambs no. 390 (32) 453 (15) 432 (14)Ewes mated no. 875 (17) 1 083 (10) 1 015 (9)Lambs marked no. 798 (17) 867 (11) 845 (9)Beef herd at 30 June no. 108 (23) 189 (39) 163 (31)Area harvested– cereals ha 55 (28) 179 (13) 138 (12)– pulses ha 0 11 (83) 8 (83)– oilseeds ha 2 (118) 29 (16) 20 (16)– other crops a ha 2 (124) 3 (120) 3 (98)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 10 (29) 17 (12) 16 (11)Wheat production t 58 (51) 310 (14) 228 (14)Sheep sold no. 920 (17) 902 (9) 908 (8)Prime lambs sold no. 794 (14) 416 (13) 539 (10)Sheep purchased no. 206 (39) 123 (32) 150 (25)Beef cattle sold no. 50 (26) 107 (38) 89 (32)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 335 (15) 2 322 (12) 2 000 (10)Wool produced kg 5 125 (21) 9 381 (11) 7 992 (10)Labor used weeks 75 (7) 108 (8) 97 (6)







Total farm area at 30 June ha 460 (18) 1 036 (12) 856 (10)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 522 (30) 2 655 (12) 2 303 (11)– ewes no. 890 (42) 1 289 (12) 1 165 (14)– wethers no. 144 (67) 686 (17) 517 (17)– rams no. 74 (61) 25 (25) 40 (37)– lambs no. 406 (24) 655 (14) 578 (12)Ewes mated no. 829 (40) 1 113 (14) 1 025 (14)Lambs marked no. 755 (37) 930 (14) 876 (14)Beef herd at 30 June no. 52 (83) 56 (25) 55 (30)Area harvested– cereals ha 44 (26) 246 (13) 183 (12)– pulses ha 5 (35) 36 (13) 26 (13)– oilseeds ha 4 (53) 25 (25) 19 (23)– other crops a ha 1 (87) 1 (65) 1 (56)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 12 (31) 30 (8) 27 (8)Wheat production t 24 (32) 244 (15) 176 (15)Sheep sold no. 930 (35) 960 (12) 951 (13)Prime lambs sold no. 662 (42) 403 (13) 483 (19)Sheep purchased no. 272 (45) 224 (22) 239 (21)Beef cattle sold no. 32 (61) 34 (28) 33 (27)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 507 (36) 2 837 (12) 2 422 (12)Wool produced kg 6 330 (37) 12 081 (16) 10 290 (14)Labor used weeks 80 (8) 101 (7) 95 (5)




27 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aQueensland Average per farm a



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 8 157 (64) 8 157 (64)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 477 (61) 3 477 (61)– ewes no. ns ns 1 303 (51) 1 303 (51)– wethers no. ns ns 1 165 (99) 1 165 (99)– rams no. ns ns 29 (51) 29 (51)– lambs no. ns ns 980 (33) 980 (33)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 270 (30) 1 270 (30)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 032 (26) 1 032 (26)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 638 (54) 638 (54)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 132 (73) 132 (73)– pulses ha ns ns 0 0– oilseeds ha ns ns 0 0– other crops a ha ns ns 0 0Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 2 (136) 2 (136)Wheat production t ns ns 141 (75) 141 (75)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 299 (20) 1 299 (20)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 499 (32) 499 (32)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 326 (76) 326 (76)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 193 (37) 193 (37)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 3 620 (62) 3 620 (62)Wool produced kg ns ns 16 528 (65) 16 528 (65)Labor used weeks ns ns 148 (24) 148 (24)




27 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 a

South Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 628 (10) 1 129 (29) 1 025 (26)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 043 (15) 1 741 (17) 1 803 (14)– ewes no. 1 428 (16) 897 (21) 1 008 (15)– wethers no. 296 (33) 333 (25) 325 (21)– rams no. 29 (32) 21 (19) 23 (16)– lambs no. 290 (17) 489 (24) 448 (21)Ewes mated no. 1 261 (21) 848 (19) 934 (15)Lambs marked no. 1 298 (22) 710 (22) 832 (16)Beef herd at 30 June no. 105 (23) 138 (61) 131 (51)Area harvested– cereals ha 26 (40) 292 (21) 237 (20)– pulses ha 5 (73) 50 (25) 41 (25)– oilseeds ha 5 (156) 21 (52) 18 (50)– other crops a ha 0 (190) 7 (74) 6 (73)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 6 (51) 33 (13) 29 (10)Wheat production t 6 (197) 329 (16) 262 (16)Sheep sold no. 1 457 (20) 738 (20) 887 (15)Prime lambs sold no. 1 087 (24) 382 (32) 529 (21)Sheep purchased no. 303 (43) 113 (54) 153 (36)Beef cattle sold no. 54 (25) 63 (48) 61 (40)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 538 (16) 1 846 (17) 1 990 (13)Wool produced kg 11 427 (20) 8 673 (16) 9 245 (13)Labor used weeks 83 (13) 99 (8) 96 (7)


a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


27 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 660 (15) 1 610 (14)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 016 (15) 3 028 (14)– ewes no. ns ns 1 998 (17) 2 030 (15)– wethers no. ns ns 389 (31) 371 (30)– rams no. ns ns 42 (21) 42 (20)– lambs no. ns ns 588 (16) 585 (15)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 619 (23) 1 682 (20)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 326 (27) 1 383 (24)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 121 (34) 120 (32)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 464 (23) 449 (22)– pulses ha ns ns 134 (26) 124 (26)– oilseeds ha ns ns 38 (58) 35 (57)– other crops a ha ns ns 0 (124) 0 (124)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 38 (10) 38 (10)Wheat production t ns ns 703 (23) 652 (23)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 659 (30) 1 756 (26)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 589 (37) 674 (30)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 268 (55) 256 (53)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 43 (34) 42 (31)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 3 639 (17) 3 637 (16)Wool produced kg ns ns 15 657 (16) 15 692 (15)Labor used weeks ns ns 121 (8) 120 (7)







Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 1 394 (15) 1 196 (14)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 4 145 (17) 3 397 (16)– ewes no. ns ns 1 921 (13) 1 636 (11)– wethers no. ns ns 1 181 (29) 906 (28)– rams no. ns ns 44 (13) 36 (12)– lambs no. ns ns 999 (14) 819 (14)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 675 (14) 1 410 (12)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 354 (12) 1 145 (11)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 153 (18) 132 (17)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 13 (56) 12 (46)– pulses ha ns ns 0 0 (0)– oilseeds ha ns ns 5 (22) 4 (22)– other crops a ha ns ns 5 (19) 4 (19)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 2 (32) 2 (28)Wheat production t ns ns 4 (114) 5 (75)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 181 (13) 1 010 (12)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 397 (15) 408 (11)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 140 (33) 117 (30)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 107 (22) 91 (20)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 4 652 (19) 3 818 (18)Wool produced kg ns ns 17 092 (21) 13 919 (20)Labor used weeks ns ns 123 (7) 115 (6)

Estimated population of farms no. ns ns 554 732

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for the state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 to 1998-99 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 841 (14) 1 581 (5) 1 368 (5)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 677 (9) 2 325 (6) 2 139 (5)– ewes no. 1 085 (10) 1 275 (6) 1 220 (5)– wethers no. 103 (33) 403 (14) 316 (13)– rams no. 24 (14) 26 (7) 25 (6)– lambs no. 466 (16) 621 (6) 577 (6)Ewes mated no. 998 (10) 1 156 (6) 1 111 (5)Lambs marked no. 909 (10) 931 (6) 924 (5)Beef herd at 30 June no. 106 (13) 180 (15) 159 (12)Area harvested– cereals ha 76 (11) 220 (6) 179 (6)– pulses ha 1 (71) 10 (32) 7 (31)– oilseeds ha 6 (42) 19 (13) 15 (13)– other crops a ha 1 (99) 3 (55) 2 (50)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 10 (14) 16 (5) 15 (5)Wheat production t 88 (17) 350 (6) 274 (6)Sheep sold no. 1 303 (10) 947 (7) 1 050 (6)Prime lambs sold no. 1 078 (10) 431 (6) 617 (6)Sheep purchased no. 461 (24) 168 (15) 253 (14)Beef cattle sold no. 53 (18) 89 (17) 79 (14)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 853 (8) 2 470 (7) 2 292 (6)Wool produced kg 7 389 (10) 10 312 (7) 9 470 (6)Labor used weeks 88 (5) 111 (4) 104 (3)


28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aVictoria Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 501 (10) 957 (7) 802 (6)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 559 (13) 2 420 (6) 2 127 (6)– ewes no. 944 (16) 1 207 (6) 1 118 (6)– wethers no. 189 (23) 611 (11) 467 (10)– rams no. 40 (37) 26 (12) 31 (18)– lambs no. 382 (14) 577 (8) 511 (7)Ewes mated no. 871 (15) 1 054 (7) 991 (7)Lambs marked no. 805 (16) 844 (7) 831 (7)Beef herd at 30 June no. 87 (29) 94 (12) 91 (13)Area harvested– cereals ha 46 (17) 221 (8) 161 (8)– pulses ha 5 (52) 36 (12) 25 (12)– oilseeds ha 1 (53) 18 (20) 12 (19)– other crops a ha 0 (92) 1 (49) 1 (44)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 10 (19) 29 (5) 25 (5)Wheat production t 38 (23) 217 (8) 156 (8)Sheep sold no. 1 158 (11) 881 (7) 975 (6)Prime lambs sold no. 771 (15) 366 (7) 503 (8)Sheep purchased no. 472 (12) 171 (15) 274 (9)Beef cattle sold no. 42 (35) 46 (17) 44 (16)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 647 (13) 2 666 (7) 2 319 (6)Wool produced kg 6 533 (15) 10 908 (8) 9 419 (7)Labor used weeks 81 (5) 104 (4) 96 (3)




28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aQueensland Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha ns ns 6 226 (29) 6 479 (27)Sheep flock at 30 June no. ns ns 3 781 (26) 3 802 (26)– ewes no. ns ns 1 547 (33) 1 558 (32)– wethers no. ns ns 1 353 (36) 1 371 (35)– rams no. ns ns 41 (86) 41 (85)– lambs no. ns ns 840 (22) 832 (22)Ewes mated no. ns ns 1 370 (31) 1 381 (31)Lambs marked no. ns ns 1 112 (38) 1 108 (38)Beef herd at 30 June no. ns ns 349 (22) 344 (22)Area harvested– cereals ha ns ns 149 (76) 147 (76)– pulses ha ns ns 3 (247) 3 (247)– oilseeds ha ns ns 0 0– other crops a ha ns ns 0 (194) 0 (194)Proportion of farm planted to crop % ns ns 3 (67) 2 (68)Wheat production t ns ns 199 (98) 196 (98)Sheep sold no. ns ns 1 178 (23) 1 174 (23)Prime lambs sold no. ns ns 456 (29) 462 (29)Sheep purchased no. ns ns 329 (30) 358 (28)Beef cattle sold no. ns ns 95 (18) 94 (18)Sheep and lambs shorn no. ns ns 3 859 (27) 3 891 (27)Wool produced kg ns ns 18 584 (29) 18 521 (29)Labor used weeks ns ns 114 (10) 113 (10)



28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 812 (14) 1 292 (12) 1 176 (10)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 277 (16) 1 887 (8) 1 982 (7)– ewes no. 1 448 (12) 974 (10) 1 089 (8)– wethers no. 260 (30) 336 (12) 318 (12)– rams no. 34 (22) 23 (15) 26 (12)– lambs no. 536 (33) 554 (10) 550 (11)Ewes mated no. 1 411 (10) 906 (9) 1 028 (7)Lambs marked no. 1 509 (11) 762 (9) 942 (7)Beef herd at 30 June no. 139 (35) 106 (76) 114 (55)Area harvested– cereals ha 46 (27) 308 (9) 245 (9)– pulses ha 6 (65) 39 (17) 31 (16)– oilseeds ha 3 (107) 13 (36) 11 (34)– other crops a ha 3 (114) 6 (36) 5 (35)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 7 (25) 28 (9) 25 (8)Wheat production t 14 (70) 297 (11) 229 (11)Sheep sold no. 1 770 (10) 847 (8) 1 070 (6)Prime lambs sold no. 1 345 (12) 380 (14) 613 (9)Sheep purchased no. 372 (23) 168 (27) 217 (19)Beef cattle sold no. 75 (35) 57 (60) 61 (44)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 621 (10) 1 993 (8) 2 145 (6)Wool produced kg 11 408 (11) 9 310 (7) 9 817 (6)Labor used weeks 99 (7) 99 (6) 99 (5)



28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 768 (28) 1 745 (8) 1 671 (8)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 2 539 (32) 3 219 (8) 3 168 (7)– ewes no. 1 917 (23) 2 015 (9) 2 007 (8)– wethers no. 79 (35) 425 (15) 399 (14)– rams no. 42 (25) 40 (10) 41 (10)– lambs no. 501 (68) 739 (9) 721 (9)Ewes mated no. 1 754 (33) 1 717 (10) 1 720 (10)Lambs marked no. 1 440 (31) 1 337 (12) 1 345 (11)Beef herd at 30 June no. 67 (27) 95 (19) 92 (18)Area harvested– cereals ha 167 (39) 501 (12) 476 (11)– pulses ha 0 132 (15) 122 (15)– oilseeds ha 5 (50) 34 (40) 32 (39)– other crops a ha 0 0 (102) 0 (102)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 22 (9) 38 (5) 38 (5)Wheat production t 28 (87) 729 (11) 676 (11)Sheep sold no. 2 522 (9) 1 657 (15) 1 723 (13)Prime lambs sold no. 1 377 (10) 567 (19) 628 (16)Sheep purchased no. 293 (81) 273 (29) 275 (28)Beef cattle sold no. 34 (34) 42 (18) 42 (17)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 2 962 (23) 4 003 (10) 3 925 (9)Wool produced kg 11 056 (28) 16 405 (9) 16 001 (8)Labor used weeks 120 (4) 120 (6) 120 (5)



28 Physical characteristics, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1997-98 aTasmania Average per farm



Total farm area at 30 June ha 562 (134) 1 442 (8) 1 217 (17)Sheep flock at 30 June no. 1 446 (114) 4 363 (7) 3 617 (13)– ewes no. 913 (97) 1 964 (6) 1 695 (14)– wethers no. 187 (169) 1 253 (11) 980 (14)– rams no. 18 (103) 54 (11) 45 (14)– lambs no. 328 (161) 1 091 (8) 896 (17)Ewes mated no. 725 (114) 1 776 (6) 1 507 (15)Lambs marked no. 679 (113) 1 519 (6) 1 304 (16)Beef herd at 30 June no. 83 (145) 188 (10) 161 (21)Area harvested– cereals ha 8 (64) 19 (20) 16 (20)– pulses ha 1 (17) 1 (59) 1 (36)– oilseeds ha 1 (105) 4 (18) 3 (18)– other crops a ha 1 (1088) 8 (15) 6 (34)Proportion of farm planted to crop % 2 (60) 2 (16) 2 (17)Wheat production t 3 (50) 5 (52) 5 (44)Sheep sold no. 653 (96) 1 327 (6) 1 154 (15)Prime lambs sold no. 524 (85) 436 (8) 458 (26)Sheep purchased no. 59 (74) 189 (42) 156 (38)Beef cattle sold no. 37 (188) 117 (12) 96 (21)Sheep and lambs shorn no. 1 536 (111) 4 672 (8) 3 870 (13)Wool produced kg 5 321 (116) 19 274 (8) 15 706 (13)Labor used weeks 115 (45) 131 (5) 127 (11)



29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 6 920 (15) 13 467 (28) 12 346 (25)– prime lambs $ 54 349 (17) 18 932 (10) 24 993 (9)– beef cattle $ 22 263 (18) 23 442 (10) 23 240 (9)– other livestock $ 1 149 (68) 7 722 (67) 6 597 (65)– wool $ 45 069 (22) 46 567 (23) 46 310 (20)– wheat $ 22 170 (22) 74 693 (9) 65 704 (9)– pulses $ 122 (88) 1 503 (25) 1 267 (25)– oilseeds $ 3 267 (64) 10 682 (25) 9 413 (24)– other crops $ 28 343 (31) 36 877 (14) 35 416 (13)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 498 (28) 2 899 (28)Off-farm contracts $ 1 088 (52) 3 944 (45) 3 455 (42)Other cash receipts $ 4 252 (25) 12 227 (19) 10 862 (18)

Total cash receipts $ 188 991 (12) 253 552 (10) 242 503 (8)


29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aVictoria Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 4 278 (31) 12 357 (19) 9 389 (17)– prime lambs $ 25 110 (27) 16 918 (15) 19 928 (15)– beef cattle $ 16 673 (86) 21 906 (34) 19 984 (35)– other livestock $ 0 852 (10) 539 (10)– wool $ 17 021 (33) 55 409 (12) 41 306 (11)– wheat $ 4 799 (50) 42 737 (10) 28 799 (10)– pulses $ 711 (109) 9 192 (22) 6 076 (21)– oilseeds $ 0 8 827 (28) 5 584 (28)– other crops $ 5 348 (50) 42 317 (16) 28 735 (15)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 368 (28) 2 131 (28)Off-farm contracts $ 226 (83) 2 077 (69) 1 397 (65)Other cash receipts $ 2 477 (43) 17 634 (31) 12 066 (29)





29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aQueensland Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ ns ns 34 869 (52) 34 869 (52)– prime lambs $ ns ns 12 847 (127) 12 847 (127)– beef cattle $ ns ns 16 759 (30) 16 759 (30)– other livestock $ ns ns 0 0– wool $ ns ns 83 860 (67) 83 860 (67)– wheat $ ns ns 70 412 (247) 70 412 (247)– pulses $ ns ns 3 411 (247) 3 411 (247)– oilseeds $ ns ns 0 0– other crops $ ns ns 10 102 (247) 10 102 (247)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 6 831 (247) 6 831 (247)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 7 034 (138) 7 034 (138)

Total cash receipts $ ns ns 246 125 (130) 246 125 (130)


29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 11 527 (58) 16 986 (15) 15 974 (15)– prime lambs $ 63 043 (32) 16 125 (15) 24 816 (17)– beef cattle $ 33 420 (72) 23 224 (33) 25 113 (31)– other livestock $ 0 3 908 (90) 3 184 (90)– wool $ 28 666 (35) 43 550 (10) 40 793 (10)– wheat $ 3 244 (145) 66 386 (18) 54 690 (18)– pulses $ 0 9 247 (45) 7 534 (45)– oilseeds $ 0 1 786 (67) 1 455 (67)– other crops $ 12 275 (50) 54 864 (16) 46 975 (15)Off-farm sharefarming $ 1 941 (145) 2 772 (58) 2 618 (54)Off-farm contracts $ 2 651 (63) 4 742 (82) 4 354 (73)Other cash receipts $ 5 528 (38) 5 995 (18) 5 908 (17)



a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for the state.


29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ ns ns 25 139 (15) 24 680 (13)– prime lambs $ ns ns 18 173 (18) 19 596 (16)– beef cattle $ ns ns 15 854 (28) 14 139 (28)– other livestock $ ns ns 4 570 (99) 4 005 (99)– wool $ ns ns 61 308 (11) 53 935 (11)– wheat $ ns ns 179 089 (15) 159 757 (15)– pulses $ ns ns 27 911 (31) 24 462 (31)– oilseeds $ ns ns 4 615 (58) 4 045 (58)– other crops $ ns ns 38 917 (39) 40 327 (36)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 1 395 (164) 1 223 (164)Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 10 619 (70) 9 307 (70)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 15 812 (21) 14 291 (20)



29 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aTasmania Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ ns ns 17 033 (13) 14 485 (18)– prime lambs $ ns ns 17 212 (17) 19 885 (42)– beef cattle $ ns ns 52 893 (24) 44 038 (27)– other livestock $ ns ns 730 (51) 560 (51)– wool $ ns ns 100 236 (11) 85 338 (20)– wheat $ ns ns 254 (116) 295 (90)– pulses $ ns ns 297 (84) 228 (84)– oilseeds $ ns ns 5 988 (41) 4 943 (39)– other crops $ ns ns 25 366 (22) 20 273 (21)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 4 937 (34) 3 903 (33)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 10 378 (18) 9 536 (36)



a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb but received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for the state.


30 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 5 030 (40) 11 486 (17) 9 338 (16)– prime lambs $ 57 025 (14) 17 507 (10) 30 656 (10)– beef cattle $ 17 259 (31) 30 929 (17) 26 380 (15)– other livestock $ 817 (95) 31 (46) 293 (88)– wool $ 27 275 (16) 43 529 (10) 38 121 (9)– wheat $ 20 939 (28) 57 269 (12) 45 181 (11)– pulses $ 98 (72) 1 855 (41) 1 270 (40)– oilseeds $ 4 534 (38) 7 549 (40) 6 546 (32)– other crops $ 16 410 (62) 55 200 (26) 42 293 (24)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 504 (58) 2 338 (58)Off-farm contracts $ 645 (105) 2 407 (29) 1 821 (28)Other cash receipts $ 5 447 (28) 13 480 (15) 10 807 (13)






Sales– sheep $ 13 559 (17) 12 235 (17) 12 691 (12)– prime lambs $ 50 340 (16) 13 800 (12) 26 385 (11)– beef cattle $ 16 189 (18) 16 034 (24) 16 087 (17)– other livestock $ 252 (139) 433 (57) 370 (55)– wool $ 22 995 (16) 44 891 (16) 37 349 (13)– wheat $ 10 474 (32) 30 967 (18) 23 909 (16)– pulses $ 842 (48) 6 987 (35) 4 871 (33)– oilseeds $ 0 5 283 (34) 3 464 (34)– other crops $ 13 610 (12) 29 361 (19) 23 936 (16)Off-farm sharefarming $ 1 106 (131) 3 694 (59) 2 803 (54)Off-farm contracts $ 162 (81) 2 619 (46) 1 773 (44)Other cash receipts $ 7 597 (36) 10 725 (26) 9 647 (22)








Sales– sheep $ ns ns 3 672 (42) 3 576 (42)– prime lambs $ ns ns 17 490 (26) 17 830 (25)– beef cattle $ ns ns 31 684 (2) 30 780 (2)– other livestock $ ns ns 11 (86) 11 (86)– wool $ ns ns 52 194 (26) 52 022 (25)– wheat $ ns ns 39 103 (30) 37 988 (30)– pulses $ ns ns 0 0– oilseeds $ ns ns 0 0– other crops $ ns ns 16 306 (35) 15 841 (35)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 946 (59) 919 (59)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 12 040 (22) 11 831 (22)






Sales– sheep $ 12 088 (16) 11 950 (12) 11 992 (9)– prime lambs $ 76 537 (18) 15 064 (24) 33 861 (14)– beef cattle $ 26 900 (55) 15 674 (285) 19 107 (164)– other livestock $ 0 2 740 (87) 1 902 (87)– wool $ 31 818 (19) 32 128 (9) 32 033 (9)– wheat $ 4 384 (72) 42 952 (20) 31 159 (20)– pulses $ 2 508 (159) 11 004 (37) 8 407 (37)– oilseeds $ 1 972 (207) 5 178 (56) 4 198 (57)– other crops $ 11 764 (68) 47 746 (22) 36 744 (21)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 6 118 (42) 4 247 (42)Off-farm contracts $ 213 (0) 4 113 (44) 2 921 (43)Other cash receipts $ 6 325 (9) 10 075 (41) 8 928 (32)








Sales– sheep $ ns ns 25 952 (41) 25 969 (40)– prime lambs $ ns ns 15 437 (37) 17 165 (33)– beef cattle $ ns ns 12 774 (32) 14 035 (30)– other livestock $ ns ns 39 (77) 38 (77)– wool $ ns ns 67 989 (8) 68 539 (8)– wheat $ ns ns 134 770 (18) 131 055 (18)– pulses $ ns ns 19 049 (36) 18 524 (36)– oilseeds $ ns ns 16 058 (66) 16 360 (63)– other crops $ ns ns 42 230 (24) 41 673 (24)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 782 (91) 761 (91)Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 16 742 (59) 16 313 (59)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 14 163 (23) 14 113 (23)


Estimated population of farms no. ns ns 2 210 2 273




Sales– sheep $ ns ns 17 573 (12) 12 596 (27)– prime lambs $ ns ns 16 842 (10) 15 024 (63)– beef cattle $ ns ns 47 201 (24) 34 523 (42)– other livestock $ ns ns 251 (36) 175 (36)– wool $ ns ns 101 189 (11) 74 807 (20)– wheat $ ns ns 235 (70) 164 (70)– pulses $ ns ns 298 (98) 445 (46)– oilseeds $ ns ns 9 923 (28) 6 923 (28)– other crops $ ns ns 26 641 (21) 19 930 (37)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 3 376 (62) 2 570 (57)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 10 954 (18) 8 320 (21)



a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb but received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for the state.


31 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 a

New South Wales Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 2 839 (35) 11 902 (14) 8 944 (13)– prime lambs $ 31 523 (16) 15 200 (17) 20 529 (12)– beef cattle $ 20 426 (28) 49 422 (48) 39 957 (40)– other livestock $ 445 (122) 98 (57) 211 (86)– wool $ 13 768 (28) 30 631 (13) 25 127 (12)– wheat $ 9 233 (50) 49 701 (14) 36 492 (13)– pulses $ 0 2 116 (46) 1 426 (46)– oilseeds $ 1 474 (118) 16 142 (22) 11 354 (22)– other crops $ 11 278 (55) 33 717 (24) 26 393 (22)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 2 385 (42) 1 606 (42)Off-farm contracts $ 1 124 (20) 4 158 (28) 3 168 (25)Other cash receipts $ 3 534 (26) 6 652 (17) 5 634 (14)






Sales– sheep $ 6 576 (24) 12 199 (18) 10 448 (15)– prime lambs $ 28 824 (40) 16 657 (14) 20 446 (19)– beef cattle $ 13 936 (64) 14 340 (29) 14 214 (28)– other livestock $ 0 999 (119) 688 (119)– wool $ 15 081 (84) 37 928 (15) 30 813 (18)– wheat $ 4 093 (32) 43 958 (14) 31 543 (13)– pulses $ 604 (34) 6 293 (16) 4 521 (16)– oilseeds $ 2 145 (63) 12 150 (20) 9 034 (19)– other crops $ 10 331 (22) 27 012 (15) 21 817 (14)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 558 (36) 2 450 (36)Off-farm contracts $ 1 277 (86) 4 178 (61) 3 274 (55)Other cash receipts $ 3 526 (24) 10 944 (18) 8 634 (16)








Sales– sheep $ ns ns 12 229 (33) 12 229 (33)– prime lambs $ ns ns 19 235 (29) 19 235 (29)– beef cattle $ ns ns 96 699 (31) 96 699 (31)– other livestock $ ns ns 235 (179) 235 (179)– wool $ ns ns 52 169 (59) 52 169 (59)– wheat $ ns ns 21 060 (75) 21 060 (75)– pulses $ ns ns 0 0– oilseeds $ ns ns 0 0– other crops $ ns ns 12 284 (76) 12 284 (76)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 103 (115) 103 (115)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 15 205 (44) 15 205 (44)






Sales– sheep $ 11 360 (14) 8 377 (26) 8 997 (19)– prime lambs $ 45 684 (26) 15 273 (37) 21 592 (24)– beef cattle $ 23 220 (25) 28 131 (60) 27 111 (49)– other livestock $ 49 (118) 5 272 (75) 4 187 (74)– wool $ 27 519 (22) 24 327 (21) 24 990 (17)– wheat $ 889 (203) 68 796 (13) 54 687 (13)– pulses $ 1 360 (179) 12 492 (20) 10 179 (20)– oilseeds $ 4 886 (157) 13 290 (49) 11 544 (47)– other crops $ 6 117 (66) 34 540 (23) 28 635 (22)Off-farm sharefarming $ 42 (0) 6 909 (47) 5 482 (46)Off-farm contracts $ 1 747 (211) 1 715 (69) 1 722 (71)Other cash receipts $ 4 096 (38) 6 459 (24) 5 968 (21)








Sales– sheep $ ns ns 24 004 (34) 22 922 (33)– prime lambs $ ns ns 15 375 (34) 17 480 (28)– beef cattle $ ns ns 15 540 (36) 15 678 (33)– other livestock $ ns ns 310 (69) 288 (69)– wool $ ns ns 45 199 (15) 42 525 (15)– wheat $ ns ns 130 966 (23) 121 583 (23)– pulses $ ns ns 17 504 (24) 16 250 (24)– oilseeds $ ns ns 15 905 (76) 15 045 (74)– other crops $ ns ns 22 205 (34) 27 869 (25)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 6 241 (63) 5 794 (63)Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 6 561 (76) 6 103 (76)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 10 785 (23) 10 204 (23)


Estimated population of farms no. ns 2 747 2 959




Sales– sheep $ ns ns 11 616 (15) 9 035 (15)– prime lambs $ ns ns 13 413 (17) 13 342 (13)– beef cattle $ ns ns 45 369 (29) 37 917 (27)– other livestock $ ns ns 55 (85) 41 (85)– wool $ ns ns 68 595 (22) 55 813 (21)– wheat $ ns ns 692 (129) 709 (95)– pulses $ ns ns 0 82 (0)– oilseeds $ ns ns 7 348 (24) 5 615 (24)– other crops $ ns ns 17 454 (20) 13 671 (20)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 3 393 (44) 2 803 (41)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 13 774 (42) 11 120 (40)





32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 4 471 (23) 12 227 (12) 9 992 (11)– prime lambs $ 46 670 (10) 17 192 (7) 25 685 (6)– beef cattle $ 19 274 (17) 34 657 (23) 30 225 (19)– other livestock $ 724 (59) 2 405 (66) 1 921 (59)– wool $ 24 789 (12) 40 261 (10) 35 803 (8)– wheat $ 16 570 (20) 60 136 (7) 47 584 (6)– pulses $ 64 (57) 1 833 (24) 1 323 (24)– oilseeds $ 3 144 (35) 11 303 (16) 8 953 (15)– other crops $ 16 272 (33) 42 604 (15) 35 018 (13)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 138 (28) 2 234 (28)Off-farm contracts $ 901 (37) 3 447 (21) 2 713 (19)Other cash receipts $ 4 515 (18) 10 874 (10) 9 042 (9)


32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aVictoria Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 8 128 (13) 12 259 (10) 10 854 (8)– prime lambs $ 34 767 (15) 15 795 (8) 22 250 (9)– beef cattle $ 15 636 (37) 17 214 (18) 16 677 (17)– other livestock $ 85 (139) 767 (58) 535 (55)– wool $ 18 406 (25) 45 573 (8) 36 330 (8)– wheat $ 6 478 (22) 39 304 (8) 28 135 (8)– pulses $ 721 (43) 7 409 (15) 5 134 (14)– oilseeds $ 686 (63) 8 870 (15) 6 086 (14)– other crops $ 9 715 (13) 32 471 (10) 24 728 (9)Off-farm sharefarming $ 371 (131) 3 545 (25) 2 465 (25)Off-farm contracts $ 540 (67) 3 021 (37) 2 177 (34)Other cash receipts $ 4 531 (23) 12 919 (16) 10 065 (14)




32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aQueensland Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ ns ns 15 168 (38) 14 965 (38)– prime lambs $ ns ns 16 438 (34) 16 615 (33)– beef cattle $ ns ns 41 254 (16) 40 689 (16)– other livestock $ ns ns 57 (163) 56 (163)– wool $ ns ns 61 964 (32) 61 747 (32)– wheat $ ns ns 44 833 (121) 44 219 (121)– pulses $ ns ns 1 053 (247) 1 039 (247)– oilseeds $ ns ns 0 0– other crops $ ns ns 13 514 (62) 13 329 (62)Off-farm sharefarming $ ns ns 0 0Off-farm contracts $ ns ns 2 579 (202) 2 544 (202)Other cash receipts $ ns ns 11 185 (32) 11 096 (32)


32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 11 763 (14) 11 992 (10) 11 937 (8)– prime lambs $ 64 738 (13) 15 423 (17) 27 345 (10)– beef cattle $ 27 038 (33) 22 219 (80) 23 384 (58)– other livestock $ 15 (118) 3 973 (49) 3 016 (48)– wool $ 29 932 (14) 32 334 (8) 31 753 (7)– wheat $ 3 122 (62) 58 601 (10) 45 189 (9)– pulses $ 1 688 (128) 11 077 (19) 8 807 (19)– oilseeds $ 2 469 (126) 7 226 (36) 6 076 (35)– other crops $ 10 171 (44) 44 838 (12) 36 458 (12)Off-farm sharefarming $ 382 (140) 5 514 (28) 4 273 (28)Off-farm contracts $ 1 135 (101) 3 408 (38) 2 859 (36)Other cash receipts $ 5 506 (12) 7 672 (22) 7 148 (18)




32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm


Western Australia producers producers producers

Sales– sheep $ 17 432 (22) 24 954 (19) 24 386 (18)– prime lambs $ 40 358 (17) 16 252 (17) 18 072 (15)– beef cattle $ 13 670 (32) 14 781 (19) 14 697 (18)– other livestock $ 0 1 532 (91) 1 417 (91)– wool $ 13 167 (41) 57 184 (7) 53 861 (7)– wheat $ 11 999 (87) 146 899 (11) 136 715 (11)– pulses $ 0 21 173 (18) 19 574 (18)– oilseeds $ 4 316 (51) 12 490 (46) 11 873 (45)– other crops $ 65 783 (40) 33 520 (19) 35 956 (17)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 3 068 (55) 2 836 (55)Off-farm contracts $ 189 (188) 10 953 (39) 10 140 (39)Other cash receipts $ 4 150 (13) 13 371 (13) 12 675 (13)


32 Farm cash receipts, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aTasmania Average per farm



Sales– sheep $ 2 827 (156) 15 342 (8) 12 141 (12)– prime lambs $ 17 839 (90) 15 829 (9) 16 343 (26)– beef cattle $ 11 625 (148) 48 849 (15) 39 331 (18)– other livestock $ 0 (0) 375 (41) 280 (41)– wool $ 22 427 (117) 89 778 (8) 72 556 (12)– wheat $ 392 (54) 397 (82) 396 (63)– pulses $ 366 (0) 197 (64) 240 (39)– oilseeds $ 596 (124) 7 484 (18) 5 722 (18)– other crops $ 3 296 (211) 23 024 (13) 17 979 (16)Off-farm sharefarming $ 0 0 0Off-farm contracts $ 716 (26) 4 004 (25) 3 163 (24)Other cash receipts $ 4 026 (121) 11 679 (19) 9 722 (21)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 17 940 (39) 6 753 (15) 8 667 (17)– beef $ 3 454 (85) 3 215 (21) 3 256 (23)Hired labor $ 4 637 (40) 8 771 (18) 8 064 (17)Shearing and crutching $ 8 279 (26) 7 385 (17) 7 538 (15)Fertiliser $ 14 755 (18) 17 030 (10) 16 640 (9)Fodder $ 2 557 (41) 4 344 (38) 4 038 (35)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 2 357 (46) 10 307 (11) 8 947 (11)Fuel, oil and grease $ 9 616 (18) 12 561 (9) 12 057 (8)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 10 546 (14) 14 725 (9) 14 010 (8)– other $ 3 574 (29) 5 535 (16) 5 199 (14)Other materials $ 9 076 (17) 11 216 (10) 10 850 (9)Administration $ 5 197 (20) 6 054 (13) 5 908 (12)Contracts paid $ 8 458 (21) 8 508 (12) 8 500 (11)Rates $ 6 479 (16) 9 097 (9) 8 649 (8)Freight $ 3 835 (22) 11 993 (9) 10 597 (8)Handling and marketing costs $ 9 934 (17) 14 852 (10) 14 010 (9)Other services $ 10 073 (11) 14 310 (11) 13 585 (10)Interest $ 7 321 (33) 16 669 (20) 15 069 (18)Rent $ 350 (52) 858 (21) 771 (20)Payments to sharefarmers $ 395 (94) 5 569 (33) 4 683 (32)Other cash costs $ 192 (11) 330 (49) 306 (44)Total cash costs $ 139 024 (13) 190 083 (8) 181 345 (7)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aVictoria Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 6 407 (22) 6 818 (20) 6 667 (15)– beef $ 1 858 (107) 3 529 (80) 2 915 (67)Hired labor $ 2 233 (40) 5 820 (23) 4 502 (20)Shearing and crutching $ 2 609 (26) 6 767 (11) 5 239 (10)Fertiliser $ 5 553 (43) 18 100 (10) 13 491 (11)Fodder $ 1 524 (25) 2 088 (22) 1 881 (17)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 1 075 (27) 9 576 (17) 6 453 (16)Fuel, oil and grease $ 4 093 (16) 11 054 (9) 8 497 (8)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 2 762 (22) 9 771 (9) 7 196 (8)– other $ 2 679 (16) 5 570 (11) 4 508 (9)Other materials $ 4 729 (16) 9 411 (8) 7 691 (7)Administration $ 2 940 (17) 5 085 (8) 4 297 (8)Contracts paid $ 1 691 (19) 5 504 (14) 4 103 (12)Rates $ 3 346 (21) 5 793 (10) 4 894 (9)Freight $ 1 106 (24) 8 125 (19) 5 547 (18)Handling and marketing costs $ 4 435 (32) 13 561 (10) 10 208 (9)Other services $ 3 272 (8) 9 420 (8) 7 161 (7)Interest $ 4 236 (113) 12 649 (16) 9 558 (23)Rent $ 1 409 (125) 2 981 (18) 2 404 (30)Payments to sharefarmers $ 0 3 540 (51) 2 240 (51)Other cash costs $ 71 (0) 486 (56) 334 (51)Total cash costs $ 58 030 (25) 155 649 (8) 119 785 (8)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aQueensland Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 9 432 (13) 9 432 (13)– beef $ ns ns 1 187 (29) 1 187 (29)Hired labor $ ns ns 3 102 (228) 3 102 (228)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 14 165 (89) 14 165 (89)Fertiliser $ ns ns 0 0Fodder $ ns ns 4 805 (70) 4 805 (70)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 3 916 (239) 3 916 (239)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 9 158 (96) 9 158 (96)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 6 099 (69) 6 099 (69)– other $ ns ns 3 619 (77) 3 619 (77)Other materials $ ns ns 15 041 (82) 15 041 (82)Administration $ ns ns 5 729 (88) 5 729 (88)Contracts paid $ ns ns 4 415 (209) 4 415 (209)Rates $ ns ns 3 476 (59) 3 476 (59)Freight $ ns ns 13 440 (196) 13 440 (196)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 17 279 (136) 17 279 (136)Other services $ ns ns 13 795 (107) 13 795 (107)Interest $ ns ns 18 944 (117) 18 944 (117)Rent $ ns ns 4 085 (94) 4 085 (94)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 0 0Other cash costs $ ns ns 1 735 (115) 1 735 (115)Total cash costs $ ns ns 153 420 (103) 153 420 (103)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 a

South Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 14 057 (45) 7 543 (25) 8 749 (22)– beef $ 2 230 (80) 4 286 (61) 3 905 (55)Hired labor $ 3 369 (121) 4 370 (33) 4 184 (33)Shearing and crutching $ 4 118 (44) 5 522 (15) 5 262 (15)Fertiliser $ 20 126 (63) 23 243 (13) 22 666 (15)Fodder $ 5 693 (102) 3 731 (41) 4 094 (40)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 2 867 (99) 12 455 (16) 10 679 (16)Fuel, oil and grease $ 11 697 (31) 14 933 (12) 14 333 (11)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 7 726 (38) 12 715 (13) 11 791 (12)– other $ 3 888 (46) 4 236 (21) 4 172 (19)Other materials $ 7 353 (47) 7 280 (14) 7 294 (14)Administration $ 2 377 (38) 6 292 (10) 5 567 (10)Contracts paid $ 3 452 (99) 6 318 (22) 5 787 (22)Rates $ 3 429 (30) 6 296 (20) 5 765 (18)Freight $ 2 144 (71) 6 487 (21) 5 683 (20)Handling and marketing costs $ 10 409 (30) 18 385 (11) 16 907 (10)Other services $ 5 147 (58) 14 423 (14) 12 705 (14)Interest $ 7 021 (59) 16 090 (34) 14 410 (31)Rent $ 135 (94) 1 817 (43) 1 506 (43)Payments to sharefarmers $ 0 2 999 (88) 2 443 (88)Other cash costs $ 41 (133) 377 (104) 314 (102)Total cash costs $ 117 277 (37) 179 796 (10) 168 215 (10)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 7 233 (22) 7 183 (24)– beef $ ns ns 1 363 (40) 1 299 (37)Hired labor $ ns ns 10 360 (29) 9 132 (29)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 11 867 (27) 11 036 (27)Fertiliser $ ns ns 50 321 (16) 45 512 (16)Fodder $ ns ns 2 887 (71) 3 218 (57)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 34 813 (19) 30 930 (19)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 20 493 (22) 18 791 (21)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 22 976 (25) 21 036 (24)– other $ ns ns 5 948 (21) 5 315 (20)Other materials $ ns ns 14 633 (19) 13 795 (17)Administration $ ns ns 8 474 (18) 8 267 (16)Contracts paid $ ns ns 3 737 (30) 3 275 (30)Rates $ ns ns 4 549 (10) 4 231 (10)Freight $ ns ns 21 336 (19) 19 662 (19)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 31 348 (15) 28 048 (15)Other services $ ns ns 22 994 (17) 21 057 (16)Interest $ ns ns 24 135 (23) 21 431 (23)Rent $ ns ns 3 857 (60) 3 381 (60)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 0 0Other cash costs $ ns ns 436 (79) 382 (79)Total cash costs $ ns ns 303 760 (17) 276 978 (16)




33 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aTasmania Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 5 558 (57) 4 746 (53)– beef $ ns ns 12 814 (61) 10 148 (59)Hired labor $ ns ns 24 250 (15) 21 619 (40)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 12 564 (12) 11 008 (25)Fertiliser $ ns ns 19 656 (14) 16 316 (17)Fodder $ ns ns 3 089 (91) 2 508 (87)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 2 857 (17) 2 419 (16)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 10 408 (11) 9 435 (19)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 10 257 (11) 9 470 (26)– other $ ns ns 5 896 (17) 4 836 (23)Other materials $ ns ns 17 867 (11) 15 194 (15)Administration $ ns ns 6 847 (10) 6 002 (24)Contracts paid $ ns ns 4 737 (25) 4 094 (34)Rates $ ns ns 5 694 (10) 4 864 (18)Freight $ ns ns 4 102 (16) 3 634 (33)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 14 837 (10) 12 790 (23)Other services $ ns ns 11 666 (19) 10 481 (19)Interest $ ns ns 11 255 (19) 11 469 (60)Rent $ ns ns 2 606 (46) 2 599 (60)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 0 0Other cash costs $ ns ns 777 (74) 724 (91)Total cash costs $ ns ns 187 737 (10) 164 355 (22)


a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb that received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lamb sales.ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the allindustry sample for the state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.





Purchases– sheep $ 21 645 (27) 4 927 (18) 10 489 (19)– beef $ 1 585 (69) 4 116 (37) 3 274 (33)Hired labor $ 5 038 (62) 10 861 (25) 8 923 (23)Shearing and crutching $ 4 959 (20) 8 477 (11) 7 307 (10)Fertiliser $ 8 381 (25) 17 061 (18) 14 173 (16)Fodder $ 3 107 (45) 4 699 (20) 4 169 (19)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 5 849 (28) 9 522 (16) 8 300 (14)Fuel, oil and grease $ 6 393 (21) 14 757 (10) 11 974 (9)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 7 709 (24) 13 518 (12) 11 585 (11)– other $ 4 246 (36) 5 696 (17) 5 214 (16)Other materials $ 8 381 (27) 11 268 (9) 10 307 (10)Administration $ 4 124 (17) 6 937 (12) 6 001 (10)Contracts paid $ 4 007 (30) 8 663 (17) 7 114 (15)Rates $ 9 634 (16) 12 911 (14) 11 821 (11)Freight $ 4 148 (20) 7 178 (11) 6 170 (10)Handling and marketing costs $ 8 226 (21) 12 059 (9) 10 783 (9)Other services $ 9 203 (19) 16 349 (10) 13 972 (9)Interest $ 6 231 (43) 21 069 (24) 16 132 (21)Rent $ 610 (143) 996 (39) 867 (45)Payments to sharefarmers $ 589 (105) 3 870 (43) 2 778 (41)Other cash costs $ 594 (73) 2 941 (105) 2 160 (96)Total cash costs $ 124 658 (17) 197 872 (10) 173 511 (9)







Purchases– sheep $ 16 546 (23) 4 345 (19) 8 547 (17)– beef $ 1 980 (25) 1 464 (34) 1 641 (23)Hired labor $ 2 833 (47) 5 514 (29) 4 590 (25)Shearing and crutching $ 3 394 (46) 5 144 (22) 4 541 (20)Fertiliser $ 12 201 (19) 18 229 (17) 16 153 (14)Fodder $ 3 422 (32) 4 157 (47) 3 904 (34)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 2 816 (16) 7 828 (29) 6 102 (24)Fuel, oil and grease $ 7 409 (12) 9 765 (12) 8 953 (10)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 6 068 (11) 9 389 (10) 8 245 (8)– other $ 3 587 (23) 3 812 (20) 3 735 (15)Other materials $ 9 386 (7) 8 373 (13) 8 722 (9)Administration $ 6 037 (11) 4 584 (10) 5 084 (7)Contracts paid $ 3 306 (23) 4 417 (11) 4 034 (10)Rates $ 5 595 (14) 6 021 (10) 5 875 (8)Freight $ 4 644 (12) 4 720 (38) 4 694 (26)Handling and marketing costs $ 8 115 (12) 9 268 (12) 8 871 (9)Other services $ 7 583 (9) 9 321 (14) 8 722 (11)Interest $ 15 960 (12) 8 455 (18) 11 040 (11)Rent $ 2 669 (93) 2 971 (51) 2 867 (45)Payments to sharefarmers $ 970 (143) 109 (84) 405 (119)Other cash costs $ 2 338 (75) 118 (24) 882 (69)Total cash costs $ 126 857 (12) 128 001 (12) 127 607 (9)







Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 7 425 (43) 9 171 (34)– beef $ ns ns 9 334 (30) 9 068 (30)Hired labor $ ns ns 7 835 (41) 7 738 (40)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 9 740 (24) 9 789 (23)Fertiliser $ ns ns 5 163 (25) 5 016 (25)Fodder $ ns ns 2 235 (32) 2 172 (32)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 8 089 (35) 7 858 (35)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 9 374 (13) 9 253 (13)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 9 733 (10) 9 672 (10)– other $ ns ns 5 855 (33) 5 785 (33)Other materials $ ns ns 10 175 (10) 10 176 (9)Administration $ ns ns 5 247 (6) 5 368 (5)Contracts paid $ ns ns 6 698 (42) 6 507 (42)Rates $ ns ns 3 563 (15) 3 516 (15)Freight $ ns ns 5 047 (14) 5 183 (13)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 11 702 (16) 11 602 (16)Other services $ ns ns 10 010 (18) 10 282 (17)Interest $ ns ns 14 923 (37) 15 231 (35)Rent $ ns ns 4 376 (89) 4 267 (88)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 3 459 (139) 3 360 (139)Other cash costs $ ns ns 591 (8) 620 (7)Total cash costs $ ns ns 150 571 (6) 151 632 (6)




34 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 18 934 (30) 5 182 (53) 9 387 (28)– beef $ 7 335 (39) 3 547 (86) 4 705 (49)Hired labor $ 3 927 (36) 2 528 (321) 2 956 (191)Shearing and crutching $ 5 184 (25) 5 531 (12) 5 425 (11)Fertiliser $ 12 074 (34) 19 508 (32) 17 235 (26)Fodder $ 1 973 (12) 4 770 (51) 3 915 (43)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 3 643 (63) 12 471 (27) 9 771 (25)Fuel, oil and grease $ 9 419 (22) 10 297 (42) 10 029 (30)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 6 558 (41) 10 955 (79) 9 610 (63)– other $ 2 612 (34) 4 056 (28) 3 614 (23)Other materials $ 8 976 (26) 7 547 (22) 7 984 (17)Administration $ 4 100 (30) 5 704 (15) 5 213 (13)Contracts paid $ 4 902 (70) 4 047 (32) 4 309 (32)Rates $ 4 018 (19) 3 758 (44) 3 838 (30)Freight $ 3 297 (18) 6 444 (23) 5 482 (19)Handling and marketing costs $ 10 632 (23) 12 848 (29) 12 170 (22)Other services $ 6 074 (21) 10 487 (33) 9 138 (27)Interest $ 9 675 (31) 13 013 (23) 11 992 (19)Rent $ 1 043 (64) 1 432 (37) 1 313 (32)Payments to sharefarmers $ 869 (76) 2 524 (86) 2 018 (75)Other cash costs $ 105 (109) 558 (78) 419 (72)Total cash costs $ 125 348 (24) 147 206 (33) 140 523 (25)




34 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1997-98 aWestern Australia Average per farm a



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 11 407 (38) 11 504 (37)– beef $ ns ns 1 089 (46) 1 539 (39)Hired labor $ ns ns 9 391 (23) 9 134 (23)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 11 158 (20) 11 603 (19)Fertiliser $ ns ns 45 422 (25) 45 099 (24)Fodder $ ns ns 2 080 (70) 2 234 (64)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 26 507 (20) 25 911 (20)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 16 981 (18) 16 878 (18)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 20 277 (21) 20 134 (21)– other $ ns ns 5 599 (22) 5 542 (23)Other materials $ ns ns 13 401 (11) 13 454 (11)Administration $ ns ns 10 621 (10) 10 535 (10)Contracts paid $ ns ns 7 521 (45) 7 450 (44)Rates $ ns ns 4 541 (15) 4 582 (14)Freight $ ns ns) 17 653 (30) 17 335 (30)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 26 843 (18) 26 564 (17)Other services $ ns ns 20 835 (9) 20 471 (9)Interest $ ns ns 19 887 (29) 19 432 (29)Rent $ ns ns 2 202 (35) 2 145 (34)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 832 (74) 810 (74)Other cash costs $ ns ns 28 (76) 27 (76)Total cash costs $ ns ns 274 274 (17) 272 382 (16)

Estimated population of farms no. ns ns 2 210 2 273






Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 6 222 (48) 4 766 (45)– beef $ ns ns 8 316 (72) 5 963 (71)Hired labor $ ns ns 18 959 (16) 14 081 (68)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 13 803 (14) 10 435 (32)Fertiliser $ ns ns 23 787 (12) 18 310 (15)Fodder $ ns ns 2 534 (41) 2 015 (37)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 2 371 (20) 1 974 (74)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 12 239 (8) 9 423 (24)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 9 866 (15) 7 434 (55)– other $ ns ns 9 259 (19) 7 106 (50)Other materials $ ns ns 17 924 (13) 13 818 (38)Administration $ ns ns 6 663 (12) 5 277 (27)Contracts paid $ ns ns 3 984 (30) 3 337 (76)Rates $ ns ns 3 973 (16) 3 100 (24)Freight $ ns ns 2 905 (20) 2 142 (22)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 13 300 (10) 10 114 (31)Other services $ ns ns 14 084 (22) 10 739 (25)Interest $ ns ns 12 602 (30) 9 817 (38)Rent $ ns ns 456 (46) 318 (46)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 746(143) 520 (143)Other cash costs $ ns ns 172 (57) 121 (58)Total cash costs $ ns ns 184 161 (8) 140 809 (31)


a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep and received more than 20 per cent of theirfarmcash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb but which received less than 20 per cent of farm cash receipts from prime lambsales. ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size. ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample sizebut any farms in this category are included in the all industry sample for that state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.





Purchases– sheep $ 7 428 (36) 4 387 (25) 5 379 (21)– beef $ 1 977 (37) 18 073 (90) 12 819 (86)Hired labor $ 2 783 (56) 8 000 (25) 6 297 (23)Shearing and crutching $ 4 449 (19) 6 783 (17) 6 021 (14)Fertiliser $ 6 426 (21) 15 716 (15) 12 684 (13)Fodder $ 437 (37) 4 802 (93) 3 377 (89)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 2 346 (41) 11 193 (24) 8 305 (22)Fuel, oil and grease $ 4 477 (26) 11 735 (12) 9 366 (11)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 4 986 (17) 10 835 (16) 8 926 (14)– other $ 1 013 (32) 3 921 (17) 2 972 (16)Other materials $ 5 059 (18) 8 990 (10) 7 707 (9)Administration $ 3 208 (17) 6 473 (10) 5 407 (9)Contracts paid $ 3 572 (30) 7 893 (32) 6 483 (27)Rates $ 5 315 (6) 9 873 (16) 8 385 (13)Freight $ 2 776 (37) 5 753 (21) 4 781 (19)Handling and marketing costs $ 5 140 (24) 10 435 (11) 8 707 (10)Other services $ 6 421 (18) 13 419 (10) 11 135 (9)Interest $ 5 301 (41) 18 072 (21) 13 903 (19)Rent $ 508 (47) 1 433 (34) 1 131 (30)Payments to sharefarmers $ 1 450 (118) 2 775 (14) 2 342 (26)Other cash costs $ 34 (99) 892 (36) 612 (35)Total cash costs $ 75 106 (17) 181 450 (16) 146 738 (14)







Purchases– sheep $ 9 612 (44) 6 895 (17) 7 741 (20)– beef $ 1 221 (45) 1 990 (40) 1 750 (33)Hired labor $ 2 994 (16) 4 301 (31) 3 894 (24)Shearing and crutching $ 3 806 (50) 6 760 (17) 5 840 (17)Fertiliser $ 5 798 (32) 19 530 (13) 15 253 (12)Fodder $ 1 434 (25) 3 588 (44) 2 917 (38)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 1 483 (19) 10 070 (14) 7 395 (13)Fuel, oil and grease $ 5 152 (10) 11 897 (11) 9 796 (9)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 4 464 (18) 10 140 (10) 8 372 (9)– other $ 2 018 (23) 3 892 (13) 3 309 (12)Other materials $ 5 101 (30) 8 700 (18) 7 579 (15)Administration $ 3 369 (21) 5 888 (9) 5 103 (8)Contracts paid $ 3 268 (37) 6 107 (14) 5 223 (14)Rates $ 5 609 (15) 6 427 (10) 6 173 (8)Freight $ 1 035 (24) 5 218 (14) 3 915 (13)Handling and marketing costs $ 5 245 (33) 10 297 (11) 8 724 (11)Other services $ 6 054 (27) 9 879 (13) 8 687 (12)Interest $ 14 634 (62) 12 576 (17) 13 217 (24)Rent $ 1 308 (38) 4 284 (26) 3 357 (23)Payments to sharefarmers $ 56 (106) 838 (106) 595 (103)Other cash costs $ 2 459 (271) 689 (69) 1 240 (169)Total cash costs $ 86 119 (24) 149 964 (9) 130 081 (9)







Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 6 263 (48) 6 263 (48)– beef $ ns ns 5 646 (77) 5 646 (77)Hired labor $ ns ns 5 118 (134) 5 118 (134)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 13 837 (65) 13 837 (65)Fertiliser $ ns ns 3 912 (48) 3 912 (48)Fodder $ ns ns 1 685 (62) 1 685 (62)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 3 110 (63) 3 110 (63)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 13 263 (4) 13 263 (4)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 11 508 (4) 11 508 (4)– other $ ns ns 5 751 (8) 5 751 (8)Other materials $ ns ns 11 296 (33) 11 296 (33)Administration $ ns ns 6 758 (45) 6 758 (45)Contracts paid $ ns ns 9 156 (61) 9 156 (61)Rates $ ns ns 4 744 (24) 4 744 (24)Freight $ ns ns 3 202 (23) 3 202 (23)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 12 359 (37) 12 359 (37)Other services $ ns ns 13 658 (43) 13 658 (43)Interest $ ns ns 18 592 (37) 18 592 (37)Rent $ ns ns 3 013 (2) 3 013 (2)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 0 0Other cash costs $ ns ns 2 009 (53) 2 009 (53)Total cash costs $ ns ns 154 881 (24) 154 881 (24)




35 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 10 138 (33) 4 756 (41) 5 874 (29)– beef $ 2 108 (41) 1 312 (48) 1 477 (36)Hired labor $ 204 (112) 2 609 (145) 2 110 (142)Shearing and crutching $ 5 975 (19) 4 450 (42) 4 767 (31)Fertiliser $ 10 080 (31) 24 960 (17) 21 868 (16)Fodder $ 699 (41) 1 705 (62) 1 496 (56)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 2 332 (84) 18 681 (15) 15 284 (15)Fuel, oil and grease $ 7 848 (20) 10 549 (28) 9 988 (24)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 3 809 (58) 11 710 (30) 10 069 (28)– other $ 2 325 (28) 2 665 (44) 2 594 (36)Other materials $ 4 096 (38) 6 459 (24) 6 758 (13)Administration $ 4 619 (23) 4 938 (13) 4 872 (12)Contracts paid $ 5 582 (55) 5 056 (21) 5 165 (20)Rates $ 3 110 (16) 4 797 (16) 4 446 (14)Freight $ 2 157 (21) 6 999 (19) 5 993 (18)Handling and marketing costs $ 8 007 (19) 18 803 (11) 16 560 (10)Other services $ 4 601 (35) 9 163 (17) 8 215 (16)Interest $ 6 902 (25) 12 492 (29) 11 330 (26)Rent $ 4 125 (18) 2 063 (39) 2 491 (26)Payments to sharefarmers $ 774 (77) 6 923 (13) 5 646 (13)Other cash costs $ 1 535 (212) 304 (48) 560 (122)Total cash costs $ 93 292 (21) 161 796 (17) 147 563 (15)




35 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 6 486 (43) 6 459 (40)– beef $ ns ns 4 574 (49) 4 506 (46)Hired labor $ ns ns 11 332 (32) 10 520 (32)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 10 162 (17) 10 528 (15)Fertiliser $ ns ns 40 515 (26) 40 169 (25)Fodder $ ns ns 1 025 (41) 1 185 (33)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 26 318 (23) 24 570 (23)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 14 805 (16) 14 128 (16)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 17 960 (16) 17 052 (15)– other $ ns ns 4 343 (15) 4 089 (15)Other materials $ ns ns 11 732 (13) 11 395 (13)Administration $ ns ns 8 168 (11) 8 003 (11)Contracts paid $ ns ns 6 725 (24) 6 334 (23)Rates $ ns ns 4 692 (11) 4 553 (10)Freight $ ns ns 16 440 (24) 16 288 (23)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 26 617 (18) 25 062 (18)Other services $ ns ns 13 695 (13) 13 245 (13)Interest $ ns ns 14 739 (27) 13 872 (27)Rent $ ns ns 6 109 (47) 5 672 (47)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 2 345 (98) 2 177 (98)Other cash costs $ ns ns 413 (51) 1 518 (13)Total cash costs $ ns ns 249 196 (17) 241 323 (16)







Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 3 457 (23) 2 710 (22)– beef $ ns ns 7 219 (90) 5 900 (83)Hired labor $ ns ns 15 017 (14) 11 366 (14)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 12 210 (20) 9 582 (20)Fertiliser $ ns ns 14 577 (18) 13 156 (17)Fodder $ ns ns 2 691 (37) 2 211 (34)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 2 979 (20) 2 510 (18)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 8 002 (13) 7 284 (13)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 6 068 (20) 5 140 (18)– other $ ns ns 5 079 (19) 3 987 (18)Other materials $ ns ns 13 551 (16) 11 514 (15)Administration $ ns ns 6 010 (12) 5 090 (10)Contracts paid $ ns ns 4 237 (30) 3 439 (28)Rates $ ns ns) 4 261 (12) 3 735 (11)Freight $ ns ns) 1 792 (29) 1 454 (27)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 10 826 (19) 8 903 (17)Other services $ ns ns 12 330 (15) 10 021 (14)Interest $ ns ns 13 401 (31) 11 766 (28)Rent $ ns ns 2 164 (52) 1 769 (48)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 0 0Other cash costs $ ns ns 373 (82) 282 (82)Total cash costs $ ns ns 146 245 (12) 121 819 (11)




36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 15 526 (20) 5 310 (11) 8 253 (12)– beef $ 2 029 (36) 8 382 (64) 6 552 (58)Hired labor $ 4 096 (38) 9 291 (14) 7 794 (13)Shearing and crutching $ 5 279 (12) 7 592 (9) 6 925 (7)Fertiliser $ 8 614 (13) 16 614 (9) 14 309 (8)Fodder $ 1 981 (34) 4 624 (34) 3 862 (30)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 3 939 (22) 10 306 (11) 8 472 (10)Fuel, oil and grease $ 6 150 (13) 13 102 (6) 11 099 (5)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 7 091 (13) 13 014 (7) 11 308 (6)– other $ 2 881 (25) 5 069 (10) 4 439 (9)Other materials $ 7 195 (16) 10 511 (6) 9 556 (6)Administration $ 3 935 (11) 6 516 (7) 5 772 (6)Contracts paid $ 4 532 (16) 8 365 (12) 7 261 (11)Rates $ 7 459 (10) 10 756 (8) 9 806 (7)Freight $ 3 565 (16) 8 187 (7) 6 855 (7)Handling and marketing costs $ 7 290 (13) 12 385 (6) 10 917 (5)Other services $ 8 255 (11) 14 772 (6) 12 894 (5)Interest $ 6 039 (25) 18 748 (13) 15 086 (12)Rent $ 530 (77) 1 096 (20) 933 (21)Payments to sharefarmers $ 894 (81) 4 033 (21) 3 129 (20)Other cash costs $ 313 (63) 1 476 (78) 1 141 (72)Total cash costs $ 107 591 (11) 190 145 (7) 166 361 (6)



36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aVictoria Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 10 835 (18) 6 031 (11) 7 666 (10)– beef $ 1 695 (43) 2 288 (41) 2 086 (32)Hired labor $ 2 678 (21) 5 166 (16) 4 319 (13)Shearing and crutching $ 3 255 (26) 6 230 (10) 5 218 (9)Fertiliser $ 7 864 (16) 18 663 (8) 14 989 (7)Fodder $ 2 132 (19) 3 316 (26) 2 913 (20)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 1 790 (11) 9 180 (11) 6 665 (10)Fuel, oil and grease $ 5 545 (7) 10 936 (6) 9 102 (5)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 4 416 (9) 9 780 (6) 7 955 (5)– other $ 2 773 (13) 4 379 (8) 3 833 (7)Other materials $ 6 411 (9) 8 810 (8) 7 994 (6)Administration $ 4 117 (9) 5 212 (5) 4 840 (5)Contracts paid $ 2 737 (17) 5 366 (8) 4 471 (7)Rates $ 4 824 (9) 6 100 (6) 5 666 (5)Freight $ 2 271 (10) 5 944 (14) 4 694 (11)Handling and marketing costs $ 5 929 (14) 10 957 (6) 9 246 (6)Other services $ 5 609 (10) 9 554 (7) 8 212 (6)Interest $ 11 495 (30) 11 240 (10) 11 327 (12)Rent $ 1 800 (58) 3 453 (19) 2 890 (19)Payments to sharefarmers $ 344 (136) 1 425 (45) 1 057 (43)Other cash costs $ 1 595 (138) 439 (44) 832 (92)Total cash costs $ 90 114 (11) 144 467 (6) 125 974 (5)



36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aQueensland Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ ns ns 7 791 (22) 8 625 (19)– beef $ ns ns 6 015 (27) 5 932 (27)Hired labor $ ns ns 5 781 (53) 5 763 (52)Shearing and crutching $ ns ns 11 999 (38) 11 992 (37)Fertiliser $ ns ns 3 297 (22) 3 251 (22)Fodder $ ns ns 2 909 (38) 2 869 (38)Crop and pasture chemicals $ ns ns 5 715 (56) 5 637 (56)Fuel, oil and grease $ ns ns 10 155 (27) 10 087 (27)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ ns ns 8 998 (15) 8 979 (15)– other $ ns ns 5 142 (25) 5 118 (24)Other materials $ ns ns 11 921 (33) 11 898 (33)Administration $ ns ns 5 725 (30) 5 777 (29)Contracts paid $ ns ns 6 529 (52) 6 440 (52)Rates $ ns ns 3 794 (19) 3 768 (19)Freight $ ns ns 7 235 (113) 7 271 (111)Handling and marketing costs $ ns ns 13 567 (55) 13 493 (54)Other services $ ns ns 11 974 (40) 12 078 (39)Interest $ ns ns 16 964 (44) 17 084 (43)Rent $ ns ns 3 989 (55) 3 942 (55)Payments to sharefarmers $ ns ns 1 637 (139) 1 614 (139)Other cash costs $ ns ns 1 253 (53) 1 258 (52)Total cash costs $ ns ns 152 391 (33) 152 875 (32)



36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aSouth Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 15 374 (21) 5 656 (24) 8 005 (16)– beef $ 4 800 (31) 2 931 (46) 3 383 (32)Hired labor $ 2 707 (39) 3 049 (109) 2 966 (85)Shearing and crutching $ 5 218 (16) 5 135 (15) 5 155 (12)Fertiliser $ 13 008 (26) 22 487 (13) 20 196 (12)Fodder $ 2 299 (49) 3 378 (32) 3 117 (27)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 3 103 (46) 14 726 (11) 11 916 (11)Fuel, oil and grease $ 9 382 (15) 11 624 (17) 11 082 (14)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 5 957 (27) 11 699 (30) 10 311 (26)– other $ 2 768 (22) 3 598 (18) 3 397 (15)Other materials $ 7 885 (18) 7 227 (11) 7 386 (9)Administration $ 3 928 (18) 5 582 (8) 5 182 (7)Contracts paid $ 4 830 (43) 5 019 (14) 4 974 (15)Rates $ 3 634 (13) 4 813 (16) 4 528 (13)Freight $ 2 737 (16) 6 658 (12) 5 710 (11)Handling and marketing costs $ 9 804 (15) 16 490 (10) 14 874 (9)Other services $ 5 457 (18) 11 054 (14) 9 701 (12)Interest $ 8 340 (21) 13 644 (16) 12 362 (14)Rent $ 1 793 (23) 1 764 (23) 1 771 (18)Payments to sharefarmers $ 676 (57) 4 251 (26) 3 387 (25)Other cash costs $ 521 (187) 417 (48) 442 (63)Total cash costs $ 114 220 (16) 161 201 (13) 149 843 (11)



36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 15 374 (21) 5 656 (24) 8 176 (21)– beef $ 4 800 (31) 2 931 (46) 2 597 (32)Hired labor $ 2 707 (39) 3 049 (109) 9 664 (17)Shearing and crutching $ 5 218 (16) 5 135 (15) 11 008 (12)Fertiliser $ 13 008 (26) 22 487 (13) 43 346 (13)Fodder $ 2 299 (49) 3 378 (32) 2 151 (35)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 3 103 (46) 14 726 (11) 27 021 (12)Fuel, oil and grease $ 9 382 (15) 11 624 (17) 16 444 (11)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 5 957 (27) 11 699 (30) 19 246 (12)– other $ 1 110 (100) 5 223 (11) 4 913 (11)Other materials $ 8 353 (15) 13 138 (9) 12 776 (8)Administration $ 6 535 (16) 9 020 (7) 8 833 (7)Contracts paid $ 991 (40) 6 055 (21) 5 673 (20)Rates $ 2 690 (16) 4 602 (7) 4 457 (7)Freight $ 9 980 (38) 18 316 (14) 17 687 (14)Handling and marketing costs $ 6 035 (17) 28 138 (10) 26 469 (10)Other services $ 7 386 (10) 18 754 (8) 17 896 (8)Interest $ 2 508 (66) 19 212 (15) 17 951 (15)Rent $ 16 (318) 4 211 (32) 3 894 (32)Payments to sharefarmers $ 0 1 158 (78) 1 071 (78)Other cash costs $ 5 748 (0) 301 (44) 712 (17)Total cash costs $ 118 745 (19) 273 680 (10) 261 984 (9)



36 Farm cash costs, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aTasmania Average per farm



Purchases– sheep $ 1 316 (84) 5 022 (30) 4 074 (28)– beef $ 1 222 (92) 9 737 (42) 7 560 (41)Hired labor $ 5 490 (292) 19 733 (9) 16 091 (27)Shearing and crutching $ 3 394 (148) 12 770 (9) 10 373 (15)Fertiliser $ 6 511 (54) 19 024 (8) 15 824 (9)Fodder $ 704 (30) 2 809 (43) 2 270 (40)Crop and pasture chemicals $ 1 026 (155) 2 771 (11) 2 324 (20)Fuel, oil and grease $ 4 756 (73) 10 076 (6) 8 715 (11)Repairs and maintenance– plant and machinery $ 3 734 (149) 8 736 (8) 7 457 (20)– other $ 1 366 (281) 6 504 (11) 5 190 (21)Other materials $ 5 321 (113) 16 422 (8) 13 583 (13)Administration $ 2 527 (96) 6 515 (7) 5 495 (13)Contracts paid $ 1 610 (193) 4 369 (16) 3 664 (26)Rates $ 1 771 (74) 4 756 (7) 3 993 (11)Freight $ 989 (166) 3 005 (12) 2 490 (20)Handling and marketing costs $ 3 964 (131) 13 075 (7) 10 745 (14)Other services $ 4 213 (60) 12 527 (11) 10 401 (11)Interest $ 7 519 (139) 12 336 (16) 11 104 (27)Rent $ 1 077 (178) 1 891 (33) 1 683 (40)Payments to sharefarmers $ 0 196 (143) 146 (143)Other cash costs $ 194 (383) 481 (53) 408 (66)Total cash costs $ 58 702 (118) 172 754 (6) 143 591 (13)



37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aNew South Wales Average per farm



Total cash receipts $ 188 991 (12) 253 552 (10) 242 503 (8)less total cash costs $ 139 024 (13) 190 083 (8) 181 345 (7)

Farm cash income b $ 49 968 (26) 64 368 (17) 61 913 (15)plus buildup in tradingstocks $ 12 445 (33) 7 658 (70) 8 477 (53)less depreciation $ 14 822 (8) 18 103 (10) 17 541 (9)less operator and familylabor cost $ 18 053 (7) 18 434 (11) 18 368 (9)

Farm business profit b $ 8 504 (109) 16 267 (65) 14 944 (60)Profit at full equity $ 16 480 (51) 34 462 (34) 31 385 (32)

plus capital appreciation $ 6 926 (82) 2 717 (444) 3 437 (293)Profit at full equity including

capital appreciation $ 23 406 (43) 37 180 (56) 34 822 (50)

Total capital $ 1 224 877 (20) 1 280 267 (10) 1 270 788 (9)


appreciation % 1.4 (43) 2.7 (29) 2.5 (27)– including capital

appreciation % 1.9 (34) 2.9 (51) 2.7 (46)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of their farm cash receipts from primelamb sales. b Includes additional farms surveyed by phone – see appendix A. Consequently, farm cashincome will not always equal total cash receipts less total costs. c Profit at full equity, excludingcapital appreciation, as a percentage of total opening capital. Profit at full equity is defined as farmbusiness profit plus rent, interest and lease payments less depreciation on leased items.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aVictoria Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ 17 511 (70) 76 772 (14) 54 171 (15)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 4 123 (79) –7 167 (139) –3 019 (213)less depreciation $ 8 816 (35) 15 745 (11) 13 199 (12)less operator and family labor cost $ 8 041 (39) 18 877 (13) 14 896 (13)

Farm business profit b $ –15 467 (44) 15 298 (49) 3 565 (148)Profit at full equity $ –9 399 (120) 32 640 (24) 17 195 (38)

plus capital appreciation $ –5 314 (35) 9 139 (96) 3 829 (145)Profit at full equity including

capital appreciation $ –14 713 (65) 41 779 (27) 21 025 (38)

Total capital $ 731 082 (33) 1 165 673 (7) 1 006 010 (10)


appreciation % –1.3 (152) 2.7 (24) 1.7 (33)– including capital

appreciation % –2.0 (96) 3.5 (28) 2.0 (35)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep and received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of their farm cash receipts from primelamb sales. b Includes additional farms surveyed by phone – see appendix A. Consequently, farm cashincome will not always equal total cash receipts less total costs. c Profit at full equity, excludingcapital appreciation, as a percentage of total opening capital. Profit at full equity is defined as farmbusiness profit plus rent, interest and lease payments less depreciation on leased items.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aQueensland Average per farm



Total cash receipts $ ns ns 246 125 (130) 246 125 (130)less total cash costs $ ns ns 153 420 (103) 153 420 (103)

Farm cash income b $ ns ns 99 869 (193) 99 869 (193)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns 12 529 (111) 12 529 (111)less depreciation $ ns ns 10 914 (24) 10 914 (24)less operator and familylabor cost $ ns ns 16 733 (27) 16 733 (27)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns 63 526 (307) 63 526 (307)Profit at full equity $ ns ns 80 470 (227) 80 470 (227)plus capital appreciation $ ns ns –31 517 (189) –31 517 (189)

Profit at full equity including capital appreciation $ ns ns 48 953 (253) 48 953 (253)

Total capital $ ns ns 947 254 (92) 947 254 (92)


appreciation % ns ns 8.2 (136) 8.2 (136)– including capital

appreciation % ns ns 5.0 (161) 5.0 (161)

a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of their farm cash receipts from primelamb sales. b Includes additional farms surveyed by phone – see appendix A. Consequently, farm cashincome will not always equal total cash receipts less total costs. c Profit at full equity, excludingcapital appreciation, as a percentage of total opening capital. Profit at full equity is defined as farmbusiness profit plus rent, interest and lease payments less depreciation on leased items. ns Notsupplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included in the all industrysample for that state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.


37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aSouth Australia Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ 45 280 (45) 67 603 (14) 63 017 (14)plus buildup in tradingstocks $ 6 164 (212) –2 232 (205) –677 (657)less depreciation $ 17 865 (34) 22 254 (17) 21 441 (15)less operator and family labor cost $ 20 651 (25) 16 813 (15) 17 524 (13)




Total capital $ 1 093 773 (27) 1 346 877 (13) 1 299 993 (11)



appreciation % –4.3 (73) 4.1 (81) 2.7 (104)



37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aWestern Australia Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ ns ns 96 015 (14) 89 640 (13)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns –9 186 (74) –8 500 (94)less depreciation $ ns ns 23 391 (15) 24 716 (13)less operator and family labor cost $ ns ns 17 909 (24) 19 027 (20)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns 27 024 (46) 18 101 (67)Profit at full equity $ ns ns 62 416 (18) 49 722 (23)

plus capital appreciation $ ns ns 67 996 (26) 65 771 (27)Profit at full equity including

capital appreciation $ ns ns 130 412 (16) 115 493 (20)

Total capital $ ns ns 1 580 672 (8) 1 492 345 (8)


appreciation $ ns ns 3.8 (16) 3.1 (21)– including capital

appreciation $ ns ns 8.0 (15) 7.3 (18)



37 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, 1996-97 aTasmania Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ ns ns) 47 859 (34) 39 640 (32)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns) 9 512 (100) 7 326 (117)less depreciation $ ns ns 20 292 (10) 17 849 (20)less operator and family labor cost $ ns ns 12 699 (35) 14 462 (28)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns) 5 230 (209) –5 040 (194)Profit at full equity $ ns ns) 18 897 (60) 8 496 (105)

plus capital appreciation $ ns ns –34 483 (78) –27 523 (75)Profit at full equity including

capital appreciation $ ns ns –15 586 (178) –19 026 (112)




appreciation % ns ns –0.8 (171) –1.1 (107)







Farm cash income b $ 30 035 (26) 43 987 (20) 39 567 (16)plus buildup in tradingstocks $ –3 078 (151) 3 415 (160) 1 255 (316)less depreciation $ 13 298 (22) 21 756 (13) 18 942 (11)less operator and family labor cost $ 12 887 (20) 14 773 (12) 14 145 (10)

Farm business profit b $ –20 630 (47) –8 214 (91) –12 147 (49)Profit at full equity $ –12 562 (69) 16 250 (48) 6 663 (89)



Total capital $ 1 070 316 (15) 1 675 322 (13) 1 474 016 (10)



appreciation % –1.0 (204) 3.5 (32) 2.4 (42)







Farm cash income b $ 12 714 (69) 48 408 (11) 36 035 (13)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 10 560 (114) – 775 (571) 3 129 (162)less depreciation $ 14 357 (12) 15 428 (15) 15 059 (11)less operator and family labor cost $ 15 428 (16) 16 764 (13) 16 304 (10)



capital appreciation $ 510 (2388) 26 009 (28) 17 226 (37)

Total capital $ 1 043 356 (11) 990 795 (9) 1 008 899 (7)



appreciation % 0.1 (2384) 2.6 (29) 1.7 (37)







Farm cash income b $ ns ns 28 212 (60) 22 886 (71)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns 28 959 (24) 29 109 (24)less depreciation $ ns ns 14 370 (9) 14 320 (9)less operator and family labor cost $ ns ns 15 841 (8) 15 447 (7)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns 4 320 (348) –188 (7668)Profit at full equity $ ns ns 20 477 (109) 17 685 (123)







a Specialist producers are farms with more than 200 sheep that received more than 20 per cent of theirfarm cash receipts from prime lamb sales. Other prime lamb producers are farms with more than 200sheep and prime lamb sales that received less than 20 per cent of their farm cash receipts from primelamb sales. b Includes additional farms surveyed by phone – see appendix A, Methods of collection.Consequently, farm cash income will not always equal total cash receipts less total costs. c Profit atfull equity, excluding capital appreciation, as a percentage of total opening capital. Profit at full equityis defined as farm business profit plus rent, interest and lease payments less depreciation on leaseditems. ns Not supplied due to insufficient sample size but any farms in this category are included inthe all industry sample for that state.Note: Figures in parentheses are relative standard errors, expressed as percentages of the estimates.






Farm cash income b $ 48 155 (25) 56 384 (23) 53 821 (18)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 17 999 (14) –1 718 (424) 4 311 (119)less depreciation $ 13 574 (17) 18 894 (20) 17 267 (15)less operator and family labor cost $ 18 007 (17) 15 529 (14) 16 286 (11)

Farm business profit b $ 13 360 (69) –1 365 (622) 3 221 (202)Profit at full equity $ 25 421 (41) 14 786 (67) 18 038 (42)



Total capital $ 1 132 713 (25) 1 117 170 (36) 1 121 923 (26)



appreciation % 0.9 (134) 5.1 (46) 3.8 (41)







Farm cash income b $ ns ns 91 780 (18) 92 227 (18)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns 8 515 (100) 8 778 (94)less depreciation $ ns ns 33 518 (34) 33 335 (33)less operator and familylabor cost $ ns ns 21 135 (11) 21 582 (11)




Total capital $ ns ns) 1 762 648 (15) 1 778 205 (15)


appreciation % ns ns) 2.9 (20) 2.9 (19)– including capital








Farm cash income b $ ns ns 49 980 (24) 34 774 (25)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns –8 599 (77) –5 592 (112)less depreciation $ ns ns 20 546 (10) 16 185 (30)less operator and family

labor cost $ ns ns 17 078 (16) 16 629 (44)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns –18 895 (57) –27 511 (59)Profit at full equity $ ns ns –3 466 (309) –14 701 (94)

plus capital appreciation $ ns ns –25 324 (91) –17 567 (92)Profit at full equity including




appreciation % ns ns –0.2 (306) –1.2 (63)– including capital








Farm cash income b $ 20 503 (30) 36 007 (24) 30 827 (19)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 2 089 (209) 6 548 (126) 5 093 (112)less depreciation $ 10 112 (18) 20 075 (11) 16 823 (10)less operator and family labor cost $ 7 183 (30) 16 571 (14) 13 507 (13)




Total capital $ 933 893 (12) 1 265 363 (15) 1 157 165 (12)



appreciation % –1.2 (87) 1.4 (55) 0.7 (90)








Farm business profit b $ –38 913 (42) –12 347 (61) –20 950 (35)Profit at full equity $ –21 957 (61) 5 563 (145) –3 008 (230)



Total capital $ 1 030 074 (28) 1 204 878 (9) 1 150 438 (10)


appreciation % –2.1 (86) 0.5 (143) –0.3 (236)– including capital

appreciation % 2.1 (55) 1.2 (95) 1.5 (62)








Farm business profit b $ ns ns –15 236 (125) –15 236 (125)Profit at full equity $ ns ns 20 864 (169) 20 864 (169)













Farm cash income b $ 39 614 (45) 65 515 (18) 58 862 (17)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 2 567 (163) –3 465 (123) –2 212 (157)less depreciation $ 10 034 (27) 19 235 (25) 17 324 (22)less operator and family labor cost $ 17 045 (20) 18 726 (12) 18 377 (11)

Farm business profit b $ –2 234 (593) 2 351 (434) 1 173 (709)Profit at full equity $ 2 383 (654) 17 092 (67) 14 036 (69)



Total capital $ 844 201 (24) 1 395 757 (12) 1 281 165 (11)



appreciation % 2.7 (82) 2.7 (52) 2.7 (46)








Farm business profit b $ ns ns –12 916 (89) –10 689 (100)Profit at full equity $ ns ns 12 554 (115) 13 303 (100)













Farm cash income b $ ns ns 36 127 (22) 28 747 (23)plus buildup in trading stocks $ ns ns –1 483 (298) –3 377 (109)less depreciation $ ns ns 16 970 (13) 14 183 (12)less operator and family labor cost $ ns ns) 15 674 (19) 15 664 (15)

Farm business profit b $ ns ns –20 675 (48) –27 175 (28)Profit at full equity $ ns ns –4 876 (208) –13 435 (58)





appreciation % ns ns –0.3 (211) –1.1 (60)– including capital




40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aNew South Wales Average per farm








Total capital $ 1 041 277 (9) 1 421 066 (8) 1 311 646 (6)



appreciation % –0.5 (198) 2.7 (24) 1.9 (29)



40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aVictoria Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ 11 241 (61) 53 615 (8) 38 796 (9)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 7 897 (58) – 499 (765) 2 358 (126)less depreciation $ 12 768 (11) 16 283 (7) 15 087 (6)less operator and family labor cost $ 12 184 (18) 17 948 (8) 15 987 (8)




Total capital $ 931 479 (14) 1 122 336 (5) 1 057 399 (5)


appreciation $ –1.4 (63) 1.3 (30) 0.5 (70)– including capital

appreciation $ 0.2 (315) 2.4 (26) 1.7 (27)



40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aQueensland Average per farm














40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aSouth Australia Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ 44 787 (20) 62 568 (11) 57 830 (10)plus buildup in trading stocks $ 11 131 (27) –2 491 (134) 802 (329)less depreciation $ 13 330 (14) 19 914 (12) 18 322 (10)less operator and family labor cost $ 18 221 (12) 17 034 (8) 17 321 (7)

Farm business profit b $ 4 084 (162) 1 766 (296) 2 383 (177)Profit at full equity $ 13 477 (57) 19 025 (32) 17 684 (28)plus capital appreciation $ –10 704 (72) 29 285 (48) 19 618 (55)

Profit at full equity includingcapital appreciation $ 2 773 (423) 48 311 (36) 37 302 (36)

Total capital $ 1 038 962 (16) 1 279 756 (13) 1 221 546 (11)



appreciation % 0.3 (415) 3.9 (33) 3.1 (33)



40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aWestern Australia Average per farm








Total capital $ 1 209 344 (18) 1 750 110 (8) 1 709 288 (8)



appreciation % 1.1 (311) 4.2 (16) 3.9 (17)


40 Investment returns, prime lamb farms, average 1996-97 to 1998-99 aTasmania Average per farm




Farm cash income b $ 4 414 (123) 44 033 (16) 34 172 (16)plus buildup in trading stocks $ –2 446 (346) 1 027 (431) 139 (2844)less depreciation $ 7 218 (98) 19 234 (7) 16 162 (13)less operator and family labor cost $ 17 254 (49) 14 858 (15) 15 470 (17)

Farm business profit b $ –45 787 (39) –11 121 (55) –19 749 (32)Profit at full equity $ –35 239 (37) 4 968 (127) –5 313 (109)

plus capital appreciation $ –1 285 (193) –19 659 (63) –14 961 (62)Profit at full equity including

capital appreciation $ –36 524 (35) –14 691 (93) –20 274 (53)

Total capital $ 650 142 (91) 1 671 571 (6) 1 410 388 (12)


appreciation % –5.3 (77) 0.3 (128) –0.4 (104)– including capital

appreciation % –5.5 (72) -0.9 (90) –1.4 (49)



References

Ashton, D., Rudwick, V. and Reynolds, R. 1995, The Australian Sheep MeatIndustry, ABARE, Canberra.

ABARE 1999, Australian Beef Industry 1999, ABARE Research Report99.10, Canberra

—— 2000a, Australian Commodities, vol. 7, no. 2, June quarter, Canberra.

—— 2000b, Australian Farm Surveys Report 2000, Canberra.

Burbidge, G. 1999, ‘Managing for profit in a grazing enterprise’ in Outlook99, Proceedings of the National Agricultural and Resources Outlook Con-ference, Canberra, 17–18 March, vol. 2, Agriculture, ABARE, Canberra,pp. 27–32.

Casburn, G. 1999, ‘The importance of being market focussed’, WesternDivision Newsletter, July–August, NSW Agriculture, Cobar.

Driscoll, T., Mitchell, R., Mandryk, J., Healey, S. and Hendrie, L. 1998,Work-related Traumatic Fatalities in Australia 1989-92, National Occupa-tion Health and Safety Commission, Sydney.

Gleeson, T., Brittle, S. and O’Donnell, V. 2000, ‘Meat: outlook to 2004-05’,in Outlook 2000, Proceedings of the National Outlook Conference,Canberra, 29 February–2 March, vol. 2, Agriculture, ABARE, Canberra,pp. 299–310.

Garnaut, J., Lapiz, E. and Lindsay, R. 1996, ‘Farm households’, in FarmSurveys Report 1996, ABARE, Canberra, pp. 48–52.

Kilpatrick, S. 1999, ‘Social capital and group learning’, in Outlook 99, Pro-ceedings of the National Agricultural and Resources Outlook Conference,Canberra, 17–18 March, vol. 2, Agriculture, ABARE, Canberra, pp.137–43.


Kinghorn, B., Rogan, I. and Davis, G. 1991, ‘Breeding and selection’, inCottle, D. (ed.), Australian Sheep and Wool Handbook, Inkata Press,Melbourne, pp. 67–83.

Knopke, P., O’Donnell, V. and Shepherd, A. 2000, Productivity Growth inthe Australian Grains Industry, ABARE Research Report 2000.1, Canberra.

Shaw, I. and O’Rourke, C. 1999, US Restraints on Lamb Imports, ABARECurrent Issues 99.5, Canberra.


Survey data services

Customised data tabulationsABARE can provide special tabulations to meet specific requirements suchas estimates for subpopulations, regions, or cross tabulation of variables andquantiles. There is a charge for these services based on the size and complex-ity of the request.

Contact: Peter Martin (+61 2 6272 2363 or [email protected]) or CidRiley (+61 2 6272 2253 or [email protected])

Supplementary surveysABARE’s survey system allows for additional questions to be added to themain survey or to the telephone survey to obtain information on specifictopics. These questions can be directed to all farms or to farms with partic-ular characteristics or locations. Advice on surveys and questionnaire designis also available.

Contact: Milly Lubulwa (+61 2 6272 2219 or [email protected])

Statistical consultancyABARE can provide expert advice on

• designing and selecting a sample

• data analysis

• graphical presentation of results

• time series analysis

• data modeling and simulation

• statistical software evaluation.

Contact: Walter Shafron (+61 2 6272 2190 or [email protected]).


Mapping services

ABARE has software, computing equipment and staff trained in datamapping. ABARE is also anticipating being able to cross tabulate surveydata with information on other variables such as climate and topography thatwill allow more sophisticated assessment of a range of factors affecting ruralAustralia.

Contact: Greg Griffiths (+61 2 6272 2372 or [email protected])

ASPIREThis computer package provides time series data from 1977-78 to 1996-97on a wide range of physical, financial and socioeconomic characteristics offarms covered in ABARE’s annual surveys.

ASPIRE provides graphical presentations of ABARE survey data. It allowsup to six variables to be compared simultaneously. ASPIRE also providestabular output and can be used to export data to other programs. Three pack-ages are available:

• Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey (AAGIS)

• Australian dairy industry survey (ADIS)

• AAGIS and ADIS combined.

Contact: Peter Martin (+61 2 6272 2363 or [email protected])

Ag@ccessAg@ccess is a software package that provides performance benchmarks forfarms in Australia’s broadacre and dairy industries. It allows users to obtainbenchmark statistics for their geographic area of interest. Users can alsocreate color maps to visualise geographic patterns of measures of farm perfor-mance across Australia.

Contact: Ray Hinde (+61 2 6272 2213 or [email protected])


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