Trends in Australian Agriculture
Commission Research Paper
Trends in Australian Agriculture was released on 5 July 2005. This report examines some of the key trends in Australia’s agriculture sector over the last 20 years or so. While continuing to grow in absolute terms, the size and importance of agriculture has declined relative to the rest of the economy. Within the sector, there have been marked changes in the number and size of Australian farms, the make-up of agricultural activities and the production and marketing strategies employed by farmers.
Some of the key factors shaping these trends have been changes in consumer demands and government policies, technological advances and innovation and emerging environmental concerns. The unrelenting decline in the sector’s terms of trade (that is, the ratio of prices received to prices paid) has been an important source of pressure for adaptation and change by Australian farmers. The sector has also had to respond to the continuing challenge of variations in seasonal conditions. Also see:
CONTENTS
Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Acknowledgments, Contents, Abbreviations, Key points, Overview
1 Introduction
1.1 Objectives of the study
1.2 Agriculture — what does it cover?
1.3 Agricultural production systems
1.4 Structure of the report
2 Role of agriculture in the economy
2.1 The contribution of the agriculture sector
2.2 Trends in agriculture
2.3 Reasons for the relative decline of agriculture
3 Trends within agriculture
3.1 Fewer and larger farms
3.2 Increased concentration of output
3.3 More intensive farming
3.4 Closer integration in the agri-food chain
3.5 Divergent trends within agriculture
4 Trade in agriculture
4.1 Measuring agricultural exports
4.2 Trade orientation and openness
4.3 Key trends within agricultural trade
4.4 Changes in export market profile
4.5 Barriers to growth in Australia’s agricultural exports
5 Agriculture’s workforce
5.1 Agriculture jobs
5.2 Trends in agricultural employment
5.3 Some distinctive features
6 Agriculture’s productivity performances
6.1 Productivity growth — why is it important?
6.2 Measuring productivity
6.3 Trends in agricultural productivity
6.4 Comparisons with other industries
6.5 Productivity trends within agriculture
6.6 Drivers of productivity growth in agriculture
6.7 International comparisons
A Input-output links for agricultural industries
B Trade data
C Supplementary employment data
D Determining productivity peaks
References
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