Metadata
Title:
Agricultural commodities: March quarter 2013
Series:
Agricultural commodities
Series Issue:
Volume 3 No.1
Publication Date:
05/03/2013
Description:
This report contains ABARES' latest outlook over the short (2012-13 and 2013-14) to medium term (to 2017-18) for Australia's key agricultural commodities. Also included in this issue are two articles titled Farm performance: broadacre and dairy farms, 2010-11 to 2012-13 and Productivity in the broadacre and dairy industries. A limited number of printed copies will be available by contacting info.abares@agriculture.gov.au Key Issues * The March 2013 issue of Agricultural commodities contains agricultural commodity forecasts for 2012-13 and 2013-14 and projections to 2017-18. * Under the assumption of favourable seasonal conditions, export earnings from farm commodities are forecast to be around $35.6 billion in 2013-14, slightly lower than a forecast $35.9 billion in 2012-13. * Commodities for which export earnings are forecast to rise in 2013-14 include barley (4 per cent), wine (7 per cent), beef and veal (2 per cent) and wool (17 per cent). Offsetting these rises are forecast falls in export earnings from canola (13 per cent), wheat (8 per cent), rice (17 per cent), grain sorghum (7 per cent), raw cotton (15 per cent) and sugar (5 per cent). * Export earnings for fisheries products are forecast to remain largely unchanged in 2013-14 at around $1.2 billion, following a decline of 4 per cent in 2012-13. * Export earnings for forest products are forecast to increase slightly in 2013-14 to $2.4 billion, following an increase of 3.2 per cent in 2012-13 to $2.3 billion. * Over the medium term (to 2017-18), the value of farm exports is projected to decline, but remain at relatively high levels in real terms. By 2017-18, the value of farm exports is projected to be around $33.7 billion (in 2012-13 dollars), which is marginally higher than the average of $33.1 billion (also in 2012-13 dollars) in the five years to 2011-12. * The gross value of farm production is forecast to be around $47.7 billion in 2013-14, following a forecast decline of 4.5 per cent to $46.8 billion in 2012-13. The gross value of crop production is forecast to increase by around 1 per cent to $27.3 billion in 2013-14, following a forecast decline of 2.4 per cent in 2012-13. The gross value of livestock production is forecast to increase by 3.5 per cent to $20.4 billion in 2013-14, after a forecast decline of 7.3 per cent in 2012-13. * At the national level, average farm cash income for broadacre farms is projected to decline from a recent high of $109 200 per farm in 2011-12 to around $100 000 per farm in 2012-13, at this projected level, average broadacre farm cash income will still be around 21 per cent higher than the average of $83 000 (in 2012-13 dollars) in the ten years to 2011-12. * Reductions in average farm cash income are projected for broadacre farms in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia due to lower livestock and wool prices and a reduction from historically high crop production in 2011-12. * At the national level, average cash income for dairy farms is projected to be around $95 000 per farm in 2012-13, down from $143 200 per farm in 2011-12. This reflects lower farmgate milk prices and rises in fodder and other input prices. * Productivity in the broadacre industries has grown at an average rate of 1 per cent a year between 1977-78 and 2010-11. Over this period, productivity growth rates differed between the main farm types: 1.5 per cent a year for cropping, 0.9 per cent a year for beef and around zero growth for sheep. Productivity growth for the dairy industry averaged 1.6 per cent a year between 1978-79 and 2010-11. * Australia has maintained its productivity and competitiveness against key competitors over the long term. However, past productivity growth rates may become more challenging to maintain and may depend more on new advances in technology. Economic assumptions underlying this set of commodity forecasts * In preparing this set of commodity forecasts and projections, world economic activity is assumed to increase by 3.5 per cent in 2013, after rising by 3.2 per cent in 2012. World economic growth is assumed to improve to 4.3 per cent in 2015, before easing gradually to around 4 per cent a year toward 2018. * In Australia, economic activity is assumed to increase by 2.8 per cent in 2013-14, after an assumed rise of 3 per cent in 2012-13. Toward 2017-18, Australian economic growth is assumed to average around 3 per cent a year. * The Australian dollar is assumed to average around US104c in 2013-14, compared with an assumed average of US103c in 2012-13. Over the medium term, the value of the Australian exchange rate is assumed to remain high, depreciating only gradually to around parity against the US dollar by 2017-18.
Resource URL Description:
0 : Agricultural Commodities: March quarter 2013 - Report - PDF [12.7 MB]

1 : Agricultural Commodities: March quarter 2013 - Report - in MS Word 2007-2011 - web accessible - MS Word [6.0 MB]

2 : Agricultural Commodities: March quarter 2013 - Report with lower resolution images - PDF [2.0 MB]

3 : Agricultural commodities: March quarter 2013 - Commodities - data tables - MS Excel [0.4 MB]

4 : Agricultural commodities: March quarter 2013 - Statistics - data tables - MS Excel [0.7 MB]
Publisher:
ABARES : Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences : Department of Agriculture
Author:
ABARES
Right Management:
Use constraints: copyright

Other constraints: Licence type:Copyright

Other constraints: All material in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence, save for content supplied by third parties, logos and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms

Other constraints: This publication (and any material sourced from it) should be attributed as: ABARES 2013, Agricultural commodities: March quarter 2013. CC BY 3.0
Identifier:
ISBN 978-1-74323-070-1

ISSN 189-5627
Asset Name:
pb_agcomd9abcc004201303_11a