1000 Australia Agriculture Facts

Check out some cool facts about the Australian agriculture industry. We are providing a creative format through our TikTok account @farmsadviceau. If you have a weird fact we haven’t heard of let us know in the comments below. We are on a mission to provide 1,000 facts directly relating to Australian agriculture. Keep on farming!

Australia produces approx. 25 million tonnes of wheat each year.
Australia has 24,000 native plants that make up our ecosystem.
We need 20,000 bees per acre of land including fruit crops, canola, and all of the rest.
Australian’s consume nearly 6 eggs per week. That’s nearly 300 for the year. How many do you eat?
Australians consume 27 kg of pork products annually (50% is imported). Largest wholesale fruit, vegetable, and flower markets in Australia and one of the largest food distribution centres in the Southern Hemisphere.
In 2015 there were just over 1,800 piggeries across Australia. With one in every state and territory except for the Northern Territory.
Australia’s projected 2020 sheep numbers are down to 63.7 million for the year. Due to the drought over the recent years hitting the livestock industry hard.
There are circa 1,800 avocado growers in Australia. With 46,000 tonnes previously and jumping up to 100,000 tonnes over recent years.
Australian farmers can feed approximately 600 people, with produce going to consumers in the domestic and international markets.
Australian agriculture provides employment for 1.6 million workers across the whole supply chain. From the farmer’s gate right to the consumer’s table.

Advocating from Central Australia with Gillian Fennell – Farms Advice Podcast

Farms Advice Podcast this week is with the Queen of Twitter, Gillian Fennell. Coming from South Australia she is pretty well smack bang in the middle of Australia, or as others would call. Middle of no where. They operate huge area with the family and are using Twitter as a way to stay connected. she's informed of most things and if she isn't she doesn't try to be.Follow her on Twitter @Stationmum101If you liked this episode please share it with a mate or a retweet. Make sure you've subscribed so you don't miss another episode.www.farmsadvice.com.au for over 200+ episodes looking to improve your farm@farmsadvice on your socials to find us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are 23.5 million cows in Australia, with 21 million bred for beef and 2.5 million providing dairy products.
The most photographed crop in the world, the sunflower! Each head contains 1,500 seeds ready to eat or set seed. Australia producing 80,000 tonnes of it each year. Did you know the Spanish consume sunflower seeds at all sporting games?
Australia exported $5.1 billion worth of beef for 2019. Making it 2nd on the top exports for Australia.
In Australia, we eat 3.8 kilograms of dried fruit each year. Producing 20,000 tonnes each year for domestic and international markets.
The world’s largest cattle station is “Anna Creek”, based in South Australia around Lake Eyre. With the whole block around 23,000 square kilometres.
Australia’s largest sheep station is “Rawlinna”. It is 2.5 million acres of pure bliss. In 2018 they shore 70,000 sheep across 10 weeks. They’ve even got their own post office.
There are 87,000+ farming families in Australian agriculture. Help us by sharing this blog to help grow Australian agribusinesses. Are you a farming family?
The average-sized Farm in Australia is 4,331 acres. Ranging from 1 acre to millions of acres. Each size does a different thing to another. You don’t need a million acres to be successful. You can think outside the box and use your farm efficiently.
Australia produces 24,000 tonnes of strawberries each year. With Western Australia and Queensland taking the cake for most produced. Grab a packet for your smoko!
The average age of the Australian farmer is 58. With the need to reduce this to help the shift from generation to generation. What age bracket do you fit into?
Australia produces 324,000 tonnes of wool each year. With different grades going to different end products.
The heaviest wool fleece was 41.1 kilograms. With the infamous merino whether Chris escaping a few shearings during the mustering.
Your hair is 100 micron, whilst your t-shirt is around 18.5 micron. Your hair is 5 times thicker than wool.
How many sheep are in Western Australia? 14.7 million sheep with 4,500 producers.
The biggest buyer for Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries is China. They imported 13.5 billion in 2017-18.
The average dairy size was 93 cows in 1985 and in 2018-19 it moved to 276 cows. A huge jump as some farms may have joined or bought out another.
How many dairies are there in Australia? There are 5,200 dairy’s with 1.44 million milkers.
Australia’s biggest dairy farm was Moxey farms. Producing approx 40 million litres of milk.
Australia’s largest livestock trough runs for 120 meters. and can feed up to 500 cows at any one time.
The world’s largest shearing shed of its kind is Cordillo downs. It was once home to 120 stands shearing around 85,000 sheep in the 1980s. It was made from stone and sheet iron as they couldn’t source any timber locally.
The Dingo fence, it is the largest fence erected in Australia. Running for 5,614km in total. It was built to shave sheep mobs from dingo’s from Darling Downs in QLD it runs down to the Nullarbor in South Australia.
Australia’s most expensive bull went for $325,000 by NCC Brahmans up near Rockhampton.
The average rainfall for Australia is 419 mm. Does your farm fit under or below this?
The 2nd largest sugarcane exporter in the world. Australia isn’t in the top 10 for the highest production.
How many hectares of sugarcane does Australia have? 378,000 hectares
Western Australia’s biggest agricultural commodity is wheat! It is worth $3.4 billion each year closely followed by barley and wool.
How many shearers are in Australia? 4,000 shearers were in Australia in 2018. They’re shearing 70 million sheep each year.
How many chicken eggs Australian farmers produce each day? Australia produces a whopping 16.9 million eggs each day. Including both free-range and caged eggs. That’s 6.2 billion every year.
In 2019 the most popular ute for Australian farmers was the Toyota Hilux.
The largest commodity by value in Victoria is milk production with $2.6 Billion.
The most eaten fruit in Australia is the apple!
In 2020 there are 63.7 million sheep with fibre and food producers.
The world’s most expensive cherries sold for $35,000 in 2007. As the first box of cherries is auctioned off to start the season and the money goes to a charity of choice.
The largest cattle yards in Australia is in Roma, with 319,000 on average running through the pens each year.
The largest sheep yards in Australia is home to Wagga Wagga NSW. With 1.7 million sold in 2017.
Northern Territories’ largest agricultural commodity is beef and calves. With $612 million worth sold each year.
The top 3 agricultural sectors in the Australian Capital Territory is cattle ($2m), sheep meat ($1.8m), and wool ($1.7m)
The most expensive ram sold in Australia is sold by Collinsville Stud in South Australia. He sold for $450K in 1989.
McDonald’s buys $1b + on locally produced ingredients. With 23.5M kilograms of beef.
Australia produces 600,000 tonnes of citrus each year with just 2,000 farmers.
Australia produced 1,000 MT of coffee in 2012.
How much coffee Australians drinks each year. Each Australian consumer drinks 1.9kg of coffee each year
How many feral goats in Australia? There are around 2.6 million with 1 million going to slaughter each year.
The best year for wheat yield in 2010 – 2020 was 2017 with 2.6/hectare across all of Australia.
Australia grows 2,5000 hectares of hemp crops grown with the majority grown in Tasmania.
Australia producers 800,000 MT of rice each year. Grown by 1,500 farmers, mostly in the southern parts of Australia.
31,136 Agribusiness enterprises work with sheep as their primary income source.
There are 200,000 employees working in the red meat sector. The form on the farm and all the way to retail.
There are approximately 400 grapes that go into each bottle of wine. Keep it Aussie!
Australia is home to the biggest population of camels in the world. With 300,000 running around the northern parts of Australia.
90% of Australian Cotton producers are run by families in agriculture.
Australian cotton growers produce enough cotton to clothe 500 million people every year.
The largest cattle drive in Australia’s history by Patrick Durack. With 7,250 cows starting on the 4,800km journey in 1879 with only half of that making it to the end of Argle downs and Ivanhoe Station.
The biggest cattle drive in Australia was led by Tom Brinkworth who brought 18,000 head of cattle from QLD, all the way down to Hay in NSW.
The most expensive bottle of wine is sold by Penfolds went for $103,555 for a bottle of red.
The average-sized cotton farm is 576 hectares. with it taking up just 10% of most farmers’ land.
Different red meat Australia produces is kangaroo, sheep, goat, venison, buffalo, and cattle
Australia produces 1.3 billion litres of wine each year, which does into 1.5 billion bottles of wine.
Australia’s biggest export market is China, with $2.84B in transactions in 2019.
The hottest town in Australia is Wyndham in Western Australia. Its mean temperature is 35.6 degrees celsius.
The coldest town in Australia is Cooma, with an average temperate of -2.9 degrees throughout winter.
The average sheep mob size in Australia is 2,875.
The average-sized beef herd is 805
Australia’s largest landholder is Gina Rinehart. She owns 9.9 million hectares/ 24.4 million acres.
The record for the most number of sheep is 497 merino ewes shorn in just 8 hours. Taken place in Konjinup in Western Australia.
In Australia, there are around 2874 shearers in Australia. With more coming over from New Zealand. That leaves 20,000 per shearer each year with 60 million sheep.
Australia is home to 21 out of 25 deadliest snakes in the world. Top 10 below:
- Easter Brown
- Western Brown
- Mainland Tiger
- Inland Taipan
- Coastal Taipan
- Mulga (King brown)
- Lowland Copperhead
- Small eyed Snake
- Southern Death Adder
- Red-bellied Black Snake
Out of all of the vegetables grown in Australia, potatoes take the lead with 1.3 million tonnes grown each year. South Australia grows the most with $204 million worth.
The largest hydroponics shed is located in Port Augusta SA. Growing 17,000 tonnes of vegetables each year.
Cadbury Australia sources all of its milk from Tasmania from Burney. It has been carting it from there since 1920 with 80,000 litres used every day.
Australia’s cat problem is estimated at 5-23 million cats running around Australia. They kill 1.5 billion native animals each year.
There are 200 million cane toads across northern Australia that were brought in to control destructive beetles in QLD’s sugarcane crops.
R.M. Williams comes back into Australian ownership in 2020.
The biggest sheep drive in Australia in the 1800s by Thomas Guthery from Wimmera VIC to Avon Downs in NT.
The Rabbit-Proof Fence is Western Australias world’s largest fence at 3,256kms long. From 80 mile beach to near Esperenace WA. 1901-1907.
The Australian Cattle Dog was developed for cattle and long distances. With both red and blue colours.
The driest town in Australia receives 159mm each year, which is Cooper Pedy.
How many farmers in NSW? There are 23,314 farms operating currently in NSW.
Australia eats 5 Million bananas every day!
There are 600 banana growers in Australia and they are predominately from QLD.
How many beef feedlots in Australia, there are 450 currently supplying domestic and international markets.
Coming soon…