Australia’s total sheep population peaked in 1970, dropping by about one-third at the beginning of the 21st century. Nonetheless, Australia remains the world’s leading producer of wool, regularly supplying nearly one-third of the global total—this despite a collapse in world prices that caused production to fall steeply during the 1990s. Concurrently, there was a precipitous drop in sheep farming’s proportion of total agricultural revenues. By contrast, Australia’s grain and combined grain and livestock production held stable at about two-fifths of agricultural turnover. During the early 1950s, agricultural production accounted for between one-sixth and one-fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP), but by the beginning of the 21st century that proportion had declined to less than 5 percent. Much of the decline was attributed to reorganized economic priorities; some of it, however, was the result of increasing competition from European and North American producers who took advantage of subsidies and enhancement programs.

The number and importance of small operations has also steadily declined. Roughly half of the country’s farm establishments combined now contribute less than one-fifth of Australia’s total agricultural output, but about one-tenth of the farm businesses account for roughly half of production.

Australia is an important source of export cereals, meat, sugar, dairy produce, and fruit. Landholdings are characteristically large, specialized, owner-operated, capital-intensive, export-oriented, and intricately interlinked through the activities of producers’ associations and government organizations. Less than one-tenth of the country is used for intensive production; one-fourth is virtually unused, and three-fifths is employed for sparse grazing on natural or near-natural pastures. Only a minute fraction is irrigated. Wheat is the country’s leading grain crop and is grown in every state, with production concentrated in the wheat belts of the southeast and southwest. Up to four-fifths of the grain is exported, chiefly to eastern Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific region. In contrast to its Northern Hemisphere competitors, Australia does not have the standard winter or spring wheats and does not produce red-grained wheat; rather, all Australian wheats are white-grained, principally intended for breads and noodles, and are planted in the winter months of May, June, and July. The main harvest begins in Queensland in September or October and ends in Victoria and southern Western Australia in January; production is highly mechanized. The crop has become closely integrated with sheep grazing and the cultivation of barley, oats, and other grains and with the production of green fodder and hay for livestock.

Intensive sugarcane farming is significant in Queensland’s coastal districts, on the northern coastal plains of New South Wales, and in the Ord Irrigated District in northwestern Western Australia. Production operations are highly sophisticated, from planting and harvesting to milling; the most arduous manual labour traditionally associated with this cultivation was replaced long ago by efficient mechanization. Sugar represents Australia’s second-biggest crop export.

Other important crops include cotton (the second most valuable crop, after wheat), rice, tobacco, temperate and tropical fruits, corn (maize), sorghum, oilseeds, and a host of other items reflecting the expansive latitudinal range of farming operations. Wine making for domestic and export markets is pursued in every state but is most significant in the southern parts of the country. The sector experienced spectacular growth in the 1990s, with production of wine grapes increasing by three-fifths during the decade to supply some 1,200 wineries. Nearly half of wine exports are directed to the United Kingdom. Other major markets include the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and Germany.

Sheep are raised in most of the agricultural regions and under widely varying environmental conditions, but one-third of the total graze wholly on the natural fodders of the dry “pastoral zone,” much of which is the undisputed domain of the Merino. In belts with higher precipitation levels (15–25 inches [380–635 mm] annually) sheep are farmed in conjunction with wheat and other cereals, and the flocks include breeds other than the Merino. Approximately two-fifths of the national flock is located in these “wheat-and-sheep” belts. Areas with moderately reliable rainfall produce most of Australia’s superfine wool. Mutton and lamb production is particularly important in mixed-farming areas of Victoria, commonly in association with wheat.

Australia’s total cattle population peaked in the mid-1970s and has subsequently shrunk by about one-fourth. Most of Australia’s beef cattle are raised in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales, but the industry is important in all productive regions. The favoured breeds are British in origin, predominantly Herefords and Shorthorns, but in the tropical areas resistance to heat, ticks, and insects is required, and zebu types such as Africander, Brahman, and Santa Gertrudis are used in crossbreeding programs. Management styles range from high-tech sophistication on numerous southern properties to a more rough-and-ready approach on giant northern cattle stations, where the annual musters (roundups) resemble hunting expeditions and the stockmen’s horses have been replaced by helicopters, motorbikes, and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Another characteristic of the Outback beef industry is that stock is transported long distances to meat-processing centres or pasture. The old dependence on a government-monitored system of wide “stock routes” plied by expert drovers has been replaced by modern trucking, including the distinctive “road trains” (large trucks, each pulling several trailers) of the north, and by reasonably maintained roads capable of supporting these behemoths.

Australia’s governments are intimately involved in most aspects of rural production. Their purview extends from initiating pioneer settlement to conducting intensive scientific research and providing advisory and educational services. It also takes in organizing national and international marketing, price control, complex schemes for drought and flood relief, controlling and eradicating pests and diseases, and tailoring subsidies to facilitate economic, environmental, and social programs.

All state governments maintain large staffs to serve the major rural industries. The federal government coordinates much of the state-based research and is responsible for matters connected with national and international perspectives. Its main research arm is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which has a formidable reputation worldwide. Producers’ organizations work independently and alongside government bodies, and they constitute effective lobbying groups in the federal and state parliaments.

Forestry and fishing

At the beginning of the 21st century, official (and controversial) estimates suggested that a total of one-fifth of Australia’s land area was native forest, nearly a third of which was in private hands. Most of the private native forest is not actively managed for wood production, and much of the publicly owned area is set aside in national parks and other reserves. Roughly one-fifth of the overall total is managed for wood.

The chief commercial forests are in high-rainfall areas on the coast or in the coastal highlands of Tasmania, the southeastern and eastern mainland, and along the southwestern coast of Western Australia. The main types of tree are the evergreen members of genus Eucalyptus, providing timber of great strength and durability, and a great variety of rainforest trees. Since World War II several regions have been intensively exploited for wood pulp, partly for export to Japan. These activities have been opposed by the well-organized environmental movement, which consolidated its influence in political affairs during the 1970s and ’80s.

Except for the temperate seas in the southeast and around Tasmania, Australia’s extensive marine ecosystems are found in comparatively warm waters over a narrow continental shelf; by world standards their productivity is low, but they support a small domestic industry and are significant for tourism and recreation. Administered by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, the 200-nautical-mile (370-km) Australian fishing zone—the third largest of its type—was proclaimed in 1979 as a safeguard against foreign incursions. It covers an area considerably larger than the Australian landmass and is difficult to police. Although the influx of Asian and southern European immigrants has enlarged the local market and diversified the catch, less than one-fifth of the marine and freshwater species are commercially exploited. The most valuable exports (primarily to Japan and other eastern Asian countries) are prawns, rock lobsters (marine crayfish), abalone, tuna and other fin fish, scallops, and edible and pearl oysters. Other important species caught include bream, cod, flathead, mackerel, perch, whiting, and Australian salmon. Fresh, frozen, and canned seafood is sold locally and to Asian, European, and North American markets.