ABS Agricultural Census: NSW farmers nation’s oldest

AUSTRALIA’S oldest farmers can be found in NSW, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015-16 Agricultural Census.

AUSTRALIA’S oldest farmers can be found in NSW, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2015-16 Agricultural Census.

The ABS released census data today showing the nation’s oldest farmers resided in NSW, where the average age of the state’s man on the land was 58 and average woman 56.

The youngest female farmers were found in Tasmania, where they averaged 52 years of age, while the youngest males were found in Western Australia and South Australia, averaging 55.

In Victoria and Queensland, farming men’s average age was 57, while the sunshine state’s women averaged 54, a year younger than those in the southern state.

Across the nation the census showed these men and women had been running their farms for 35 years and derived 84 per cent of their income from agricultural production.

The census found Australia has 85,681 farm businesses, covering 371 million hectares, with an average annual turnover of at least $40,000.

Farmers who earned the greatest proportion of their income off the land, 22 per cent, lived in the Australian Capital Territory, while those who earned the least off-farm income, 9 per cent, lived in South Australia.

The ABS also found:

AS OF June 30, 2016 there were 371 million hectares of agricultural land in Australia, a 1 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

COINCIDING with this increase in agricultural land, there were 952 more agricultural businesses, representing a 1 per cent increase since 2014-15.

OF ALL the states and territories, Queensland had the highest proportion of agricultural land, accounting for 34 per cent of total area of holding in Australia, a decline of 1 per cent since 2014-15.