Regional snapshots highlight value of broadacre agriculture

Media release
The contribution of broadacre agriculture across four production zones in the State鈥檚 south are detailed in new snapshots now available from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Last updated:
news paper graphic

Grains, livestock and horticulture production across the Wheatbelt, Mid West, Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern regions contribute more than $6 billion annually to the State鈥檚 economy.

Department Regional Intelligence and Adoption Manager Christine Zaicou-Kunesch said the documents provided 鈥榓t-a-glance鈥 information on key agricultural industries in each region, including production volumes, value, employment and climate.

鈥淲hile there has traditionally been easy-to-access data on the contribution of various agrifood sectors State-wide, these snapshots are designed to drill down to a regional level to provide information in a quick and easy-to-read format,鈥 Ms Zaicou-Kunesch said.

鈥淔or example, just over half of all land in the Wheatbelt region is arable with primary industries covering about 8.6 million hectares and valued at $3.35 billion.

鈥淭he value of primary industries in the Great Southern region is $1.2 billion - with livestock accounting for 41 per cent. That鈥檚 3.4 million sheep, 174,000 cattle, 80,000 pigs and 4000 chickens.

鈥淭he Mid West鈥檚 $930 million value of agriculture production is more than just wheat and canola, with cucumbers an example of one crop on the rise while sheep production remains steady after a period of decline.

鈥淓sperance port zone鈥檚 $800 million value of agriculture is dominated by wheat, barley and canola, but production of pulses is increasing.鈥

Regional snapshots containing infographic summaries of agricultural production and industry trends in the regions are available .

Sidebar
Was this page useful?