Agriculture in Australia
Aboriginal Australians have been variously described as hunter-gatherer-cultivators and proto-farmers, as there is evidence that farming activities were undertaken prior to the arrival of Europeans, including tilling, planting and irrigating.
[6] In 1788, the first European settlers brought agricultural technology from their homelands which radically changed the dominant practices.
[9] At the turn of the millennium, Australia produced a large variety of primary products for export and domestic consumption.
[11] Late in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Australian agriculture was heavily impacted by the resulting supply chain issues.
The scarcity of freight space and disruption to Chinese New Year purchases was particularly painful, with China being Australia's largest export market and a particularly large buyer of live seafood.
Shortly afterwards, China placed large restrictions on their imports of a number of Australian agricultural products, as well as coal.
[15] Cereals, oilseeds and grain legumes are produced on a large scale in Australia for human consumption and livestock feed.
Subsequently, Vegetable and Potato Growers Australia (Ltd.) launched a political campaign advocating protectionism.
At the time, the future for some Australian wine producers seemed uncertain, but by 2015 a national study showed that the industry had recovered and the combined output of grape growing and winemaking were major contributors to the Australian economy's gross output[18] while the associated industry of wine tourism had also expanded.
[19] A follow-up report from 2019 demonstrated further consolidation, by which stage wine had become Australia's fifth-largest agricultural export industry, with domestic and international sales contributing AU$45.5 billion to gross output.
The southern calves are typically reared on pasture and sold as weaners, yearlings or steers at about two years old or older.
[23] Artificial insemination and embryo transfer are more commonly used in stud cattle breeding in Australia, but may be used in other herds.
[27] Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd owns and manages over 200,000 herd of cattle across eight stations spanning the East Kimberley, Victoria River and Barkly Tablelands regions in Northern Australia.
The present herd consists principally of British and European breeds (Bos taurus) in the southern regions, with Aberdeen Angus and Herefords being the most common.
The shorelines, especially the Great Barrier Reef, are providing motivation to help the continent by using seaweed (algae) to absorb nutrients.
[40] Lastly, the GBR itself, because of the delicate corals,[41] has lent itself to utilising seaweed/algae purposely as a nutrient reduction tool in the form of algae.
[43] Olive trees were planted by the warden of the self-funded penal settlement on St Helena Island, Queensland in Moreton Bay.
Manzanillo, Azapa, Nab Tamri and South Australian Verdale produce table olives.
[50] The Merino produces fine wool and was first introduced to Australia in 1797, with the breed being well-suited to the Australian environment.
The goal was to enhance the status of the graziers (operators of big sheep ranches) and small farmers and justified subsidies for them.
[60] Agriculture contributes 13% of Australia's total greenhouse emissions, however, much of this is methane of biological origin, rather than from fossil fuels.
According to a report in 2020, it was found that the amount of Australian agricultural land in foreign ownership, increased slightly from 13.4 to 13.8 percent.
[69][70][71] A 2016 Lowy Institute poll found that 87% of respondents were against the Federal Government allowing foreign companies to buy Australian agricultural land a 6% points higher than a similar survey four years ago.
[78] In 2004, due to the worldwide attention, AWI proposed to phase out the practice by the end of year 2010; this promise was retracted in 2009.
The newly created Department of Trade and Customs had additional responsibilities for sugar agreements, as well as cotton.
