New stats show WA’s broadacre grains, livestock and horticulture industries pump $6b into the economy

The contribution of broadacre agriculture across four production zones in the State’s south has been laid bare in a series of snapshots released by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The snapshots show WA’s grains, livestock and horticulture production across the Wheatbelt, Mid West, Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern regions contribute more than $6 billion to the State’s economy each year. DPIRD regional intelligence and adoption manager Christine Zaicou-Kunesch said the documents provided “at-a-glance” information on key agricultural industries in each region, including production volumes, value, employment and climate. “While there has traditionally been easy-to-access data on the contribution of various agri-food sectors Statewide, these snapshots are designed to drill down to a regional level to provide information in a quick and easy-to-read format,” Ms Zaicou-Kunesch said. The snapshots — containing infographic summaries of agricultural production and industry trends in the regions — are available from the department website by sarching ‘regional broadacre snapshots’. The report showed 55 per cent of WA’s Wheatbelt region — which covers an area of 15.7 million hectares — was dedicated to broadacre agriculture, with the remainder split between tourism, fishing, pastoral and mining. Between 2016 and 2020, the value of broadacre crop production was worth the most in the Wheatbelt, at $3.3 billion, followed by the Great Southern at $1.2 billion, the Mid West at $930 million and Esperance at $800 million. Relative production per arable hectare was highest in the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance, at about $500/ha, followed by the Wheatbelt at $390/ha and the Mid West at $380/ha. Wheat was the dominant crop across three of the four areas - comprising 79 per cent of tonnages produced in the Mid West, 58 per cent in the Wheatbelt, 45 per cent in the Esperance Port Zone. Barley was the heavy hitter in the Great Southern, comprising 42 per cent of relative production tonnes, while wheat production had declined to 36 per cent between 2016-20. The report showed livestock numbers were declining in the Esperance Port Zone, while sheep numbers were “small and stable” in the Mid West after a large decline in recent decades. The Wheatbelt’s livestock industry was described as “stable” with most enterprises comprised of livestock and cropping, with private investments in poultry, cattle feedlots and pigs. In the Great Southern, livestock generated about 40 per cent of the region’s production value with the report noting a growing reputation and export opportunities for poultry and pork production. Average property sizes were biggest in the Mid West at 3599ha, followed by Esperance at 3340ha, the Wheatbelt at 2657ha and the Great Southern at 2480ha. The Great Southern had the highest median land value at $4200/ha, followed by the Wheatbelt and Esperance Port Zone at $2500 and the Mid West at $1500/ha. Horticultural production was worth $128m in the Wheatbelt, $40 million for the Mid West, and $30 million in the Great Southern, but there were no figures provided for the Esperance Port Zone.