Australian farmers have produced their most valuable year yet, growing $90 billion worth of food and fibre, and pushing average yearly farm incomes to between $370,000 and $665,000 depending on the sector.
It is the third year in a row that the value of Australian farm production has broken records, driven once more by wet growing conditions and high prices for a range of commodities.
Today's outlook from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) shows farm exports will soar to $75 billion this financial year — another first.
It also shows that Australia's winter crop production has broken new ground — up 4 million tonnes on the previous record set last year.
ABARES reports that 67.3 million tonnes of winter crops were harvested over 2022–23, with record production in Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia.
In Western Australia, 25.6 million tonnes was produced, which was 61 per cent higher than the 10-year average, and 9 per cent higher than the previous record of 23.4 million tonnes in 2021–22.
But ABARES executive director Jared Greenville warned the sector not to expect the run of good years to continue.
"A run of three good seasons only happened twice, as far as we can see looking back — once in the 1990s and once in the 1970s — so it's more likely that we'll shift to a more normal but harder environment to work in," Dr Greenville said.
"So in terms of production outcomes, it's likely for the next couple of years that this is the high-water mark.
"What will grow sector value going forward will have to be price and the prices that we get, and that's where international markets will be very important."
ABARES now expects the value of Australia's farm sector to fall to $81 billion and farm exports to $64 billion in 2023–24.
Average farm incomes healthy
The latest report from ABARES shows the high value for Australian agriculture reflected in farm incomes for the 2022–23 year, with the average cropping farm income soaring to more than $660,000.
"When you look at the cropping sector in particular, average farm incomes are about 75 per cent above the 10-year average — about $665,000 — up slightly from last year," Dr Greenville said.
The average farm incomes for dairy farmers also reached new heights in 2022–23 to $390,000, but it fell slightly for broadacre farmers.
"The average broadacre farmer would have earned over the past year around $371,000 and that's about 7 per cent down on what we saw last year, but still around 46 per cent above the 10-year average," Dr Greenville said.
He said the fall in broadacre incomes could be attributed to the rising costs associated with farming.
"We know fertiliser prices, for example, are two-and-a-half times the average that we would normally see at the moment, so that's squeezed those profit margins," he said.
"[But] while we're getting that squeeze, we're still seeing relatively high prices, high production, which has helped to offset that and balance that equation a little bit.
"And that's why we're seeing still strong foundation incomes."
Mixed results from flooding and worker shortages
Dr Greenville said flooding had wiped out about 8 per cent of the cropping area in New South Wales and 3 per cent in Victoria.
"That's been offset by other states but also in Victoria [with] some pretty good results out of the Wimmera and the Mallee," he said.
He also acknowledged the impact of worker shortages, which have long plagued farmers.
"In terms of workforce shortages, we've seen the economy reopened [after COVID] and a really large expansion in a Pacific workers scheme. That's eased some of the pressure," he said.
"We did still see a number of horticultural firms having difficulties, and more than 50 per cent … have had increased difficulties in finding labour.
"But reorganisation of the supply lines, as well as the good conditions, meant there was just more volume available, [and that] has led to some of those pressures being at least managed a little bit more than would have otherwise been the case."
At Binda, near Crookwell in New South Wales, grazier Bob Love said it was a great time to be a farmer.
"I think that [over the] next decade farming is going to be really, really good," Dr Love said.
With shearing underway, he said he had been fortunate to have access to workers.
"There have been difficulties but, generally speaking, I think I'm fairly lucky with the people [working on the farm]," he said.
He believed the future for Australian agriculture was bright.
"It'll have its ups and downs as it always does, but I think the way things are going at the moment, it's kind of a good period for farming."
