Agriculture shrinks by 18 million hectares, but output still grows

The ABS released figures from the previous financial year, which shows agricultural land decreased by 5pc to 369m hectares.

But the reduced land mass didn't stop several commodities from reaping record harvests, including wheat, canola, cotton, while the nation's livestock herd continues to grow.

The ongoing La Nina weather cycle during the 2021/22 financial year led to a mixed season for Australia's broadacre crop producers in the eastern states.

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Flooding in November and December affected the growth and harvesting of many winter crops in NSW and Queensland, but summer crops such as rice and cotton benefited from greater access to water.

It was a record year for wheat, with 36 million tonnes harvested, up 14pc from the previous 12 months. The growth was driven by a bumper year in Western Australia, which saw production increase almost 50pc.

The area of cotton sown doubled to 549,000ha, driven by favourable cotton prices and forecasts of favourable weather conditions. Significant rainfall across cropping regions and increased water availability combined with ideal growing conditions, resulted in a record 1.3 million tonnes of cotton lint harvested.

Australia's total area sown to canola rose 24pc to 3.3 million hectares. The increased area and favourable growing conditions, especially in Western Australia, resulted in a production record of 6.8 million tonnes, up 43pc.

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The industry saw above average rainfall and lower than average spring temperatures, with NSW and Queensland producers affected by floods in late 2021, while South Australia and Victorian farmers were battered by destructive hail storms at the start of 2022.

The result saw a drop in production for several commodities, including. wine grapes (27pc), bananas (19pc) potatoes (13pc) and oranges (10pc). Apples and almonds were able to buck the trend, with a modest increase.

A continuation of favourable weather conditions saw beef producers continuing to rebuild their herds but flooding across NSW and Queensland resulted in some stock losses.

Nationally, the beef herd increased 300,000 to 22.3 million head. Of the largest producing states Queensland increased 2pc to 10.8 million head, NSW increased 5pc to 4.4 million head and Victoria increased 3pc to 2.2 million head.

Dairy cattle numbers continue to decline as producers either scale back dairy operations, sell their farms or move into beef cattle production. The national dairy herd decreased 10% to 2.1 million head.

Australia's sheep flock increased 3pc to 70.2 million sheep and lamb. Increases in NSW's flock (up 10pc) were offset by decreases in Victoria (down 5pc), Western Australia (down 2pc) and South Australia (down 2pc).