Tasmania follows farm consolidation trend
14 June 2019
The latest agriculture research of The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) shows that the number of farms in Australia has been continually reducing 5% per year over the past decade. However, both the volume and value of agricultural production have been increasing 5% per year within the same period. The Tasmanian agricultural sector accounts for about 2% of Australia’s total agricultural production and follows the national trend toward farm consolidation, with farms getting larger and more productive, while the number of farms is falling. In particular, the number of cattle producers has reduced from around 1,600 in the 1970s to about 600 in 2018.
Also, Tasmania’s large-scale farms were responsible for about 60% of the island's agricultural output in 2016-17, compared to 25% 40 years ago. The large farms with corporate structure contribute to an annual turnover of more than $ 690,000.