Agriculture In Australia

Agriculture In Australia Detail
Agriculture is an important part of Australia?s economy. Australia?s exports were overwhelmingly agricultural products until the 1960?s, when mining and manufacturing grew in importance.
Agriculture occupies 60 percent of the land area of Australia, but much of this is used for open-range cattle grazing, especially in huge areas of the states of Queensland and Western Australia. Only 5 percent of Australia?s agricultural land is used for growing crops.
Western Australia and New South Wales have the largest areas of cropland. The limited area suitable for growing commercial crops is limited mainly by climate, because Australia is the world?s driest continent.
Annual rainfall of about 20 inches (500 millimeters) is necessary to grow crops successfully without irrigation; less than half of Australia receives this amount, and the rainfall is often variable or unreliable.
With 1.6 million Australians having jobs in farming or agriculture related industries, the impact on the national economy is considerable. If that seems small compared to Australia?s total population of 21.5 million, consider that farmers use or manage 54% of Australia?s landmass.
In the past twenty years, a growing emphasis has been placed on the management of natural and agricultural resources, impacting both the economy and the environment. Over 94% of farms are actively involved in natural resource management to increase productivity, sustainability, and to protect the environment.

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