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phone: 9765 1200 |
facsimile: 9765 1485 |
P O Box 2 BOYUP BROOK 6244 |
email: shire@boyupbrook.wa.gov.au |
Boyup Brook Shire - Agriculture
The following information is drawn from ‘A Feasibility Report & Business Plan for a Topoclimate Projectã’.
Agriculture continues to be the major component of Boyup Brook’s economy. The main activities are sheep, cattle and pig farming, cereal cropping and canola oil seeds. The 1994/95 Agriculture census data indicated that the total area of holding is 225,996 hectares and is held by 259 surveyed establishments.
Table 1 Major Agricultural Components
| Establishments (number) | Total Area of Establishments (,000 ha) | Crops (,000 ha) | Sheep & Lambs (,000) |
1984-85 | 301 | 209.4 | 27.7 | 858.5 |
1989-90 | 253 | 201.3 | 13.9 | 1067.5 |
1994-95 | 259 | 226.0 | 20.6 | 908.3 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. No. 7113.5 (1996)
The fluctuations in the crop area and sheep numbers are due largely to changes in commodity prices. At the time of the last census, 1994-95, wool prices were low whilst grain prices provided the opportunity for good profit margins.
Table 2 Grain Production for 1994-95 (hectares planted, tonnes produced, % growing)
| Wheat | Oats | Barley | Lupins | Canola |
Hectares Planted (ha) | 700 | 5962 | 4518 | 2201 | 4069 |
Tonnes (t) | 1499 | 13251 | 11804 | 2574 | 5921 |
% of growers | 4.6% | 51.7% | 31.7% | 16.2% | 22.7% |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. No. 7113.5 (1996)
Table 3 Livestock Numbers (,000)
| Beef Cattle | Dairy Cattle | Sheep | Pigs | Deer |
1989-90 | 12.8 | 0.8 | 1067.5 | 5.8 |
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1994-95 | 20.4 | 0.7 | 908.3 | 6.5 | 2.1 |
Sales1994-95 | 7.7 |
| 305.3 | 7.9 | 0.6 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. No. 7113.5
The Shire still has a very strong agricultural base (Figure 1) with 79% of its total land committed to farming. However, in the last decade, blue gum planting has increased dramatically (Figure 2) causing concern about the loss of broad acre farmland to forest plantations.
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The Shire is currently dominated by wool production and cereal crops (Figure 3) while smaller scale agricultural operations exist for beef, vegetables, and pigs. The major agricultural trends within the Shire over recent years are a decrease in wool production accompanied by a moderate increase in cereal crop production (Figure 4, 5), as well as blue gum plantings (Figure 2).
Figure 3. Gross value of agricultural Figure 4. Trends in wool production
