Grains, livestock and horticulture production across the Wheatbelt, Mid West, Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern regions contribute more than $6 billion annually to the State’s economy.
Department Regional Intelligence and Adoption Manager Christine Zaicou-Kunesch said the documents provided ‘at-a-glance’ information on key agricultural industries in each region, including production volumes, value, employment and climate.
“While there has traditionally been easy-to-access data on the contribution of various agrifood sectors State-wide, these snapshots are designed to drill down to a regional level to provide information in a quick and easy-to-read format,” Ms Zaicou-Kunesch said.
“For example, just over half of all land in the Wheatbelt region is arable with primary industries covering about 8.6 million hectares and valued at $3.35 billion.
“The value of primary industries in the Great Southern region is $1.2 billion - with livestock accounting for 41 per cent. That’s 3.4 million sheep, 174,000 cattle, 80,000 pigs and 4000 chickens.
“The Mid West’s $930 million value of agriculture production is more than just wheat and canola, with cucumbers an example of one crop on the rise while sheep production remains steady after a period of decline.
“Esperance port zone’s $800 million value of agriculture is dominated by wheat, barley and canola, but production of pulses is increasing.”
Regional snapshots containing infographic summaries of agricultural production and industry trends in the regions are available here.
