Australian vegetable growing farms: an economic survey, 2016-17 and 2017-18

Overview
Since 2007 ABARES has conducted an annual survey of vegetable-growing farm businesses to provide industry and government with information about farm-level production and the financial situation of vegetable growers. This web-report present estimates of farm financial performance, farm debt, equity, capital, investment and physical characteristics for the vegetable-growing industry from 2006-07 to 2017-18.

Key Issues
• In 2017-18 average farm cash income of Australian vegetable-growing farms is estimated to have increased by 12 per cent to $319,000 per farm, the highest in real terms* since ABARES began surveying vegetable-growing farms in 2007. Average farm cash income is estimated to have increased in all states except Queensland and Western Australia. • The average rate of return (excluding capital appreciation) of Australian vegetable-growing farms is estimated to have increased to 5.9 per cent in 2017-18, following an average return of 4.9 per cent in 2016-17. • Average debt of Australian vegetable-growing farms decreased by 20 per cent to around $438,000 per farm in 2016-17, mainly because of reduced working capital debt. With reductions in average farm debt the proportion of farm receipts needed to fund interest payments remains low at around 2 per cent. Around one-quarter of vegetable-growing farms held no debt in 2016-17. • The total value of capital for all Australian vegetable-growing farms decreased by 15 per cent in real terms from 2006-07 to 2016-17 because of a reduction in the number of vegetable-growing farms. From 2006-07 to 2016-17 the total number of Australian vegetable-growing farms fell by 31 per cent. Most of the decline was largely a result of a decline in the number of small vegetable-growing farms planting less than 20 ha. • Australian vegetable growers made an average of $280 million in new capital investment each year from 2006-07 to 2015-16, in real terms. In 2016-17 vegetable growers made a total of $319 million in new investment, with around half of vegetable-growing farms made capital additions. * Note: real dollar values are adjusted to remove the effect of inflation.