LOWER prices for some crops, milk and wool dragged down the value of Australia's agricultural production by five per cent in 2008-09 to $41 billion, preliminary figures show.
Crop production fell seven per cent to $22.1 billion on the back of lower prices for all harvested commodities bar wheat.
A drop in prices for milk (down 13 per cent to $4 billion) and wool (down 22 per cent to $1.8 billion) contributed to a 16 per cent fall in livestock products to $6.2 billion.
There was better news for lamb, which rose 15 per cent to $2.5 billion, and poultry, up 14 per cent to $1.9 billion.
The value of beef production edged up just one per cent to $7.5 billion, reflecting a drop in saleyard prices during the first half of 2009.
The value of slaughtered livestock rose five per cent to $12.8 billion.
Wheat production rose 11 per cent to $5.9 billion, but not enough to offset a fall in total crop production caused by big drops in crops including grain sorghum (down 44 per cent to $550 million), hay (down 41 per cent to $1.7 billion), grapes (down 33 per cent to $1.1 billion) and grain barley (down 21 per cent to $1.8 billion).
The figures are contained in an Australian Bureau of Statistics report, Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary, released today.
