Although Australia is mostly arid, the nation is a major agricultural producer and exporter, with around 421,000 people employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing as of 2023. Agriculture's farm gate output was $100 billion a year for a 5.7% share of GDP in 2023. Farmers and grazers own 135,997 farms, covering 61% of Australia's landmass. Across the country, there is a mix of irrigation and dry-land farming. The success of Australia in becoming a major agricultural power despite the odds is facilitated by its policies of long-term visions and promotion of agricultural reforms that greatly increased the country's agricultural industry.
Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year. The annual shearing most often occurs in a shearing shed, a facility especially designed to process often hundreds and sometimes more than 3,000 sheep per day. A working group of shearers and accompanying wool workers is known as a shearing gang.
Truro is a town in South Australia, 80 km northeast of Adelaide. It is situated in an agricultural and pastoral district on the Sturt Highway, east of the Barossa Valley, where the highway crosses somewhat lofty and rugged parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges. At the 2021 census, Truro had a population of 523.
Cunderdin is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia 156 km east of Perth, along the Great Eastern Highway. Due to it being on the route of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme it is also on the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail. It is a rural community consisting of a district high school and an agricultural college.
Corrigin is a town in the central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 229 kilometres (142 mi) east-southeast of the state capital, Perth, Western Australia, along State Route 40. It is mostly a farming community focused on crops and sheep, and holds the world record of "the most dogs in a ute".
Finley is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest town in the Berrigan Shire local government area. At the 2016 census, Finley had a population of 2,455. The town is located approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) west of Albury on the intersection of the Newell Highway and Riverina Highways.
The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultivated area grows the most diverse range of commercial fruit and vegetables of any area in Australia. The valley is referred to as "Australia's Salad Bowl" to describe the area as one of Australia's premium food bowls.
The Dorper is a South African breed of domestic sheep developed by crossing Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian sheep. The breed was created through the efforts of the South African Department of Agriculture to breed a meat sheep suitable to the more arid regions of the country. It is now farmed in other areas as well, and is the second most common sheep breed in South Africa.
Barham is a town in the western Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located 823 kilometres south west of the state capital, Sydney and 303 kilometres north west of Melbourne. Situated on the banks of the Murray River across from Koondrook in the neighbouring state of Victoria, Barham had a population of 1,159 at the 2016 census. The town is in the Murray River Council local government area.
Drought in Australia is defined by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as rainfall over period greater than three-months being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns including seasonal variations. Specifically, drought in Australia is defined in relation to a rainfall deficiency of pastoral leases and is determined by decile analysis applied to a certain area. Note that this definition uses rainfall only because long-term records are widely available across most of Australia. However, it does not take into account other variables that might be important for establishing surface water balance, such as evaporation and condensation.
Barmedman is a rural village in the Bland Shire in the New South Wales state of Australia, located approximately half-way between West Wyalong and Temora. Barmedman began as a service centre for gold-mining operations in the area. Nowadays the local district has an agricultural economic base, including wheat and canola cropping and sheep grazing. It is the home of two large wheat silos with a combined capacity of over a million bushels. At the 2011 census, Barmedman had a population of 212. The township's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'long water'.
North Star is a small village in the Gwydir Shire, located in northern New South Wales near the Queensland border. At the 2021 census, North Star had a population of 214 people in the surrounding area, with a population of around 50 in the actual village.
Attunga is a small farming community in the New England region of New South Wales Australia.
Located in the Sahelian and Saharan zones, Mauritania has one of the poorest agricultural bases in West Africa. Most important to the rural economy has been the livestock subsector. Between 1975 and 1980, herding engaged up to 70 percent of the population, and sedentary farmers constituted about 20 percent of the population. The vast majority of the population lived in the southern one-third of the country, where rainfall levels were high enough to sustain cattle herding. Farming was restricted to the narrow band along the Senegal River where rainfall of up to 600 millimeters per year and annual river flooding sustained crop production as well as large cattle herds. In the dry northern two-thirds of the country, herding was limited to widely scattered pastoral groups that raised camels, sheep, and goats, and farming was restricted to date palms and minuscule plots around oases.
Tilpa is a town in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on the Darling River, in the Central Darling Shire local government area, 917 kilometres (570 mi) north west of the state capital, Sydney.
A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of pastoralist animal husbandry.
Youanmite is a locality in the Shire of Moira. It is located near the intersection of Youanmite and Katamatite roads, approximately 25 km southwest of Yarrawonga and approximately 200 km northeast of Melbourne, Australia. Youanmite was once a small town having its own schools, churches, and post office. Comprising medium to large farms the area is predominantly agricultural, focusing on grain production as well as sheep and cattle grazing.
Koppio is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Eyre Peninsula about 256 kilometres (159 mi) west of the state capital of Adelaide and about 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Port Lincoln, and within the Tod River catchment area, Southern Australia While long-established agricultural activities dominate the region is also prospective for graphite and iron ore. The Koppio Smithy Museum is a local tourist attraction replete with buildings and artifacts representing the early pioneer heritage of Eyre Peninsula.
Agriculture has in the past been a major part of the economy of Wales, a largely rural country which is part of the United Kingdom. Wales is mountainous and has a mild, wet climate. This results in only a small proportion of the land area being suitable for arable cropping, but grass for the grazing of livestock is present in abundance. As a proportion of the national economy, agriculture is now much less important; a high proportion of the population now live in the towns and cities in the south of the country and tourism has become an important form of income in the countryside and on the coast. Arable cropping is limited to the flatter parts and elsewhere dairying and livestock farming predominate.
The Tullamore PA & H Association Inc. Annual show, or Tullamore Show, is a two-day agricultural and livestock show held on the second Saturday of August each year near the township of Tullamore, New South Wales. The 2021 edition was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, and the PA & H was one of a group of agricultural societies to receive organisational support from the national Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. There were also no shows in 1940–45.
