Australian agriculture bounced back from drought to officially boast a national beef herd of 22 million head by mid last year, a 68m strong sheep flock, a 14 per cent rise in pig numbers to 2.6m, and a 10pc bigger poultry flock of 135m.
Almost every category of agriculture from potatoes to carrots, eggs and canola recorded production rises as Australia's farmland area expanded by 3pc to 387m hectares.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest - and last ever - national Agricultural Census has confirmed farm production in the 12 months to June 2021 jumped 17pc to almost $71 billion.
The year the drought broke delivered a bumper season of above average yields and expanded farmland use.
By state, NSW led the charge with a 61pc leap in gross value of production to $18 billion, largely thanks to almost ideal cropping conditions delivering about $11b in value.
Victoria placed a close second, but actually performed worse than the previous year, with a 2.5pc dip in gross value to $17.5b.
RELATED READING
Queensland and West Australia recorded solid increases of 17pc and 14pc, to $14.5b and $10.2b, respectively, while South Australia crept up to about $8b.
However, despite bullish seasonal conditions and market returns, the number of agricultural businesses remained relatively unchanged from 2019-20 at 87,400.
A sizeable 17m hectares of farmland was not used for any agricultural production, including almost half of that land being set aside for conservation purposes.
In the wake of drought, both grazing and cropping areas expanded by 2pc to 332m hectares and 32m hectares respectively.
ABS agriculture statistics program manager, Amanda Clark, said livestock disposals fell 6pc as grazing herds and flocks were rebuilt, with beef cow and heifer numbers up 6pc, calves up 5pc to 4.9m, breeding ewes up 6pc to 37.7m and 22.6m lambs marked (up 11pc).
Crop production values increased 41pc as yields hit "once in a lifetime levels".
Compared with the previous year, the value of the national wheat crop doubled to $9.9b and production jumped 120pc, while the barley harvest was up 45pc to be worth $3.7b and the canola crop's value increased 114pc to $2.9b.
However, the wool clip slipped 4pc to be worth $2.6b and milk was down 3pc to $4.7b as the number of mature cows steadied at 1.4m, although next generation calf numbers grew 8pc to 423,500.
Agribusiness head with accounting and business service group, RSM, Ross Paterson, said it was heartening to see the industry's strong rebound after three years of persistently dry conditions, while also dealing with bushfires, floods and a mouse plague.
"The sector remains stubbornly resilient in the face of adversity, with the number of farm businesses stable and incredible annual production and value gains in commodities such as wheat, canola and cotton."
However, he also noted "current handbrakes on sector growth" such as shortages, changing export markets, supply chain disruptions and limited access to expansionary capital.
The census showed easing drought conditions allowed more irrigation water allocations, with dramatic gains in the production and value for broadacre and horticultural crops, notably a 16pc rise in the value of fruit and nuts $6.3b, a 14pc rise for vegetables to $4.8b and a big 481pc start to cotton's recovery with a $1.5b crop.
Key horticultural crops saw big volume rises, too, including grapes up 28pc to 1.9m tonnes, oranges up 14pc to 435,400t, almonds up 17pc to 129,000t, potatoes up 18pc to 1.3m, and tomatoes up 13pc to 336,900t.
The ABS noted production falls of 7pc or less for bananas (to 346,000t), pineapples,(73,900t), mangoes (60,700t) and strawberries (56,800t).
In a deliberate move to speed up the way the ABS produces agricultural data, the bureau has opted to end its annual large scale census, instead switching to smaller surveys and alternative data sources.
More information from industry levies and satellites will be tapped to produce greater regional detail, which in turn should provide the basis for a more holistic view of the industry.
The new collection processes would also reduce the reporting burden for farmers and agricultural businesses.
"With the increased prevalence of high quality agricultural data held by government and industry becoming available for broader use, it is time to close the chapter on large scale surveys," Ms Clark said.
"While the ABS will continue to produce official agricultural statistics, the way in which it does so is changing."
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.