Survey - Wool still King in Western Division of NSW
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Tech News
- Jan 19, 2018
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Western Local Land Services have an up-to-date snapshot of life on the land in the Western region following the completion of the 2017 Regional Landholder and 2017 Aboriginal Community surveys.
The two surveys, which were aimed at landholders and Aboriginal communities across the Western region, are designed to inform Western Local Land Services of what issues are of most importance to landholders and the Aboriginal community.
The results of the landholder survey have also been compared to those from a similar survey conducted in 2014.
Some of the findings from the 2017 surveys were:
* The average property size of those surveyed was 10,500 hectares.
* The three most common property uses of those surveyed are growing sheep for wool (48 %), growing sheep for meat (41 %) and cattle production (36 %).
* Thirty-one per cent of landholders surveyed harvested feral goats while 18 % undertook dryland cropping and 6 % have undertaken horticulture activities on their property in the last three years.
* Three-quarters (74 %) of survey respondents knew who the Traditional Owners were of the Country on which they lived.
In addition, 93 % of people surveyed also indicated that they knew of Aboriginal sites in their local area.
Chair of the Western Local Board, Ben Barlow thanked everyone that had completed and returned the surveys.
“It is highly valuable for the Western Local Board that is charged with setting the strategic direction for Western Local Land Services to have this information,” Mr Barlow said.
“It will give us great insight into the industries that are emerging in the Western region, those that are holding firm and those that are no longer as prominent as they once were.
“It was pleasing to see an increase between surveys in landholders that are undertaking agriculture, grazing or land management courses and also an increase in landholders with a biosecurity or access policy.”
A full report of both surveys is available under the Resources Hub section of this website.
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