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Agriculture in the Sydney Region: Historical and Current Perspectives by John Wilkinson

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Agriculture in the Sydney Region: Historical and Current Perspectives by John Wilkinson February 2011 e-brief 2/2011 Agriculture in the Sydney region: historical and current perspectives by John Wilkinson 1 Introduction to contain Sydney’s urban growth in Spreading urbanisation and population identified areas. Containment will growth are putting pressure on continue to reduce the pressure on valued rural and resource lands.2 agricultural lands on the fringes of Sydney. The conflicting forces and This E-brief presents an overview of interests at work were acknowledged the history of policies relating to in NSW Planning's 2010 discussion agriculture in the Sydney region, paper, Metropolitan Strategy Review placing this in the context of the 2036. The paper recognised the current policy debate. It starts with a economic importance of agricultural commentary on the extent of Sydney's production in the Sydney region, which agriculture. was said to supply a 'significant proportion of the fresh produce consumed in Sydney'. It also 2 Assessing the scale of Sydney acknowledged that: agriculture viable agricultural lands are facing 2.1 Trends and issues continual pressures from alternative Historically, agriculture in the Sydney land uses and have a role in contributing to a sustainable future region provided a substantial for Sydney. This is especially proportion of NSW requirements for important given the expected primary produce. According to Denis population increases, projected Winston, in the late 1940s: housing needs, changing rainfall patterns and the increasing cost of it produced three-quarters of the transport.1 state's lettuces; half of the spinach; a third of the cabbages and a The Metropolitan Strategy Review quarter of the beans; 70% of the discussion paper continued: state's poultry farms were located in the [area]…and more than 18 per cent of Sydney's milk came The strategy aims to maintain rural from [there].3 activities and resource lands and protect resource lands from incompatible and inappropriate Commenting in 1998 on the benefits of uses. The NSW Government is also the reliable supply and availability of Page 1 of 13 NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service fresh produce to the residents of the Characterised by small scale farms Sydney region, NSW Agriculture said run by culturally and linguistically that, for example: diverse groups, Sydney’s vegetable farms have been seen to belong to a 85% of mushrooms, 70% of class of agriculture – peri-urban tomatoes and 95% of spring onions farming – which has been produced in NSW are grown in the systematically under-recognised by Sydney region.4 an ABS data collection methodology focused on broad scale agriculture. The perceived undercounting of The following table shows the total Sydney agriculture by the ABS number of farms and the total area of agricultural census resulted in the land farmed in the Sydney region from development of numerous non-ABS 1992-93 to 2007-08: reports seeking to readdress the apparent data gap.6 Sydney's Agriculture,1992-93 to 2007-085 As shown in the above table, the Farms Hectares revised methodology used in the 2005- 1992-93 1,474 80,373 06 ABS agricultural census resulted in 1993-94 1,928 90,519 a marked increase in the number of 1994-95 1,862 100,784 farms. Both James et al and the 1995-96 1,860 88,100 Malcolm and Fahd study, which is 1996-97 1,872 87,600 discussed below, agree that the 2000-01 1,920 76,899 revised ABS data "provide relatively 2005-06 2,611 103,780 trustworthy data on Sydney Basin 2006-07 2,548 94,029 agriculture", at least to the extent that 7 2007-08 2,263 82,243 this data refers to farm numbers. The above table is from a 2010 report, 2.2 ABS statistics for 2006 Sydney's Agricultural Lands: An Published in December 2010 but Analysis, prepared for the NSW based on ABS 2006 figures, the NSW Department of Planning by Dr Sarah Department of Planning's Metropolitan James and other members of the Plan for Sydney 2036 presented the Urban Research Centre at the following overview of agriculture in the University of Western Sydney. The Sydney region: figures provided are calculations from ABS data on agricultural statistics, Sydney’s agricultural industries published between 1995 and 2009. In contribute approximately seven per James et al, the data is accompanied cent of the State’s total value of agricultural production, yet comprise by a warning, to the effect that, 'due to just 0.2 per cent of NSW’s total rural the methodological changes in the holdings. ABS data valued all time period represented', the trends Sydney farm production at $630 suggested 'are not conclusive'. million in 2006, and total agricultural production including value adding Without delving too deeply into this and processing is currently around methodological debate, the point to $1.5 billion annually. make is that, from the early 1990s, concern was expressed about the Twelve per cent of NSW’s perceived undercounting of Sydney agricultural workers are employed in agriculture in ABS reports. James et al Sydney... In 2006, there were 2,548 agricultural businesses in the state: Sydney metropolitan area, Page 2 of 13 E-Brief Agriculture in the Sydney region: historical and current perspectives employing 8,162 full–time workers Campbelltown: 2005-0613 and many part time, casual and Cattle Slaughterings $26.5m 8 seasonal staff. Vegetables $3.4m Poultry Slaughterings $1.4m In more detail, based on ABS figures Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $1m the following major forms of primary TOTAL $32.3m production, by value, were being pursued in the local council areas of outer Sydney, listed on a north-south Wollondilly: 2005-0614 axis: Poultry Slaughterings $29.8m Vegetables $12.5m Hawkesbury: 2005-069 Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $7.6m Vegetables $55.4m Milk $4.8m Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $40.5m Cattle Slaughterings $3.2m Poultry Slaughterings $4.6m Eggs $1.8m Egg Production $3.6m Crops for Hay $1.1m Milk Production $2.8m Fruit $0.5m Fruit $2.3m TOTAL $61.3m Cattle Slaughterings $1.6m TOTAL $110.8m 2.3 Two recent studies Penrith : 2005-0610 The two studies considered here are: Poultry Slaughterings $17.8m first, the report produced in 2009 by Vegetables $15.8m Malcolm and Fahd and commissioned Egg Production $12.8m by Horticulture Australia Limited and Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $4.5m the NSW Department of Primary Industries; and, secondly, the 2010 Cattle Slaughterings $2.4m Urban Research Centre report written Fruit $1.1m by James and others. Milk Production $0.5m TOTAL $54.9m 2.4 P Malcolm and R Fahd - 11 Ground Truthing of the Sydney Liverpool: 2005-06 Vegetable Industry in 2008 Poultry Slaughterings $19.8m This survey presents an assessment Vegetables $15.7m of the vegetable growing industry on Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $4.6m the Sydney outskirts. For the purposes Egg Production $2.9m of the study, the Sydney area was Cattle Slaughterings $0.6m defined as bounded by the local Pig Slaughterings $0.6m government areas of Gosford, Wyong, TOTAL $44.2m Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and 12 Wollondilly. The region was divided Camden: 2005-06 into a grid pattern and GPS, satellite Poultry Slaughterings $11.9m imagery and cadastral mapping were Vegetables $11.1m used, plus on ground verification, to Egg Production $5.6m identify relevant properties. The actual Nurseries/Turf/Cut Flowers $3.8m area growing vegetables on each Cattle Slaughterings $1.6m property was measured using satellite Fruit $0.3m imagery verified by on ground physical TOTAL $34.3m inspections. The vegetable farms studied were broken down into three Page 3 of 13 NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service categories: (a) in-ground vegetable farming; (b) greenhouse production; On the methodological front, Malcolm and (c) hydroponic farming. and Fahd noted that, based on ABS figures, estimates of the relative Malcolm and Fahd's key findings on contribution of Sydney's vegetable the extent of vegetable growing in the industry to the NSW vegetable industry region were as follows: can vary dramatically, depending on whether it is calculated on farming the total number of identified area (20%), total production in tonnage vegetable farms was about (23%), or grower numbers (52%). The 1,052; authors also noted that ABS data the area planted in outdoor- suggests that the 'gross value' of field, greenhouse and outdoor vegetable production, in the Sydney hydrophonic vegetables is region, is around $132 million.17 about 2,025 hectares; the average size of vegetable On the inter-State and intra-State planting on those 1,052 fronts, Malcolm and Fahd concluded holdings was 1.9 hectares; that: more than half of Sydney's identified vegetable growing NSW is a net importer of large concerns are in the State volumes of vegetables from other States….[and] Sydney imports the Government's proposed North vast bulk of its vegetables from West and Southern Growth outside the Sydney region.18 Centres, that is, areas earmarked for release/close One of their recommendations was for subdivision; and compulsory licensing/registration for all together, by area the Southern commercial vegetable growers. and North West Growth Centres contain 60% of Sydney's 2.5 Sarah James et al, Sydney's greenhouse vegetable Agricultural Lands: An 15 industry. Analysis Malcolm and Fahd's analysis of the Broadly, it was found that, when Sydney vegetable industry is compared with the results from described by James et al as "clearly previous studies, the Sydney the most up-to-date and detailed study vegetable industry had decreased over of the size and location of Sydney's the last 12 years. The authors noted vegetable farms".19 The "obvious that 'Currently, it is considerably limitation" they find with the report is smaller than many industry observers that it "only covers vegetable farms." had previously suggested'.
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