Broadacre Farm Income to Decline Significantly

Income from large-scale farming is forecasted to fall 41 percent.

This photo shows sheep feeding on lush grass on the property of Australian farmer Kevin Tongue near the rural city of Tamworth in New South Wales, Australia, on May 4, 2020. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) is expecting average broadacre farm incomes to significantly fall to $197,000 (US$125,000) per farm in 2023-24, due to drier conditions and lower agricultural commodity prices, especially livestock.

The DAFF’s Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecast represents a 41 percent decline from $332,000 in 2022-2023 and a 44 percent decline from $350,000 in 2021-2022.