AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS: SOME ASPECTS OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF FARMS BY TYPE and DISCUSSION

The recent application of an experimental type classification of farms in New South Wales is, I think, the most significant development in Australian agricultural statistics since the war. This operation, carried out for the year 1955-56, involved the classification of statistical returns for the 78,000 rural holdings in the State, according to the nature of activity on individual holdings. A great deal of teamwork has gone into the planning and development of this classification, (1) and I believe that it will provide useful and reliable statistical results. The project is still in the experimental stage and much remains to be done before a fully operative classification can be applied in all States.