Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00760:reg:24:p31
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024C00760
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 24 (pt 31/36)
Character Range: 392251–395100

and gain access to international markets.
    47. At the same time, the agricultural sector has had to contend with a wide range of other pressures, including changes in the costs of production (e.g. water, feed, fuel, fertiliser), consumer demand, technological advances and innovation, emerging environmental concerns, continuing variability in seasonal conditions, and declining terms of trade (ABARE, BRS 2010; Beilharz 1994; Hughes 1998; Kelly 1992; Melleuish 1997; Tonts 2000). Over the last decade, governments have put in place measures, such as The Living Murray program, to recover water for the environment (MDBA 2011c); as at 31 March 2012, it was estimated that 1,344 GL/year of environmental water had been recovered since 2009 (www.mdba.gov.au).
    48. Irrigators and other farmers have had to increase productivity and manage input costs to remain competitive. For example, the dairy industry more than doubled milk production per cow from 1979‑80 to 2008‑09 (Frontier Economics 2010). Nationally, productivity in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors increased at an average annual rate of 2.2% between 1974‑75 and 2007‑08, higher than the manufacturing (1.2%), retail (0.9%) or mining (0.8%) sectors (ABARE, BRS 2010). In the Basin, water usage by the dairy industry between 2005‑06 and 2007‑08 (drought years) declined by 64.4%, but the value of dairy production reduced by only 26.5% (MDBA 2011b). The growth of the water market has played a significant role in enabling irrigated agriculture to adjust to seasonal variations in water availability (MDBA 2011b).
    49. Long‑term changes in the economic prospects for agriculture have led to changes in the Basin's social and economic makeup and outlook. Over the longer term, the proportion of those employed in agriculture has declined. Employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing in the Basin fell by almost 12% from 2001 to 2006. In the decade to 2006, the number of people in the Basin identifying themselves as 'farmer' or 'farm manager' fell by 10%. The average age of those working in agriculture has been steadily increasing. The proportion of workers aged over 45 and 65 years is higher in agriculture than in any other industry (MDBA 2011b).
    50. In the period from 1976 to 2001, the population of the Basin's large cities and towns grew by 30%, much more quickly than most of the smaller towns and rural localities. From 2001 to 2006, coinciding with extended drought, the population in large and medium towns grew by 8% while the rural population declined by 1.7%. This reflects a continuation of the trend, since the beginning of the twentieth century, for the percentage of the population living in rural areas of the Basin to decline (ABS, ABARE and BRS 2009).
    51. The Basin's river systems are of critical importance to the social, cultural