A manual for measuring total factor productivity in Australian agriculture

This report describes a newly proposed method and dataset used by ABARES to measure output, input and total factor productivity in the Australian agriculture industry. We apply recently-developed statistical methods to a novel dataset, compiled from Australia's national account statistics and farm surveys. \r\n\r\n The results show agricultural productivity grew at 2.0 per cent a year between 1948-49 and 2013-14. This work provides a unique measure of the productivity performance of Australia's agriculture industry over time, and thereby provides insight into trends in farm performance and the effects of policy reforms.