Australian Land Use Commodities at Catchment Scale, September 2017

Australia's first national compilation of catchment-scale agricultural commodity data, current as of September 2017. The dataset was compiled from state and territory mapping programs through the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP). Commodities are assigned to the Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification version 8, with mapping dates ranging from 2003 to 2017 and scales from 1:5,000 to 1:250,000.

Use Cases

• Mapping the distribution of specific horticultural and intensive animal industries based on the listed commodities (e.g., sugar cane, cotton, grapes, dairy cattle).
• Analyzing land use intensity by linking commodities to ALUM Classification codes (e.g., 'cattle' applied to grazing and feedlot classes).
• Validating national agricultural statistics and industry reports using field-validated, fine-scale satellite data.
• Studying temporal changes in commodity production areas using mapping dates from 2003 to 2017.

Strengths

• National coverage for Australia, compiled from state and territory mapping programs.
• Field validation was critical for mapping commodities, suggesting ground-truthing.
• Commodity mapping is likely complete nationally for listed items like rice, sugar cane, cotton, and specific fruit and livestock.

Limitations

• Dataset has been superseded; an updated version is available from the ABARES website.
• Mapping date and scale vary (2003-2017, 1:5,000 to 1:250,000), indicating inconsistent temporal and spatial resolution.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Collection Method

Compiled from vector land use datasets from state/territory programs via ACLUMP, using fine-scale satellite data and field information.

Time Range

Mapping dates range from 2003 to 2017, current as of September 2017.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 20:11:13.231582; freshness should be verified as the dataset is superseded.

Geography

Australia, with commodity-level mapping available for all of the Northern Territory.