A Glossary of Australian Agricultural and Farm Business Terms

What is Agribusiness?
Based on a page previously available from Agribusiness Association of Australia

The Agribusiness sector is a 'chain' of industries directly and indirectly involved in the production, transformation and provision of food, fibre, chemicals and pharmaceutical substrates.

'Links' in the agribusiness 'chain' include the following industry sectors:

- Primary production of commodities such as unprocessed food, aquaculture, fibre, chemical and pharmaceutical substrates.

- Tertiary transformation of the 'commodities' into 'value added' products - where the value is derived from the process of transformation.

- The supply of inputs to the primary and tertiary sectors.

- Retail and wholesale provision of commodity and value added food, fibre and related products to consumers,

- And the provision of services such as education, banking, finance, investment and technical advice to all links in the chain.

Agribusiness encompasses all activities from the 'paddock to the consumer' that are relevant to the eventual production, transformation / value adding, distribution and retailing of food, fibre and associated products.

'Agribusiness' is alternative nomenclature for 'food or fibre systems' - where the system encompasses the complex chain of interactions that facilitates the production of commodities, their transformation and eventual delivery to the consumer.

The Agribusiness Value Chain is another term used to describe agribusiness.

The Agribusiness Value Chain is made up of both 'knowledge' and 'effort' inputs.

Knowledge inputs into the agribusiness value chain include:

• Agricultural and agribusiness education,

• The 'services' sector, including banking, finance, legal, consulting and advisory services,

• And policy and regulatory activities in regional, state and federal governments.

Effort inputs into the agribusiness value chain include:

• Production of commodities such as meat, grains, aquaculture, other animal products, horticultural produce, plant and animal fibre, Agri-forestry, etc.

• The supply of inputs for the production of food, fibre chemicals and pharmaceutical substrates and for adding value or transforming commodities,

• Value adding activities such as transformation of agricultural commodities by processing, preparation, packaging and distribution,

• And the marketing and retailing of commodities and value added food and fibre products.

The agribusiness value chain is one of Australia's largest and most important industry sectors. The food sector of Agribusiness comprises approximately 21% of Australia's merchandise exports and employs more than 550 000 people - or 6.5% of the total work force.

The majority of Australia's regional employment is derived from agribusiness chain activities. There is also a significant amount of agribusiness chain activity occurring in major cities, including value adding / transformation and particularly in the knowledge input sector of the chain.