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Released April 10, 2015 | PERTH, AUSTRALIA
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--The demand for agricultural products has risen simultaneously with demand for mining products across Asia, placing both industries in closer competition to one another.
Historically, both industries have competed for land use and water distribution. Throughout the last decade, both industries have tried to attract more people to meet their labor requirements, and the Agricultural Industry has consistently lost out to the considerably higher incomes offered by the Mining Industry.
According to the Australian Department of Employment, the agricultural industry employed 319,000 people (or 2.7% of the total national workforce) in 2014, while the mining industry employed 274,000 people (2.4% of the national workforce). Mining had the strongest employment growth of any industry during the last five years, but a decline in the share of the workforce is anticipated for both industries as they invest heavily in labor-saving equipment. Conflict in this area should decline.
The coal seam gas industry (CSG) has been causing the most conflict recently - with many landowners opposing any new CSG developments on agricultural land. It is argued that the CSG process damages the local environment, hurts farm land and contaminates water and air, which could affect human health.
Demonstrations against the practice recently took place at Shenhua Australia Holdings Pty Limited's (Sydney, Australia) Watermark coal project in the Liverpool Plains. According to Tony Windsor, a former member of the Australian Parliament, although the Liverpool Plains has been referred to as "Australia's Food Bowl,", beneath its highly productive soils are rich deposits of coal and CSG worth billions of dollars. Some people argue that developing CSG in the region would act as a bridging fuel on the transition to renewable energy, as well as an increase of economic activity and further job creation.
Although cross-competition is fierce, the presence of mining operations in rural areas provides considerable economic benefits, massive infrastructure developments and extensive job opportunities for agriculture. In fact, mining and agriculture are directly linked through agriculture's dependence on land and water resources, as well as the workers that major mining operations attract to rural areas.
Economically, mining companies are capable of making large capital investments required to make major positive changes in rural areas. Agriculture benefits massively from these infrastructure investments as road improvements and new additions often lowers transport costs and allow farmers to reach markets faster.
Mining companies are also forced through a strict environmental permitting process to create large buffer zones around mine sites, which must be improved and rehabilitated, both during and after the mines' operations. This is integral to making a farm region more productive, and the strategy is intended to regenerate the land, often leaving it in a better state than it was previously.
Despite improvements in infrastructure that support agricultural development, there is also a mixed outcome, as some areas could grow as a result of mining and other areas decline.
Also, the environmental process is not always closely monitored, as can be seen from the thousands of abandoned mines across Australia.
Although the conflict between these two industries may at times seem as though the world's environmental future rests on the agreements made between them, land use is far lower for mining when compared to agriculture. Last year, agricultural land represented just over half (52%) of Australia's total land area--with 86% of that figure mainly used for grazing, and just under 8% used for crops. An approximate figure has not been verified, but some estimates show that mining only uses 0.3% to 1% of Australia's total land value.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
Historically, both industries have competed for land use and water distribution. Throughout the last decade, both industries have tried to attract more people to meet their labor requirements, and the Agricultural Industry has consistently lost out to the considerably higher incomes offered by the Mining Industry.
According to the Australian Department of Employment, the agricultural industry employed 319,000 people (or 2.7% of the total national workforce) in 2014, while the mining industry employed 274,000 people (2.4% of the national workforce). Mining had the strongest employment growth of any industry during the last five years, but a decline in the share of the workforce is anticipated for both industries as they invest heavily in labor-saving equipment. Conflict in this area should decline.
The coal seam gas industry (CSG) has been causing the most conflict recently - with many landowners opposing any new CSG developments on agricultural land. It is argued that the CSG process damages the local environment, hurts farm land and contaminates water and air, which could affect human health.
Demonstrations against the practice recently took place at Shenhua Australia Holdings Pty Limited's (Sydney, Australia) Watermark coal project in the Liverpool Plains. According to Tony Windsor, a former member of the Australian Parliament, although the Liverpool Plains has been referred to as "Australia's Food Bowl,", beneath its highly productive soils are rich deposits of coal and CSG worth billions of dollars. Some people argue that developing CSG in the region would act as a bridging fuel on the transition to renewable energy, as well as an increase of economic activity and further job creation.
Although cross-competition is fierce, the presence of mining operations in rural areas provides considerable economic benefits, massive infrastructure developments and extensive job opportunities for agriculture. In fact, mining and agriculture are directly linked through agriculture's dependence on land and water resources, as well as the workers that major mining operations attract to rural areas.
Economically, mining companies are capable of making large capital investments required to make major positive changes in rural areas. Agriculture benefits massively from these infrastructure investments as road improvements and new additions often lowers transport costs and allow farmers to reach markets faster.
Mining companies are also forced through a strict environmental permitting process to create large buffer zones around mine sites, which must be improved and rehabilitated, both during and after the mines' operations. This is integral to making a farm region more productive, and the strategy is intended to regenerate the land, often leaving it in a better state than it was previously.
Despite improvements in infrastructure that support agricultural development, there is also a mixed outcome, as some areas could grow as a result of mining and other areas decline.
Also, the environmental process is not always closely monitored, as can be seen from the thousands of abandoned mines across Australia.
Although the conflict between these two industries may at times seem as though the world's environmental future rests on the agreements made between them, land use is far lower for mining when compared to agriculture. Last year, agricultural land represented just over half (52%) of Australia's total land area--with 86% of that figure mainly used for grazing, and just under 8% used for crops. An approximate figure has not been verified, but some estimates show that mining only uses 0.3% to 1% of Australia's total land value.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
