Structural changes in Western Australia's sheep industry: Regional patterns and producer adaptations
Publication Date
4-2026
Publisher
Department of Primay Industries and Regional Development, State of Western Australia
City
Perth
ISSN
978-1-925415-44-5 (Online)
Abstract
Western Australia's (WA) sheep industry has undergone substantial structural transformation since the 1990s, with a 67% reduction in the flock, from 38.4 million in 1989-90 to 12.7 million in 2020-21. This transformation process followed the collapse of the Reserve Price Scheme for wool in 1991. This report examines the spatial and temporal changes in flock size, composition, and producer adaptation strategies from 2010-11 to 2020-21, drawing on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) producer surveys data.
Number of Pages
28
Keywords
Sheep industry, structural change, agroecological zones, regional distribution, flock composition, Merino, dual-purpose sheep, breed composition, lambing rate, wool production, sheepmeat, producer adaptation, farm resilience, land use change, crop-livestock systems, industry transformation, sheep flock decline, producer intentions, agricultural regions, Western Australia, WA, Australian sheep, sheep, comparisons, wool, sheep, sheep-meat, flock structure, income, flock trends, LGA, Top 10 sheep producing, ewe flock levels, breeding ewes, Western Australian sheep industry, producer adaptation, WA agriculture, livestock
Disciplines
Agriculture | Sheep and Goat Science
Recommended Citation
Estifanos, T., Pritchett, K., Foster, K., Abadi, A., and Kingwell, R. (2026). Structural changes in Western Australia's sheep industry: Regional patterns and producer adaptations. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Perth, Western Australia.
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