Digital Agriculture Services (DAS) estimates that 9.7 million hectares of Australian cropping land qualify as “prime” under its new satellite-mapping analysis. That is 37% of the average 26.6 million hectares cropped each year across five states during 2021–2025. DAS uses the label for land meeting both a wheat-yield threshold and a cropping-frequency threshold; it is the company’s classification, not an official Australian land-quality rating.
How DAS defines “prime” cropping land
In an analysis published September 23, 2026, DAS classifies land as prime only when it passes both tests:
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- Wheat yield: a long-term average of at least 2.75 tonnes per hectare over 2018–2025.
- Cropping intensity: at least 60% over 2021–2025, meaning at least 60% of paddock area carries a winter or following-summer crop in a typical year.
DAS says 9.7 million hectares meet both thresholds. Its denominator is 26.6 million hectares cropped in an average year across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia during 2021–2025. The yield and cropping-intensity periods differ, so the national result combines measures calculated over distinct windows. DAS’s announcement and analysis.
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DAS’s rounded state estimates show different patterns: NSW has the largest prime area and the highest prime share of its average cropped area, while Western Australia is second by prime area. Victoria has the highest reported average wheat yield; WA has the highest cropping intensity.
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| State | Average wheat yield, 2018–2025 (t/ha) | Cropping intensity, 2021–2025 | Average cropped area (Mha/year) | Prime area (Mha) | Prime share of cropped area | Prime LGAs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 2.71 | 56% | 7.5 | 3.4 | 46% | 11 |
| Queensland | 2.37 | 32% | 2.0 | 0.5 | 26% | 1 |
| South Australia | 2.19 | 51% | 4.0 | 1.1 | 27% | 6 |
| Victoria | 2.93 | 54% | 4.2 | 1.6 | 39% | 4 |
| Western Australia | 2.46 | 70% | 9.0 | 3.0 | 34% | 24 |
| Australia | 2.57 | 55% | 26.6 | 9.7 | 37% | 46 |
Areas are rounded to one decimal place in DAS’s state figures, so adding the state estimates will not produce an exact national total. All figures in the table are DAS estimates. See the source analysis.
Where the mapped prime areas are
The largest continuous concentration identified by DAS extends across the north-west plains of NSW, from Walgett through Moree and Narrabri to Gunnedah and the Liverpool Plains. It continues across the Queensland border toward Goondiwindi and the Darling Downs.
Moree Plains is the largest LGA by mapped prime area in the analysis: 839,000 hectares, or 92% of its cropped area. DAS also reports 337,000 hectares in Walgett (77%), 267,000 hectares in Narrabri (85%) and 77,900 hectares in Liverpool Plains (74%).
Other concentrations include Victoria’s Wimmera and Southern Mallee; South Australia’s lower Eyre and Yorke peninsulas and Mid North; and WA’s south coast and Great Southern. The analysis reports 444,000 hectares of prime land in Esperance. These are mapped-area estimates, not parcel-by-parcel assessments. DAS’s mapped-area figures.
What the satellite mapping measures—and what it misses
DAS measures wheat yield and cropping intensity in 10-kilometre grid cells across Australia’s broadacre cropping regions. It also calculates LGA averages from the same paddock data. An LGA’s reported prime area is the cropped area in qualifying grid cells whose centre falls inside that local government area.
This distinction matters because a whole-district average can conceal fields that meet the thresholds. DAS says 61% of mapped prime area lies in 46 LGAs whose averages qualify as prime; the remaining 39% is in LGAs that fall short on at least one measure. A qualifying patch inside a non-qualifying LGA is therefore possible, as is variation between paddocks within a qualifying district.
The classification is not a complete measure of agricultural suitability or value. DAS says it does not account for other significant crop yields, profitability, soil type, rainfall or land value. It should be read as a two-factor productivity-and-frequency classification, not a property valuation, environmental assessment or comprehensive score of farming potential.
Even a multi-season average does not mean stable yields every year. Across the 46 LGAs whose eight-season average reached at least 2.75 tonnes per hectare, DAS reports single-season wheat yields as low as 0.79 tonnes per hectare, including 0.86 tonnes per hectare in 2019. These are company-reported LGA findings; they do not establish that every prime paddock experienced those yields. DAS’s announcement.
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How this relates to ABS crop statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses DAS satellite-derived crop maps as one input to its broadacre crop statistics, but that does not make the ABS the author or validator of this “prime” ranking. The ABS’s 2024–25 broadacre methodology, released in 2026, describes combining crop maps with levy-payer register records and industry harvest data. It describes maps at paddock level and estimates aggregated to SA2 areas; beyond DAS map coverage, crop-area estimates use levy-register production amounts. ABS broadacre crops methodology, 2024–25.
The ABS separately describes a modernised agricultural statistics program that uses machine learning on satellite data to classify crops across mainland paddocks and combines this with administrative data for yearly regional statistics. It says farmer time spent completing ABS agriculture surveys fell by 97%, or approximately 20,000 hours a year on average, after replacing surveys with existing data sources. That reported change concerns the program overall, not DAS alone. ABS update on modernising agricultural statistics.
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