Others will remember it as the year of Chinese trade tensions and workforce shortages.
For Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, the bumper harvest and high livestock prices makes this a record $65 billion year.
When it comes to the difficult trade relationship with China, Mr Littleproud said he was concerned by the potential impacts of China’s decisions but was “buoyed” by the $65 billion forecast.
“This growth is being driven by drought recovery, Australia’s second largest winter crop, the best ever crop in NSW, a favourable outlook for summer cropping and high livestock prices,” Mr Littleproud said.
He said the ABARES forecast, which predicts the gross value of agricultural production will hit $65 billion, was a testament to the resilience of farmers and better seasonal conditions.
“As we and the global economy recover from COVID-19, it will be agriculture once again leading the way.”
In addition to high production, the confidence of farmers is also at all-time highs.
The November Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey recorded one of the highest rural sentiment readings in two decades, putting confidence at “historically high levels”.
Mixed livestock, grain growers and dairy farmers were experiencing the strongest confidence boosts as growing conditions improve and water allocations are on the rise, running behind only cotton growers in overall optimism.
In Victoria, previously held concerns about the impact of COVID-19 have all but dissipated following regular spring rainfall and high commodity prices.
In NSW, rural sentiment is at levels not seen since March 2008 and are the strongest in the country, with 57 per cent of NSW farmers surveyed positive about the coming year.
Only three per cent of NSW farmers reported having a pessimistic view, down from 20 per cent in the September survey.
Rabobank Australia chief executive Peter Knoblanche said after years of drought and low-to-no income the tables had finally turned.
“While 2020 has been a year of great uncertainty and challenge for everyone in the community, for farmers the extraordinary turnaround in the season has also made it one to remember,” Mr Knoblanche said.
Rabobank questions on average 1000 primary producers every quarter for its confidence surveys.
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