Yield Trends in The Wheat Belt of South Australia During 1896-1941

Abstract

The history of the wheat industry in South Australia is reviewed to provide a background for discussion of the fomls of trend observed in yield. The period chosen for examination was 1896-1941, and the analysis extends to practically the entire wheat belt, the basic territorial unit used for assessing yield being the hundred, the mean area of which in South Australia is approximately 118 square miles. As a preliminary to the evaluation of the trends it was necessary to estimate and to eliminate the effects of variations in seasonal rainfall; the statistical technique used was that of partial regression, and reasons are given for the choice of rainfall variates.