Agricultural environments fact sheet | Field of Mars EEC

What are agricultural environments?

Agricultural environments are managed places where people grow plants, raise animals or produce food and fibre. They can include farms, paddocks, crop fields, orchards, market gardens, vineyards, sheds, fences, tracks, dams, irrigation channels, shelterbelts, remnant native vegetation and creek lines.

A farm is not just a human-made place. It still has living and non-living features that interact. Crops, pasture plants, livestock, insects, fungi, bacteria, soil, water, sunlight, air, weather and landforms all affect what can live there and how the farm works.

Across NSW, farms are very different. Some farms grow grain on inland plains, some graze sheep or cattle on pasture, and others grow fruit, vegetables, cotton, rice or grapes. The type of farming that occurs in an area is shaped by climate, water availability, soil, landform and distance to markets.

An agricultural environment.

Cattle grazing on pasture show how farm animals depend on plants, soil, water and shelter.

Where are agricultural environments found?

Agricultural environments are found across Australia. Grazing is widespread across many parts of the country, while cropping, horticulture and more intensive farming depend on suitable soil, water, climate and access to markets.

In NSW, farms are found across coastal valleys, tablelands, inland plains and river catchments. The Murray–Darling Basin is an important agricultural region, and many NSW regional communities are connected to farming, food production and fibre production.

Farms are not a feature of Field of Mars Reserve, which is a protected urban bushland reserve. This fact sheet supports learning about wider NSW environments and helps students compare managed agricultural environments with bushland, urban, freshwater and coastal environments.

Farm paddocks can include crops, pasture, fences, tracks, trees and areas of native vegetation.

What living and non-living features make up agricultural environments?

Living features in farms can include crop plants, pasture plants, livestock, paddock trees, shelterbelts, weeds, insects, spiders, worms, frogs near water, birds, reptiles, mammals, fungi and bacteria. Remnant native vegetation, creekline plants and scattered trees can provide habitat for native animals and help connect the farm to nearby ecosystems.

Non-living features include soil, water, sunlight, air, rainfall, temperature, wind, slope, rocks and nutrients. Human-made features such as fences, dams, troughs, irrigation channels, sheds, roads and tracks also shape how water moves, where animals shelter and how people manage the land.

Farm animals, pasture, trees, soil and weather are connected in managed agricultural environments.

What plants and animals live in agricultural environments?

Farm plants may include wheat, rice, canola, cotton, fruit trees, grapevines, vegetables, pasture grasses and legumes. Native plants may also grow in paddock trees, shelterbelts, native grasslands, roadside edges, wetlands, gullies and riparian areas beside creeks and rivers.

Farm animals can include cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, horses and working dogs. Wild animals may also use farms, including insects, spiders, worms, frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. Some living things help the farm, such as pollinators and decomposers, while others may become pests, weeds or diseases that need careful management.

Sheep and pasture plants are part of many grazing environments in southern Australia.

How do living things depend on agricultural environments?

Living things in farms are connected through food chains and food webs. Crop plants, pasture grasses, weeds and algae are producers because they use sunlight to make food. Livestock, caterpillars, grasshoppers, seed-eating birds and some mammals are consumers because they eat plants or other living things.

Predators such as spiders, beetles, frogs, birds and reptiles may eat smaller animals. Decomposers such as fungi, bacteria, earthworms and dung beetles break down dead plants, animal waste and other organic matter. This returns nutrients to the soil, where plants can use them again. Farms also depend on ecosystem services, such as pollination, soil formation, nutrient cycling, water filtration, shade, shelter, natural pest control and carbon storage.

A honey bee collecting nectar shows how animals and flowering plants can depend on each other in farm food webs.

How are agricultural environments connected to Aboriginal Peoples and Country?

Aboriginal Peoples hold detailed knowledge of plants, animals, soils, water and seasons. This knowledge supports ways to produce, harvest, store and manage food. In different parts of Australia, this has included caring for grasslands, harvesting grains and tubers, managing water, using fire carefully and maintaining food systems suited to local environments.

European settlement from 1788 brought deep disruption. Land clearing, livestock grazing and the spread of disease devastated local Aboriginal communities and their way of life. Displacement and loss of access to Country followed, disrupting cultural life, families and connection to place. Modern farming in Australia developed after colonisation, changed many landscapes and disrupted Aboriginal land management, food systems and access to Country. Today, Aboriginal knowledges of land management are being reintroduced in some areas to support sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices.

Native grasslands are part of Country, where plants, animals, soil, water and seasonal changes are connected.

Why are agricultural environments important?

Farms are important because they produce food and fibre for people. They can provide grains, fruit, vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, wool, cotton and other products used in daily life. Many communities, jobs and transport systems are also connected to farming.

Farms can also support biodiversity when soil, water, native vegetation and habitats are cared for. Paddock trees, shelterbelts, farm dams, grasslands, wetlands, riparian areas and remnant bushland can provide food, shelter and movement pathways for wildlife. Healthy riparian vegetation can help stabilise banks, filter runoff, improve water quality and create habitat for native animals.

Tree planting on farms can create shelter, habitat links and places for native wildlife to move through agricultural land.

What threatens agricultural environments?

Farms and agricultural environments can be affected by drought, floods, extreme heat, fire, erosion, soil compaction, salinity, weeds, pests, diseases, loss of native vegetation, polluted runoff and poor water management. Climate change can affect rainfall, temperature, water availability, crop growth, livestock health and the spread of pests, weeds and diseases.

Farm environments can also affect nearby ecosystems. Soil, fertiliser, chemicals, manure and rubbish can wash into creeks and rivers if runoff is not managed well. Clearing native vegetation can remove habitat and reduce biodiversity. Careful land management is needed so farms can produce food and fibre while also protecting soil, water and living things.

Drought can reduce ground cover, stress livestock and make soil more vulnerable to erosion.

How can you help protect agricultural environments?

Students can help by learning where food and fibre come from and by reducing waste. Eating food responsibly, recycling packaging, composting food scraps where possible and keeping rubbish out of waterways all help reduce pressure on environments.

When visiting farms, stay with an adult, follow safety instructions, close gates when asked, avoid disturbing livestock, keep away from machinery and do not enter dams, sheds or paddocks without permission. Good biosecurity also matters. Clean shoes, bikes and equipment before moving between bushland, gardens and farms so weeds, seeds, soil pests and diseases are not spread.

Biosecurity signs remind visitors to help stop pests, weeds and diseases spreading between places.

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• Urban environment fact sheet⁠ – Compare farms with cities and suburbs where people, plants, animals and built places interact.
• River and creek environment fact sheet⁠ – Learn how waterways connect environments, including farms, bushland, towns and cities.

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• Ground cover habitats fact sheet⁠ – Learn how grasses and low plants protect soil and shelter small animals.

• Tree habitats fact sheet⁠ – Explore how trees provide shade, shelter, food and movement pathways.

Food webs and ecological relationships

• European honey bee fact sheet⁠ – Learn about an introduced bee that can pollinate many crops and garden plants.
• Invertebrate fact sheets⁠ – Explore insects, spiders and other small animals that support pollination, soil health and food webs.

Learn with us

Book now

Book a curriculum-aligned excursion or incursion and use this fact sheet to compare farms, bushland, waterways, cities and other managed environments.

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Explore Field of Mars EEC programs that support learning about land use, sustainability, human impacts and human-environment interactions.

Learning resources

Use this agricultural environment fact sheet to support classroom learning about food, fibre, soil, water, land management and environmental change.

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