This paper examines the extent to which agricultural sector developments in the Australian economy can be understood using international trade theory, several major mining booms and knowledge of key policy developments. It suggests those developments are not inconsistent with theory, but it also reveals several features that make Australia’s economy unusual. The most striking are the facts that the agricultural sector’s share of GDP remained fairly constant rather than falling during 1860-1960 and even during the latest mining boom, and that the farm sector continued to enjoy a strong comparative advantage despite periodic dramatic spurts of growth in mining investment, output and exports.