Abstract: Russia and Australia have similar natural and land resources, but they do differ in the levels of agricultural development. Australia has a highly efficient agriculture with high marketability and internationalization. The productivity of agriculture in Australia is so high that it exports three-quarters of its products, meanwhile Russia only by means of imports can satisfy the need of the population in meat, milk, eggs, potatoes. The present article analyses the reasons for the difference between Russia and Australia in productivity from the view point of land ownership, agricultural producers and specialization of production, discussing the questions on increasing efficiency of land resources use, scale and efficiency, as well as the role of the market to regulate production.