A comparison of development options on a Northern Australian beef property

Boosting the productivity and profitability of northern Australian beef enterprises: Exploring innovation options using simulation modelling and systems analysis

“…These enterprises are characterised by complex herd structures and dynamics that are subject to interactions between a highly variable climate and pasture resource, which drives considerable production risk (Cacho et al, 1999). Although a number of beef cattle simulation models have been produced to mimic different production systems around the world (e.g., Foran et al, 1990;Tess and Kolstad, 2000;Teague and Foy, 2002), none of the available models were particularly suited for simulating either extensive production systems in sub-tropical and tropical regions or the types of technology interventions that may be possible for application in the coming two decades. To adequately test these interventions, a model was required that could integrate the growth and quality of natural pastures under grazing, herd dynamics including reproduction, growth and mortality, genetic improvements in reproduction and growth efficiency, alteration of the pasture feed base, provision of nutrient supplements, and rumen modification.…”

“…Foran et al (1990) developed a model (Rangepack) for simulating the broad production and financial outcomes for various development options for northern Australian beef enterprises, although this model did not incorporate pasture growth dynamics, and the animal biological parameters were exogenously derived from empirical data and expert opinion rather than endogenously generated by plant and animal process sub-models. Other simulation models that have been specifically developed for northern Australian beef systems do capture the highly variable climate-pasture dynamics (McKeon et al, 2000) but rely on simple empirical relationships established between pasture growth and liveweight gain (McCown, 1981) to drive animal production and enterprise economics (MacLeod et al, 2011).…”

Economic evaluation of irrigated forage production in a beef cattle operation in the semi-arid tropics of northern Australia

“…Although a number of beef cattle models have been developed to simulate different production systems around the world (e.g., Foran et al, 1990;Tess and Kolstad, 2000;Teague and Foy, 2002), none of the available models was well suited for simulating either extensive production systems in tropical regions or the inclusion of irrigation technology. The bio-economic simulation model that was employed for the study is the Northern Australia Beef Systems Analyser (NABSA) Hunt et al, 2014;Ash et al, 2015), which was specifically developed within CSIRO for assessing the production and financial impacts of the application of novel technologies or management practices on beef production systems in northern Australia.…”

Testing and calibrating empirical models of cattle growth on native pastures in northern Australia

“…To be most useful, models of beef-cattle enterprises require simple but realistic predictions of key animal production responses such as liveweight change (LWC). GRASP (GRASs Production, McKeon et al, 2000) is the most commonly applied simulation model for pasture-based cattle production in northern Australia, and along with BreedCow/Dynama (Holmes, 1995), HerdEcon (Foran et al, 1990) andENTERPRISE (MacLeod andAsh, 2001), underpins much of the work within the Northern Grazing Systems Initiative (a series of producer workshops, run by state and territory governments in collaboration with Meat and Livestock Australia). GRASP is primarily a soil moisture/pasture growth model for grazing systems in northern Australia.…”

“…Gillard and Monypenny's (1988) early IFPS model assumed fixed values (dependent on the management strategy) for branding and mortality rates. Similarly, Foran et al (1990) and Buxton and Stafford-Smith (1996) use lookup tables for the biological rates, with the values in these tables being largely based on expert opinion. The McIvor and Monypenny (1995) model for the Charters Towers region, based on earlier work of McCown et al (1981), specifies empirical models for liveweight gain, and % branding and mortality.…”