Water management as a future necessity in sheep feedlots

Abstract

Improving water management in rural towns such as Wagin, Western Australia, will decrease infrastructure damage caused by water and salinity and produce a ‘new water’ resource. The aim of this paper is to predict feedlot water demand using a bioeconomic model, H20Sheep, to determine if using such a ‘new water’ resource could be a viable option for this production system. Wagin (–33.3075 S, 117.3403 E), a township south-east of Perth, was chosen as the specific location for a sheep feedlot producing prime lambs. In this paper, the H20Sheep model was used to show how feedlot returns are influenced by the price of water, different feeding regimens and climate change. This was done by integrating feed and water intake of lambs, general feedlot water use and waste disposal. To show relative sensitivity of changing other model parameters that are not directly connected with water, changes in the purchase and sale price of lambs were also investigated. As might be expected, H20Sheep shows that returns from a sheep feedlot enterprise can be extremely sensitive to changes in lamb purchase (just over 7% increase will result in negative returns) and sale prices (a 4% decrease will generate a negative outcome). With respect to water, the findings indicate that, while increases in water use in the feedlot and price have to be greater than the increase in relative price of sheep, monitoring the biological parameters associated with water as well as water prices is still important both from a management and an economic perspective. Hence, if towns involved in the Rural Towns – Liquid Assets project, such as Wagin, decide to sell their water, the relevant policy makers should ensure that the sale price enables an effective water management system for the town and is also attractive to end-users such as feedlots.

Water requirements for livestock production: a global perspective

“…The impact of water pricing on the economic viability of animal industries has not been extensively studied. Pluske, among others (40,41,42), investigated the effect of water prices on intensive pig, cattle and sheep industries, as part of a programme to use water recovered from beneath rural towns affected by rising saline water tables. These economic models were developed to investigate the potential of such intense animal industries to pay for the extracted water, on the basis of full cost recovery for the water used.…”

“…Animal-sourced foods are particularly appropriate for combating malnutrition and a range of other nutritional deficiencies in populations that have difficulties consuming large quantities of food. However, excessive consumption of animal products is also associated with adverse effects on human health (41). Animal products as a supplement to existing base diets can measurably enhance the nutritional quality of diets for young, pregnant and lactating women and people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) (43).…”

Nutrient Requirements of Zebu and Crossbred Cattle - BR-CORTE

“…The availability of water resources fluctuates globally across regions, and an increasing number of countries, or parts of countries are reaching critical levels of water scarcity (FAO, 2012). In some parts of the world, including Brazil, the effects of water scarcity have already impacted livestock production (Pluske and Schlink, 2007;Ward and Michelsen, 2002). Having Brazil in this reality is alarming, since the country holds the largest reserve of fresh water in the world.…”

Economic management of anthelmintic resistance: model and application*

“…Firstly, the number of T. circumcincta worms in the host is converted to Trichostrongylus colubriformis equivalents (TTE) using the standard rule TTE=2 · T. circumcincta. The maximum food intake for lambs is assumed to be 2 kg/head/day (Pluske and Schlink 2008). If the adult worm burden per host is less than 1000, there is no change in feed intake.…”

“…For worm burdens greater than 81 000, feed intake is 33 per cent of assumed food intake. The relationship between sheep liveweight and feed intake is determined using the model of Pluske and Schlink (2008).…”