Publication Date
1989
Description
Annual pasture-cereal rotations dominate land use in the 250-600 rnrn rainfall zone of southern Australia (Puckridge and French, 1983). Although this ley farming system appears simple in concept, farm managers attempting to maximise profits can face complex and difficult decisions. Use of annual legume pasture species such as subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and medics (Medicago spp.) is widespread. However there are soils, particularly in arid areas, on which legumes do not persist in pasture, so that volunteer herbs and grasses are the dominant pasture species. On these soils a recent trend has been the introduction of legume crops, mainly lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.). MIDAS (Model of an Integrated Dryland Agricultural System) has been developed to aid understanding of this farrn systern (Morrison et al., 1986; Kingwell and Pannell 1987). It is a bio-econornic model representing the interdependencies between pasture, sheep and crop as well as factors such as labour, machinery, finance and the widely differing soils which often occur on a single farm. Model output specifies the nature and level of farm activities which maximise long-run wholefarrn profits subjects to the farm's technical, biological and resource constraints. Our airn in this paper is to investigate economic aspects of pasture production in south-western Australia, including optimal pasture-crop rotations, the economic value of pasture and the impact of variation in prices received for produce.
Citation
Ewing, M A.; Pannell, D J.; and Morrison, D A., "Pastures and Profit in an Australian Ley Farming System" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 30.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session11/30
Included in
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Pastures and Profit in an Australian Ley Farming System
Annual pasture-cereal rotations dominate land use in the 250-600 rnrn rainfall zone of southern Australia (Puckridge and French, 1983). Although this ley farming system appears simple in concept, farm managers attempting to maximise profits can face complex and difficult decisions. Use of annual legume pasture species such as subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and medics (Medicago spp.) is widespread. However there are soils, particularly in arid areas, on which legumes do not persist in pasture, so that volunteer herbs and grasses are the dominant pasture species. On these soils a recent trend has been the introduction of legume crops, mainly lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.). MIDAS (Model of an Integrated Dryland Agricultural System) has been developed to aid understanding of this farrn systern (Morrison et al., 1986; Kingwell and Pannell 1987). It is a bio-econornic model representing the interdependencies between pasture, sheep and crop as well as factors such as labour, machinery, finance and the widely differing soils which often occur on a single farm. Model output specifies the nature and level of farm activities which maximise long-run wholefarrn profits subjects to the farm's technical, biological and resource constraints. Our airn in this paper is to investigate economic aspects of pasture production in south-western Australia, including optimal pasture-crop rotations, the economic value of pasture and the impact of variation in prices received for produce.
