Offered Papers Theme C: Delivering the Benefits from Grassland
Description
Key points
1. A survey of decision support (DS) tools in grassland agriculture illustrates the diversity of decisions supported and of delivery technologies that are used. Larger, whole-enterprise planning tools are undergoing a period where their user interfaces are being adapted to better reflect the requirements and practice of advisory users.
2. The history of use of GrassGro, a ‘versatile simulator’, is used to illustrate how versatile tools attract a diverse range of users and uses. Lessons learnt by the GrassGro team are discussed.
3. Uptake rates of DS tools in grasslands are generally lower than was expected a decade ago. Nevertheless, if return on investment is used as the criterion then some DS tools – especially smaller ones – are clearly successful. Uptake for educational use can be much more rapid.
Citation
Moore, Andrew D., "Paying for Our Keep: Grasslands Decision Support in More-Developed Countries" (2023). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/20/themeC/1
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Paying for Our Keep: Grasslands Decision Support in More-Developed Countries
Key points
1. A survey of decision support (DS) tools in grassland agriculture illustrates the diversity of decisions supported and of delivery technologies that are used. Larger, whole-enterprise planning tools are undergoing a period where their user interfaces are being adapted to better reflect the requirements and practice of advisory users.
2. The history of use of GrassGro, a ‘versatile simulator’, is used to illustrate how versatile tools attract a diverse range of users and uses. Lessons learnt by the GrassGro team are discussed.
3. Uptake rates of DS tools in grasslands are generally lower than was expected a decade ago. Nevertheless, if return on investment is used as the criterion then some DS tools – especially smaller ones – are clearly successful. Uptake for educational use can be much more rapid.
