Agricultural Economics Commons^™

The Productivity Of Western Australia's Wheat And Sheep Industry, Tim Coelli, Ross Kingwell

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A popular economic lament is that Australian industries and workers are not as productive as they should be. Politicians and economic commentators preach the need for productivity improvement and workplace reform, and criticise inefficiency and lack of endeavour. Can such criticism be fairly levelled at farmers and agricultural scientists? What is productivity and how is it measured? What is the productivity of Western Australia's main agricultural industry — wheat and sheep farming? This article addresses these questions and shows that our wheat-sheep industry can be moderately proud of its productivity record

Miscellaneous Publication 36/90 - Western Australian Beef Industry - Background, Alan Peggs

Animal production and livestock published reports

The Western Australian beef industry is poised to expand production in response to improved export opportunities in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

There are a number of beef processors and exporters with substantial experience in exporting beef to international markets. These companies can supply a wide range of beef products.

Most beef produced in Western Australia is grass-fed. However, grain-finished beef is produced at certain times of the year.

The beef industry has been in a period of contraction since the "beef price crash" of the mid 1970s. As a result it has come to focus more on domestic market …

Bulletin No 4158 - Western Australian Beef Industry - Economic Constraints And Future Market Outlook, Alan Peggs

Bulletins 4000 -

Since the mid 1970s there has been a substantial decline in cattle numbers in Western Australia. Most of this decline has occurred in the agricultural areas.

Much of the decline in cattle numbers can be attributed to low real cattle prices.

As a result of the fall in cattle numbers beef production has also fallen. However, the percentage fall in production has been somewhat less than the percentage decline in numbers due to a rise in the average carcass weight of animals slaughtered.

With declining beef production the amount of beef available for export has also declined. Similarly domestic consumption …

The Benefits Of Weaning Cattle In The Kimberley, David Pratchett, Stuart Young

Animal production and livestock research reports

The Kimberley region was populated with Shorthorn cattle from Queensland and New Sonth Wales in the 1880's. The descendants of these cattle known as Kimberley Shorthorn are still the predominant breed in the region. The relatively poor performance of these cattle under the harsh Kimberley conditions and the fact that changing the genotype can improve productivity was recently published (Pratchett D. WADA Journal No. 4 1988)

While the adoption of Bos indicus breeds is the correct move, improved husbandry can also increase the productivity of the Kimberley Shorthorn cow. The majority of cattle in the Kimberley are not weaned. Sometimes …

Bulletin 4152 - Sheep In Western Australia, R J. Suiter

Bulletins 4000 -

Western Australia's sheep industry started in the early 1830s when the first flock-owners grazed their sheep on extensive areas of native vegetation, often by shepherding on unfenced country. Later, farm flocks built up as settlers cleared and fenced land for cultivation, and 'pastoral' or 'station' sheep were confined to fenced areas of native vegetation, leased from the Government.

By 1900, more than 75 per cent of Western Australia's sheep were still classed as 'pastoral', but by 1987/88, the pastoral areas carried only 2 million of the 34.1 million State flock.

Today, many former sheep stations carry cattle, which survive better …

Economic Impact Of Growing Phomopsis-Resistant Lupins, J M. Warren, Jeremy Allen, Wallace Cowling

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The planting of Phomopsis-resistant lupins will increase net farm income. They will also alter the traditional blend of pastures and cropping, depending on grain and wool prices. In mixed farming areas of Western Australia's southern wheatbelt, they will allow more land to be sown to lupins rather than cereals on farms in which the lack of sheep feed over summer severely restricts wool production.

The benefits of Phompsis-resistant lupins arise from a reduction in sheep deaths due to lupinosis, a longer safe grazing period (free from lupinosis) on lupin stubbles, a decrease in the need for supplementary sheep feed over …

Finishing Kimberley Cattle In The South-West, Brian L. Mcintyre, Bill Ryan, Neville Macintyre

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The idea of integrating the Kimberley cattle industry with that in the south-west of Western Australia is no new, but until recently it had not been critically evaluated.

Over the past eight years the Department of Agriculture's Beef Cattle Branch has been assessing the performance of Kimberley cattle transported south for finishing in the agricultural areas.

This research has show that Kimberley weaners can be finished in the south, and that under the present (December 1988) economic conditions it is more profitable than running breeding cattle in the south-west and comparable with fattening store steers.

Prospects For Leucaena On The Ord, D Pratchett, Tim Triglone

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For the past few years, the Department of Agriculture has been fattening cattle on the forage shrub leucaena which is grown under irrigation with pangola grass. About 400ha of leucaena is under commercial production in the Kimberley.

Cattle grazing leucaena show promising growth rates but other problems need to be overcome before its use is more widely adopted. Leucaena establishes slowly. It is also costly to transport fattened cattle to southern abbatoirs.

Weighing Scales For Sheep Do Pay, W D. Roberts

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sheep producers can improve production by using weighing scales and keeping accurate records of weights.

Withiut some objective measurement, such as weighing, producers have no accurate method of identifying the heaviest, lightest and average weight of a group of sheep.

They could try to esstimate weight by eye - but most people are poor judges of body weight.

The Diachronic Study Of Animal Exploitation At Hesban: The Evolution Of A Research Project, Oystein S. Labianca

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Documentation Of Whole-Farm Model For The Eastern Wheatbelt Of Western Australia, Ross S. Kingwell, David J. Pannell, David. A. Morrison

Grain and other field crops published reports

The Eastern Wheatbelt Model (EwM) is a hypothetical farm model, intended to be representative of farms in the eastern wheatbelt region. It is a model of an 'average' farm in an 'average' season. Nevertheless it is possible to substitute the resource mix of a 'real' farm for the •average' and to substitute various types of season for the 'average'.

Assumptions of 'average' farm resources and •average' season are based on opinions by WADA researchers and advisers. For the EWM, researchers and advisers at Merredin prescribed average resources for an eastern wheatbelt farm receiving a 300 mm average rainfall including 210 …

Keeping Starlings Out Of W.A, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In Europe and North America huge flocks of starlings cause millions of dollars worth of damage to grain and fruit crops each year and large sums of money are spent trying to control them.

Starlings were introduced into australia in the late 1890s when more than 200 birds were released near Melbourne. They are now well established over much of eastern Australia, ranging from central Queensland, south to Tasmania and along the Great Australian Bight to the South Australian-Western Australian border, occasionally crossing it and sometimes moving as far west as the Esperance region on the south coast.

Some people …

The Problems And Prospects Of The Kimberley Pastoral Industry, R B. Hacker

Resource management technical reports

The pastoral industry in the Kimberley region began in the early 1880s withthe introduction of cattle overlanded from Queensland and New South Wales into the East Kimberley and with the almost simultaneous introduction, by sea, ofboth sheep and cattle into the Fitzroy Valley.Occupation of the more accessible areas was gradually achieved by theprogressive extension of these two arms of settlement which ultimately metaround the present location of Fitzroy Crossing. Extensive development of themore rugged areas of the North Kimberley came later with the construction ofreasonable access roads to the few isolated stations which had been initiallyestablished in this area.

Economics Of Rainbow Trout Production In Arkansas, Walter R. Robison, Scott H. Newton

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

A Simulation Model For Assessing Alternate Strategies For Beef Production With Land, Energy And Economic Constraints, Otto J. Loewer, E. M. Smith, G. Benock, Thomas C. Bridges, Larry G. Wells, Nelson Gay, S. Burgess, L. Springate, David L. Debertin

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

A computer model has been developed to analyze alternate management strategies and energy and economic constraints. Daily production of beef animals and growing crops is simulated in response to prevailing conditions and system interactions using the GASP IV simulation language. Complete inventories of plant dry matter, animal status, production resources and economic net worth are maintained over the simulation period.

Doublegee Control In Pasture : What Is It Worth, D J. Gilbey, R. J. Lightfoot

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A recent study showed that the cost of spraying to control a heavy doublegee infestation can be recovered in the first year of the spraying.

Rejections Of Sheep And Lamb Carcasses Are Costly, R H. Wroth, R. J. Suiter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A 1976 survey of more than 48 000 sheep and 25 000 lambs slaughtered at two of Western Australia's export abattoirs has indicated a high rejection rate for W.A. carcasses. Rejections may be for disfiguring, blemishes requiring trimming or for diseases which can lead to condemnation.

Savings that producers can make by simple management changes, could thus save the industry $3.12 million a year. Reduction in other causes of rejection or further reduction in some of those mentioned id feasible but requires more research and may be more difficult to achieve.

Annual Dipping Is A Costly Business, F C. Wilkinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

When sheep dipping was compulsory, lice infestations and their control could have been costing the sheep industry in Westrn Australi as much as $8 million a year.

On March 1, 1977 compulsory annual sheep dipping ended.

This raises the question of whether an owner should dip sheep.

Economics Of Farm Water Supplies, P P. Eckersley

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The economics of farm water supplies can be studied in two ways. One is to compare the costs of alternative ways of supplying a specified quantity of water to a farm. Another is to calcu;ate how mucha farmer can afford or will pay for a water supply.

I propose to look at these questions from the point of vieew of an eastern wheatbelt farmer, assuming that he must pay the full costs of any water supply provided for his property.

The Oombulgurri Project Clancy Committee Report, D J. Clancy, P Mccosker, C Mayberry, A J. Millington, P Ryan

All other publications

In early August the Oombulgurri community requested assistance in the following terms.

"On behalf of the Oombulgurri Community, we invite assistance in developing the grain and pasture cropping at Oombulgurri. We have experimented with peanuts, sorghum, and many varieties of vegetables. This has tested the reality of hopes to expand acreage and varieties to become self-sufficient in stock feed. The Farm and Garden Guild now needs the expertise of your services to plan a four-year programme. vie need assistance in choosing from the many options, opinions and advices available from Australia and elsewhere, for grain production, pastures, methods appropriate to …

Meat Marketing : The L.I.P.C. And Japan's Meat Import Controls, G C. George

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

hardly a week passes without some reference to Japan's Livestock Industry Promotion Corperation (L.I.P.C.), and its effect on Australian meat exporters.

This article describes some of the functions of the L.I.P.C., and attempts to provide some insights into the Japanese meat market. The author, Gil George, recently returned from Japan after completing a Master's degree in Economics.

Low Protein Rations Halve Bacon Pig Profits, N W. Godfrey

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For many years the department of agriculture has recommended that pig producers include meat meal or other protein concentrate in pig rations based on cereal grains. However, it is still common for pigs to be raised on cereal grains with little or no protein added.

Recent trials at the Department of Agriculture's Medina Pig Research Station have demonstrated the losses which can result from feeding pigs on low-protein cereal rations.

Bulletin 3955 - The Sheep Skin Industry In W.A., H. E. Fels

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

The sheep skin industry is larger than most people realise. Its importance is shown by F.O.B. values of sheep skin exports from Australia in 1972/73, compared with sheep meats, wheat and iron ore,

F.O.B, values of exports - Australia, 1972/73

Sheep skins, with and without wool on $110 million

Mutton and lamb Exports $119 million

Wheat $274 million

Iron ore and concentrates $439 million

Structural And Operational Characteristics Of Nebraska And Kansas Feeder-Cattle Growing Operations, J. L. Jorgensen, J. G. Kendrick, A. C. Wellman, J. H. Mccoy, J. W. Koudele, Q. C. Smith

Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station: Historical Research Bulletins

The beef cattle industry is experiencing a significant increase in demand for feeder cattle. Current difficulties in obtaining sufficient numbers of feeder cattle on a continuing basis have put pressures on the feeder cattle marketing system that did not exist in the past. Feedlot operators, growers (backgrounders), and cow-herd operators are looking for ways and means of improving the system. Innovations are being tested. Those circumstances prompted personnel of the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Kansas and Nebraska to undertake a joint study of cattle marketing under a Regional Research Project.

Beef Marketing As A Guide To Production Techniques, D J. Barker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Until about a year ago beef was in strong demand. Almost anything was marketable at favourable prices and good profits could be made even if the production process was wasteful in some respects.

Now the tide has turned. The demand for beef is weak, prices are low and some types of beef are virtually unsaleable. Now more than ever it is important to look critically at the factors which affect beef quality and to seek ways of reducing waste in both feed used and end products marketed.

This article examines production and marketing of beef and points out some inadequacies …

The Effects Of Changing Flock Structure On The Amount And Type Of Turn-Off From Sheep Flocks, T Marshall

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the past the proportion of mated ewes in Western Australia's sheep flocks carried through summer has averaged about 40 per cent and sheep meat production has been basically lamb and old mutton.

If the proportion of mated ewes was lifted to an average of around 50 per cent and wethers were sold off at an average of about 2 1\ 2 years old, there would be substantial increases in sheep meat production. The extra meat produced would be young sheep meat ideally suited for table meats for consumers in W.A. and in many overseas countries.

As a result of …

Partial Budgeting For Sheep Farmers, J W. Malcolm

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

A Programmed Text.

A Programmed instruction workbook.

*The first 11 pages are adapted from J.B. Bardsley's "How to make more profit on dairy farms".

This book is designed to show you how to draw up partial budgets.

If you are like most farmers you are probably searching for different ways of running your farm to increase farm income. Choices between alternatives are very difficult, and require a great deal of careful thought and planning, especially where large cash outlays are involved. But to decide how, where and what to produce with any confidence you need to consider all the physical …

Partial Budgeting For Dairy And Beef Farmers, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

A Programmed text.

A PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION WORKBOOK.

This book is designed to show you how to draw up partial budgets.

If you are like most farmers you are probably searching for different ways of running your farm to increase farm income. Choices between alternatives are very difficult, and require a great deal of careful thought and planning, especially where large cash outlays are involved. But to decide how, where and what to produce with any confidence you need to consider all the physical and financial angles. Doing this in your head, or on the back of an envelope is hard, …

Grain Finishing Of Beef Cattle Grazing Dry Pasture Or Stubble, D J. Barker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WHEAT quotas, poor wool prices and the availability of cheap grain on the farm have stimulated interest in grain finishing of cattle for out-of-season beef production. For many years, Animals turned off in the autumn-winter period have brought better prices than those sold in summer, at the end of the pasture flush.

Feeding grain supplements to cattle on dry pasture or stubble requires less capital than feedlotting and saves the cost of handling and processing roughage.

This article gives the essentials for grain supplementation of dry pasture or stubble but warns that grain finishing is unlikely to be profitable outside …

Feedlots For Beef In W.A. : Some Guiding Principles, D J. Barker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FEEDLOTS are small enclosures where all of the animal's feed is supplied from an outside source. Compared with grazing, feedlotting is an expensive method of beef production.

This article gives a guide to the requirements for establishment and management of a farm feedlot, especially the basic equipment and materials, the type of cattle most suited to feedlotting, rations and feeding techniques.

The author warns that skill and experience are needed to run a feedlot and describes feedlotting as an expensive method of beef raising when compared with grazing.

Further details are available from the author