IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v102y2009i1-3p24-32.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tactical management of pasture fallows in Western Australian cropping systems

Author

Listed:
  • Doole, Graeme J.
  • Weetman, Ellen

Abstract

Agricultural systems in the Western Australian wheatbelt are increasingly moving towards specialist crop production due to elevated cereal prices, depressed markets for livestock products, and ongoing labour scarcity. However, the profitability of crop-only farms is threatened by increasing levels of herbicide resistance and declining soil fertility. This study determines the value of ungrazed pasture fallows grown tactically between crop phases to address these agronomic constraints. A novel metaheuristic optimisation technique, compressed annealing, is used to determine profitable flexible land-use sequences in a complex simulation model. Tactical use of single-year, ungrazed pasture phases is found to be more valuable than the use of break crops in crop-only systems. In contrast to previous analysis, it is identified that rotation of short periods of crop and pasture is more profitable than extended phases of both. Effective weed control without dependence on selective herbicides is the key agronomic characteristic determining the value of intermittent pasture phases. Accordingly, the number of single-year pasture phases employed in a sequence should increase with the severity of herbicide resistance. Compressed annealing is shown to be a practical method of identifying profitable land-use sequences that respond to information that unfolds dynamically.

Suggested Citation

  • Doole, Graeme J. & Weetman, Ellen, 2009. "Tactical management of pasture fallows in Western Australian cropping systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 102(1-3), pages 24-32, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:102:y:2009:i:1-3:p:24-32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308-521X(09)00070-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graeme J. Doole & David J. Pannell & Clinton K. Revell, 2009. "Economic contribution of French serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.) pasture to integrated weed management in Western Australian mixed-farming systems: an application of compressed annealing ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(2), pages 193-212, April.
    2. David J. Pannell, 2006. "Flat Earth Economics: The Far-reaching Consequences of Flat Payoff Functions in Economic Decision Making," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 28(4), pages 553-566.
    3. Pannell, D. J. & Falconer, D. A., 1988. "The relative contributions to profit of fixed and applied nitrogen in a crop-livestock farm systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-17.
    4. Poole, M. L. & Turner, Neil C. & Young, J. M., 2002. "Sustainable cropping systems for high rainfall areas of southwestern Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(1-3), pages 201-211, February.
    5. Pannell, David J. & Stewart, Vanessa & Bennett, Anne & Monjardino, Marta & Schmidt, Carmel & Powles, Stephen B., 2004. "RIM: a bioeconomic model for integrated weed management of Lolium rigidum in Western Australia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 305-325, March.
    6. Kingwell, Ross S. & Pannell, David J. & Robinson, Stephen D., 1993. "Tactical responses to seasonal conditions in whole-farm planning in Western Australia," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 8(3), pages 211-226, March.
    7. Graeme J. Doole & David J. Pannell, 2008. "Optimisation of a Large, Constrained Simulation Model using Compressed Annealing," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 188-206, February.
    8. Doole, Graeme J., 2007. "A primer on implementing compressed simulated annealing for the optimisation of a constrained simulation model in Microsoft Excel," Working Papers 7420, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beltran, Jesusa C. & Pannell, David J. & Doole, Graeme J. & White, Benedict, 2012. "A bioeconomic model for analysis of integrated weed management strategies for annual barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli complex) in Philippine rice farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1-10.
    2. Everton Rocha & Maria Calijuri & Aníbal Santiago & Leonardo Assis & Luna Alves, 2012. "The Contribution of Conservation Practices in Reducing Runoff, Soil Loss, and Transport of Nutrients at the Watershed Level," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(13), pages 3831-3852, October.
    3. Beltran, Jesusa C. & Pannell, David J. & Doole, Graeme J. & White, Benedict, 2012. "Economic analysis of integrated weed management strategies for annual barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli complex) in Philippine rice farming systems," 2012 Conference (56th), February 7-10, 2012, Fremantle, Australia 124236, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Graeme J. Doole & David J. Pannell & Clinton K. Revell, 2009. "Economic contribution of French serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.) pasture to integrated weed management in Western Australian mixed-farming systems: an application of compressed annealing ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(2), pages 193-212, April.
    2. Jacobs, A. & Kingwell, R., 2016. "The Harrington Seed Destructor: Its role and value in farming systems facing the challenge of herbicide-resistant weeds," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 33-40.
    3. David J. Pannell, 1996. "Lessons from a Decade of Whole-Farm Modeling in Western Australia," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 18(3), pages 373-383.
    4. Beltran, Jesusa C. & Pannell, David J. & Doole, Graeme J. & White, Benedict, 2012. "Economic analysis of integrated weed management strategies for annual barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli complex) in Philippine rice farming systems," 2012 Conference (56th), February 7-10, 2012, Fremantle, Australia 124236, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    5. Bermeo, Santiago & Doole, Graeme & Austin, Darran & Fenemor, Andrew, 2016. "Waimea Plains: economics of freshwater quantity management," 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia 235246, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    6. Bathgate, A. & Revell, C. & Kingwell, R., 2009. "Identifying the value of pasture improvement using wholefarm modelling," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 102(1-3), pages 48-57, October.
    7. Byrne, F. & Robertson, M.J. & Bathgate, A. & Hoque, Z., 2010. "Factors influencing potential scale of adoption of a perennial pasture in a mixed crop-livestock farming system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(7), pages 453-462, September.
    8. Beltran, Jesusa C. & Pannell, David J. & Doole, Graeme J., 2011. "Economic impacts of high labour cost and herbicide resistance for the management of annual barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) in rice production in the Philippines," Working Papers 108770, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    9. Komarek, Adam M. & MacAulay, T. Gordon, 2013. "Farmer responses to changing risk aversion, enterprise variability and resource endowments," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 57(3).
    10. Graeme J. Doole & David J. Pannell, 2011. "Evaluating environmental policies under uncertainty through application of robust nonlinear programming," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 55(4), pages 469-486, October.
    11. Pannell, David J., 1995. "Economic aspects of legume management and legume research in dryland farming systems of southern Australia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 217-236.
    12. Doole, Graeme J., 2009. "A Practical Algorithm for Multiple-Phase Control Systems in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-21, April.
    13. Nordblom, Thomas L. & Hutchings, Timothy R. & Godfrey, Sosheel S. & Schefe, Cassandra R., 2021. "Precision variable rate nitrogen for dryland farming on waterlogging Riverine Plains of Southeast Australia?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    14. Doole, Graeme J. & Romera, Alvaro J., 2015. "Trade-offs between profit, production, and environmental footprint on pasture-based dairy farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 14-23.
    15. Hutchings, Timothy R. & Nordblom, Thomas L., 2011. "A financial analysis of the effect of the mix of crop and sheep enterprises on the risk profile of dryland farms in south-eastern Australia," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, October.
    16. Beltran, Jesusa C. & Pannell, David J. & Doole, Graeme J. & White, Benedict, 2012. "A bioeconomic model for analysis of integrated weed management strategies for annual barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli complex) in Philippine rice farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1-10.
    17. Bermeo, Santiago & Austin, Darran & Doole, Graeme & Fenemor, Andrew, 2016. "Waimea Plains: Economics of freshwater quantity management," 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia 235247, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    18. Young, Michael & Young, John & Kingwell, Ross S. & Vercoe, Philip E., 2023. "Evaluation of the least cost option to manage pastures in a wet winter in south-eastern Australia," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 20(3), August.
    19. Asci, Serhat & Borisova, Tatiana & VanSickle, John J., 2015. "Role of economics in developing fertilizer best management practices," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 251-261.
    20. Hutchings, Timothy R., 2009. "A financial analysis of the effect of the mix of crop and sheep enterprises on the risk profile of dryland farms in south-eastern Australia – Part 1," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:102:y:2009:i:1-3:p:24-32. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.