The Economic Value of Improving Pasture Production on Saltland in Southern Australia

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This paper reports the findings of the Economics Theme. The main aims of the Economics Theme were:

1. To provide assessments of the economic value of forage produce from salt-tolerant perennial pastures at each of the SGSL research sites;
2. To identify the economic constraints to the adoption of saltland pastures;
3. Understand the factors affecting the profitability of saltland pasture systems;
4. Provide estimates of the value of additional pasture supply from saltbush to identify potential areas of future research and development;
5. To update whole-farm models for each of the southern states with the latest production data for saltland pastures and livestock systems.

Mathematical programming provides a very useful method of analysis for assessing the profitability of new grazing systems and pasture species. A large number of production options can be described, in addition to the resources constraints confronting farmers. This capacity enables the whole farming system to be represented, including the interrelatedness of production enterprises, such as rotational influences on crop and pasture production and input levels. For these reasons mathematical programming models were applied to the economic analysis of SGSL data.