Issues of long term soil fertility decline and sustainability are becoming more important for cropping industries in Australia. Helping to manage the level of soil fertility in this context is an aim of economic response analysis. This paper reviews the theory and methods used by economists to...

The focus of this paper is the role of farm forestry in farming systems in the NSW wheatsheep zone. The wheat-sheep zone suffers from significant land degradation problems, and the environmental and economical sustainability of many farming systems is in question. Farm forestry provides the...

A number of farming systems projects are currently being conducted in the north eastern cropping region of Australia. These are jointly funded by the grains industry and state government R&D agencies, and conducted by the latter with some involvement of private industry. The issues which were...

Cotton production in Australia is a high-value industry with about 90% of fibre produced being exported to Asia, primarily to Indonesia. One aspect of modern cotton production is the heavy usage of insecticide sprays to combat Helicoverpa insects. The high cost of sprays and the public view of...

It is argued in this paper that static approaches to weed management, where the benefits and costs are only considered within a single season, are inappropriate for assessing the economic benefits of weed control technologies. There are carryover effects from weed management as weeds that escape...

Increased surveillance over the last three years has found that the prevalence of ovine Johne’s disease (OJD) in Australia is greater than previously believed. Trading restrictions and recent stock movement controls have added to the productivity losses of OJD affected producers in an attempt...

There is likely to be a divergence in the interests of farmers and their neighbours or the community in the management of land and hence a greater rate of exploitation of soil qualities than that desired by the community. This is particularly true under current institutional arrangements with...

A multi-sectoral and multi-market model of the Australian beef industry is specified using an equilibrium displacement modelling framework. The model is implemented using average price and quantity data for the period 1991-1997 and market parameter values taken from the literature, derived from...

In this paper we explain the economic evaluation system developed by economists―in conjunction with senior managers―for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s Agriculture Division. This evaluation system has two components: qualitative and quantitative. The former focuses...

Quarantine trade restrictions enforced on agricultural commodities are both a safety measure and a form of subsidy to local producers. With appropriate strategies in place the risk posed to domestic production systems from exotic pests and diseases is reduced. This often means importers of...