Eating quality is one of the most important factors influencing demand for beef. Meat Standards Australia is a voluntary beef grading system aimed at improving consumer certainty about beef quality, improving overall beef quality and strengthening supply chain linkages. Since its inception in...

Governments are under increasing pressure to deliver results. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the public service in implementing policies and programmes for social betterment. Without such evaluations, it is difficult to ensure that evidence...

In this paper we draw on impact assessment work of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to present an example of meta-evaluation – an evaluation of evaluations – in an agricultural research, development and extension setting. We explore quality issues...

Beef consumers in Australia have shown differences in their preferences for products and sensitivity to price. This can be explained by the influence on expected quality of cues related to health, production process and eating experience. Eating experience is difficult to predict as consumers...

Effective socio-economic service delivery is vital for alleviating poverty in developing countries. Increased financial support without complementary investment in service delivery mechanisms often results in little or no impact. This paper contributes to the discussion on how to maximize the...

Meat Standards Australia (MSA) represents a new beef classification system, derived from consumer preferences, which allows classifying beef in interesting ways to consumers and creates the basis for product differentiation and branding. Currently, branding of beef cuts occurs on a limited scale;...

Knowledge about the size and distribution of returns from alternative broad types of R&D and promotion investments permit strategic-level decisions about resource allocation, both within and across research programs. The Australian sheep meat and wool industries are characterised by strong...

The area of the imported weed Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is steadily expanding and eliminating natural ecosystems and their habitats of rare and endangered species in Barrington Tops National Park. A research project, funded by the CRC for Weeds Management Systems, has commenced to provide...