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Issue 17, November 2004
In This Issue
Editorial
In brief
* NDSP Salinity management resource kit * Pannell Discussions * McKell Medal * AWI Scholarships * Research meets policy - improve the uptake of your research * OECD report: Biomass and agriculture
Articles
* Sustainability, externalities and economics: what does it mean for temperate perennial grazing systems? by Randall Jones and Peter Dowling
* Innovative grazing systems for Western Australia: meeting the perennial challenge, by Marcus Sounness, David Pannell and Steven Schilizzi
* Farm and catchment benefits of reducing recharge to ameliorate dryland salinity: an economic study of the Boorowa River catchment in NSW, by Andrew Bathgate, Jayden Woolley, Ray Evans and Ian McGowen
Coming events
Regular items
* Overview of the Economic and Social Assessment Subprogram of the CRC
The last 12 months has been exciting for SEA News, after a lengthy absence we returned with a face-lift to an enthusiastic response. We have featured articles ranging from communication of economics to policy-makers to carbon sequestration; from economics and the conservation of native biodiversity to effectiveness of community-based integrated catchment management; from farm-level impacts of climate changes to economically feasible targets for water and salt in a NSW catchment; plus more. The wide breadth of topics is an indication of the diverse array of research that is being undertaken under the general theme of 'sustainability and economics in agriculture' - and this only scratches the surface!. To see any of the articles go to the Archive Issues page.
This issue contains three articles; firstly Randall Jones and Peter Dowling present a framework for examining a range of on-farm production and environmental issues in a perennial grazing system in NSW. The second article, by Marcus Sounness et al., is a component of Marcus' recently submitted Masters thesis, which analyses the impact of different grazing practices on the profitability of perennial pasture. Finally, the third article examines economic trade-offs between stream salinity, stream flow and land salinity in the Boorowa River catchment in NSW.
We welcome feedback from readers on the articles we feature, as well as the newsletter itself. If you have any news or views, or would like to submit an article, please contact either of us at seanews@agric.wa.gov.au.
Felicity Flugge and Robyn Hean
NDSP Salinity management resource kit
In July, the National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) released a salinity management kit, Managing Dryland Salinity in Australia. This comprehensive resource is the culmination of a decade of research conducted through the National Dryland Salinity Program. The kit, comprising manuals and a CD-ROM, brings together a raft of information and knowledge on salinity management, from across Australia, into an easily accessible form.
The resource includes:
1. Dryland salinity - On-farm decisions and catchment outcomes: A guide for leading producers and advisors (manual),
2. Dryland Salinity and catchment management: A resource guide and action manual for catchment managers (manual); and
3. An interactive CD-ROM that complements these manuals and contains research reports, NDSP fact sheets and links to on-line resources and organisations skilled in salinity management.
For more information go to the NDSP website at www.ndsp.gov.au and click on the 'Managing Dryland Salinity in Australia' icon. The resource kit can also be ordered, free of charge, through the Land and Water Australia website www.lwa.gov.au/products.asp
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Pannell Discussions
Professor David Pannell, author of an extensive list of publications, now makes reading about economics even easier with brief discussion papers. These one-pagers, called Pannell Discussions, cover a range of issues and ideas in economics, science, the environment, natural resource management, politics, people, agriculture and whatever else takes Dave's fancy (such as long jump at the Olympics!).
Check them out at Dave's website: www.general.uwa.edu.au/u/dpannell/welcome
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McKell Medal
Nominations are sought for the 2004 McKell Medal. The McKell Medal is a prestigious national award that publicly recognises excellence and achievement in natural resource management in Australia. The award recognises achievements in changing community attitudes, promotional or educational activities, or research and development. In addition to the actual Medal, the winner will be sponsored to publicise their achievements at a number of field days, meetings and conferences over a 12 month period.
Nominations for the 2004 Medal will close 19 November 2004 and will be awarded at the Natural Resource Management Community Forum in April 2005.
For further information visit the website: www.daff.gov.au/mckellmedal
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Australian Wool Innovation Scholarships
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) is offering a number of scholarships for 2005, to support students and researchers in their efforts to develop skills relevant to the future of the wool industry, both on-farm and along the wool industry pipeline. The scholarships include Post doctoral fellowships; PhD scholarships (including ARC/APA top ups); scholarships for Masters/Honours degrees by research; undergraduate scholarships; and studentship placements. Further information is available in the attached brochure (PDF 124KB) or visit the AWI website: www.wool.com.au/education.
Postgraduate applications close on 29 October 2004 and Honours/Undergraduate and Studentship applications close on 26 November 2004.
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Research meets policy - improve the uptake of your research
Land and Water Australia recently published a booklet Research meets policy - improving the uptake of your research. Based on four principles, this publication outlines a process to getting your research work seen and heard by policy makers. Useful reading for anyone who wants their research translated into meaningful policy outcomes.
An electronic copy can be downloaded from the Land and Water Australia website: www.lwa.gov.au/downloads/publications_pdf/PK040749.pdf
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OECD report: Biomass and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report on 9th September 2004, which considers biomass as an alternative to fossil fuels. The report calls for policy changes to promote biomass as an energy source. The report claims "instead of offering financial incentives or subsidies to stimulate the use of such organic material, known as “biomass”, governments should encourage technical innovation as a way of narrowing the price gap with oil and gas products. This would stimulate demand and boost the supply of bioproducts. Indeed, the recent volatility in oil prices has underlined the potential increased cost competitiveness of energy and raw materials produced from biomass."
The report, Biomass and agriculture: sustainability, markets and policies, comprising of a series of papers presented by international experts, includes a chapter concerning Australia. Further information regarding the publication is available from the OECD website: www.oecd.org/agr/env
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Sustainability, externalities and economics: what does it mean for temperate perennial grazing systems?Randall Jones and Peter Dowling"The concept of a sustainable agricultural system can only be considered at an industry or a catchment level" |
A decline in the perennial grass content in native and sown pastures across temperate Australia has reduced agricultural productivity and also contributed to a range of external costs associated with serious degradation. These include; loss of soil and biodiversity, decreasing water quality, and dryland salinity caused by rising watertables. This paper presents an economic framework for examining a range of on-farm production and environmental issues in a perennial grazing system in the New South Wales temperate perennial pasture zone. The paper considers a range of management strategies that increase the perennial grass composition in terms of net income from grazing, and the impact upon externalities. The study concludes that long-term economic returns are improved by strategies that lead to an increase in perennial grass composition over time and that environmental factors such as deep drainage, runoff and soil loss are reduced as perenniality is increased. However, the study suggests that it not appropriate to claim whether the grazing systems are actually ‘sustainable’. The concept of a sustainable agricultural system is discussed.
The full paper is available here (262KB)
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Innovative grazing systems for Western Australia: meeting the perennial challengeMarcus Sounness, David Pannell and Steven Schilizzi"Intensive rotational grazing practices have the potential to substantially increase the profitability of grazing enterprises on both annual and perennial pasture" |
The relative productivity and profitability of three grazing systems and two pasture types for a wool production enterprise in the south west of Western Australia were analysed using a bio-economic model. Farmers were interviewed to assess the practicalities of introducing innovative grazing practices and perennial pastures onto grazing properties. The results indicate that pastures based on lucerne were more profitable than pastures based on subterranean clover. In addition, intensive rotational grazing practices such as cell grazing have the potential to substantially increase the profitability of grazing enterprises on both annual and perennial pasture. This research shows that if farmers adopt practices such as cell grazing they may be able to increase the area that they can profitably plant to perennial pastures, thus reducing the potential impact of dryland salinity.
The full paper is available here (60KB)
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Farm and catchment benefits of reducing recharge to ameliorate dryland salinity: an economic study of the Boorowa River catchment in NSWAndrew Bathgate, Jayden Woolley, Ray Evans and Ian McGowen"The trade-off between stream salinity, stream flow and land salinity highlights the need to manage natural resource issues in a systems context" |
Broad scale change in land use from annual plant species to perennials has been proposed as the solution to the increasing trends in land and stream salinity. A number of studies have demonstrated that increasing the area of perennial plants will have substantial negative effects on stream flow. Some studies have suggested that the cost of reducing water for irrigation may outweigh the benefits of ameliorating dryland salinity. There is some evidence that targeting management to areas of high groundwater salinity and soils where recharge is highest may have economic merit. The aim of this study was to estimate the benefits to targeting salinity management in the Boorowa River catchment in NSW, assuming no changes in farm profit from changing land use. The results showed that the net external benefits of salinity management are negative except where management is targeted to areas with the highest groundwater salinity, mainly due to the cost of reduced stream flow. Also, for many management scenarios, reducing recharge increased stream salinity. These costs are outweighed however, by only a small increase in profit from that might result from the adoption of a new technology such as new perennial plant species. It is concluded that the economic welfare of the catchment will increase only where research is able to develop or identify more profitable perennial plants.
The full paper is available here (140KB)
Engineering Salinity Solutions 1st National Salinity and Engineering Conference, 9th-12th November, Burswood International Resort, Perth, Western Australia. This conference aims to bring together scientists, engineers, managers, landowners and farmers to share the current understanding of the salinity problems of land and water and to provide opportunities to examine and discuss technical and engineering options. Further details from their website: http://www.congresswest.com.au/salinity2004/
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2004 Australian Farm Business and Farming Systems Management Conference, held by the Australian Farm Business Management Network, 5th-7th December 2004, Orange, NSW, Australia. For more information visit their website: http://www.afbmnetwork.orange.usyd.edu.au/conferences/index.htm
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49th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society is being held in Coffs Harbour, NSW. The conference will run from Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th February 2005, with pre-conference workshops on Salinity and Trade on Tuesday 8th February. Early-bird registration closes 10th December 2004. See the website for further information: http://www.all-occasions.com.au/AARES/
SEA News is a newsletter on bioeconomic and social research on Sustainability and Economics in Agriculture. SEA News contains unpublished and working papers which focus on a wide range of sustainability and economic issues for agriculture. Issues covered include salinity, market-based instruments, adoption of innovations, greenhouse, ethics, policy and more. Through SEA News, we hope to introduce you to a large and diverse area of research which might otherwise escape your notice.
Overview of the Economic and Social Assessment Subprogram of the CRC
The objective of the Economic and Social Assessment subprogram of the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity is to evaluate economic performance of actual and potential CRC outputs and develop policy options recognising the socio-economic opportunities and constraints that lead to the adoption of new land use systems. Research involves computer modelling, surveys, experimental economics, and analysis of a range of economic, social and bio-physical data. More information about the projects of the subprogram can be found on the CRC website: http://www.crcsalinity.com.au/pages/subprograms.aspx?SUBPROGRAMID=13
A full list of articles featured in this and previous issues of SEA News as well as articles not featured can be found using either the topic index or author index.
Copyright note: Some articles in SEA News have subsequently been submitted for publication in journals or books. SEA News contains pre-publication versions of these articles. They have not been subject to peer review, and copyright rests with the authors. When an article is formally published, the version on the SEA News web site is not updated to the published version, as this would violate copyright. However, the citation shown on the web page is updated to allow readers to identify the published version. Readers are encouraged to make use of the material present on the web site, provided that its source is acknowledged. Readers who wish to make direct quotes from an article in SEA News should not attribute the quote to a more formal (e.g. journal) published version of the paper without checking the published version, since the quote may have been altered or even omitted from the published version.
© Copyright CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity 2004