Economics of increasing the persistence of sown pastures: costs, stocking rate and cash flow

Poor persistence of sown pastures, trends of low pasture resowing rates and a substantial decline in carrying capacity of non-crop areas bring into qu estion the basis of the philosophy of pasture improvement by sowing pasture species. If graziers are to adopt grazing strategies or stocking rates tha t are more ecologically sustainable, then clearly they must also be cost-ef fective in either increasing income or reducing costs so that they are econ omically sustainable. This paper describes the use of an interactive spread sheet model developed to assist graziers and their advisers with assessing the long-term profitability of pasture management and/or improvement (and t herefore pasture persistence). The model provides a comparative cash flow f or different levels of inputs (fertiliser, herbicides and feed supplements) over a 15-year period. Results clearly show that at the same stocking rate , different animal enterprises have markedly different profitabilities over a 15-year period. Further, for native, improved and sown pastures, the mos t profitable pastures are those that can sustain increased stocking rates f or long periods of time, without the need for resowing.