School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Theses
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ItemBeef-cattle production in the Western District of Victoria : technical and economic relationships between beef cattle and sheep( 1965)Sheep-and-wool production and beef-cattle production are combined on many grazing properties in the Western District of Victoria. In the past beef cattle have generally been regarded as less profitable than sheep as a sole enterprise on a per-acre basis. In previous surveys it has been found that graziers believe that sheep and beef-cattle complement one another in a variety of circumstances because of the different effects of the two types of animal on pasture. It has also been found that sheep and beef cattle on grazing properties are frequently supplementary with respect to labour. The thesis has two main objectives. First it investigates whether the currently available analytical models based on static economic theory are adequate to solve problems of resource allocation between sheep and beef cattle grazing the same pasture. Second, it investigates whether many graziers carry beef cattle partly or solely to satisfy goals other than profit maximisation. The method of achieving the first objective was to compare the static economic theory relating to enterprise combination, and published work dealing with the problem of selecting the optimum combination of two enterprises, with the real situation existing on grazing properties carrying both sheep and beef cattle. The second objective was investigated by means or an interview survey of graziers running both sheep and beef cattle in six Western District parishes. A considerable amount of technical information about beef-cattle production in the Western District was collected in the course of the survey, and the more important points are summarised in the thesis. Of particular interest are the findings that very few graziers purchased cattle for fattening purposes, and that beef cattle were relatively more important on large properties than on small properties. It was concluded that static economic theory does not provide an adequate basis for the description of the situation where sheep and cattle graze the same pasture, or for the determination of the optimum allocation of resources between sheep arid beef cattle grazing together. Sheep and cattle graze pasture differently, and therefore different pastures result as the sheep-cattle ratio is altered. In this situation, the postulates on which the iso-resource function is based, that the shared input or inputs should remain homogeneous and constant in quantity as the outputs of the products change, are violated. Thus strictly speaking it is not possible to derive a valid iso-resource function relating the sheep and beef-cattle enterprises with respect to pasture when the sheep and the cattle graze the same pasture. However, if the changes in the pasture are disregarded, it is possible to design experiments to produce practical approximations of iso-resource curves relating sheep and beef cattle. Information obtained from graziers in this and other surveys, and the results of experiments, strongly suggest that for practical purposes it is reasonable to think of an iso-resource curve for sheep and cattle with respect to pasture as being concave towards the origin, that is, the sacrifice rate of sheep for cattle increases as more cattle are added on a sheep property. Farmer estimates and experimental evidence suggests that the marginal sacrifice rate on most properties may be lower than is generally assumed (nutritional standards imply a linear rate of eight merino whethers per 1,000 lb. steer). Almost all the survey graziers believed that the overall relationship between their sheep and their beef cattle with respect to their total feed supply over the whole year was a competitive one. Most estimated that their sheep and their cattle were complementary or supplementary with respect to pasture over a part of the year, including the Spring, and that their sheep and their cattle competed for scarce pasture at some time in the autumn and winter. The survey results showed that the most important reason for the presence of beef cattle on the survey properties was the value of cattle in controlling and utilising pasture and weed growth. However the value 0f cattle for that purpose appeared to decline as the sheep stocking rate increased. It appeared that on many properties the importance of beef cattle in pasture control was a consequence of a desire on the part of the grazier to maximise profits within the restrictions imposed by limitations on sheep numbers including the grazier's desire to limit his personal effort. Beef cattle were also frequently carried for the reason that they provided a means of stabilising income from year to year. Although the survey results tended to confirm previous findings that sheep and beef cattle are supplementary with respect to labour at certain times during the year, and that beef cattle generally require less labour per unit of return than sheep, few graziers said that they carried beef cattle for those reasons. It was concluded that substantial minority of the survey graziers did carry beef cattle partly or solely to satisfy goals other than profit maximisation. The most important of these goals was the minimisation of personal effort, which was shown not by giving labour as a reason for carrying beef cattle, but indirectly in the affirmation of the value of cattle (rather than additional sheep) in pasture control. A few graziers were motivated by a personal preference for beef cattle. In the situation where the available economic theory is inadequate to solve problems of resource allocation between sheep and beef cattle, and where a substantial proportion of graziers carry beef cattle partly or solely for reasons other than profit maximisation, there is little scope for sophisticated economic procedures. Given additional experimental data to provide indicators of probable "substitution rates", it seems that the allocation of resources between sheep and beef cattle on properties such as those in the survey can best be improved by budgeting possible adjustments.
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ItemStudies in beef cattle and fat lamb production( 1963)This thesis comprises five separate investigations in beef cattle and fat lamb produotion. They have been prepared as scientific papers, but for presentation in this thesis, they have been typed in the one format. I was actively involved in work with cattle at the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Farm at Werribee, mainly in connection with those cattle used in a programs of investigations directed by Mr. N. M. Tullo. I also assisted in the collection of data at the meatworks on those cattle slaughtered in this programme, some of the data being used in Chapter II of this thesis. The analysis and interpretation of . the data used in. Chapters I and II, together with the preparation of these chapters, were my responsibility. I was unable to 'assist in any of the field work with the sheep used in the investigations reported in Part II. However, I had the responsibility of the analysis and interpretation of the data arising from these investigations, and also the preparation as scientific papers of those investigations reported in Chapters IV and V.
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ItemSome factors affecting efficiency of meat production from cattle( 1972)The main aim of the present work was to examine efficiency of production in beef cows. Efficiency of production is defined as the weight of calf produced divided by the feed consumed to produce that calf or those calves. This type of study takes a long time and, among other things, measurement of feed consumption is required. Neither in Australia nor overseas is there sufficient information of this type available for such study of beef cows. An alternative approach may be through "estimation" of cow feed intake from her weight by formulas in which the total requirement of feed is calculated from the maintenance requirements plus the requirement for production. It is generally accepted that both maintenance requirement and requirement of feed for production are proportional to a certain power of body weight. However, this procedure is of doubtful utility since several factors have been shown to affect maintenance requirement: lactation status (Neville and McCullough 1969), age (Brody 1945), level of nutrition (Lofgreen and Garret 1968), environmental conditions (Lambourn and Reardon 1963), parasites (Vercoe and O'Kelly 1972). There is also disagreement as to which power bodyweight must be raised in order to yield an appropriate value (Brody 1945; Kleiber 1961; Graham 1972). Furthermore, factors like appetite and individual variation are not considered in this type of approach. Because of the uncertainty of determining feed requirement from bodyweight data and of the difficulties in finding data directly pertaining to the question contained in the aim, I have studied various aspects of the major problem in the available beef cattle data. They are presented in Chapter II. To deal with the principal problem, I conducted an experiment with mice analagous to one required to study the problem directly with cattle. In this experiment feed intake was controlled. It was possible to examine in detail at some of the variables determining efficiency of production. The mice experiment is considered in Chapter III. In addition, I reviewed the literature in which factors like growth, longevity and fertility are considered as affecting efficiency of production. (Chapter I).