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 animal husbandry and agricultural history( 1963)About 8,000 years ago man began domesticating wild animals and turning their growth and production to his own use. Since this time considerable progress has been made towards the complete utilisation of domesticated animal products but only now is the efficiency of production of these products being investigated. To increase this efficiency a thorough understanding of animal body functions is essential. The importance to the ruminant of one body function - salivation, has not been established although various aspects of this subject have been investigated in recent years . To continue these investigations the development of total salivation in . lambs and the effects of the diversion of saliva on the rumen function in adult sheep were examined. In this second experiment the effects of anaesthesia and lateral recumbency on rumen function were also examined because if the use of these unnatural conditions in some experimental techniques. Some animals have been domesticated but many have not. Nearly 8,000 years have passed since the predecessors of our present day domesticated animals were tamed and conditions have changed considerably. Hence it is feasible that domesticated animals may be less efficient producers of the animal products we now need, than the wild animals. This may be particularly true with regard to protein production in the form of lean meat. To investigate this proposition a body composition study was made on a population of wild kangaroos, and an assessment made of this animal species as a potential producer of lean meat. Not only may the efficiency of agricultural production be increased by re-assessing the livestock potential, but this may also be achieved by re-assessing the agricultural use of any given area of land. In countries settled and developed by people from other countries, the new settlers have applied to the new land the agricultural practices of the old. This has often occurred inspite of vast physical differences between the two countries. The practices have been modified and adapted, the crops and livestock acclimatised, nevertheless the whole range of possible forms of agriculture are usually never investigated. In southern Victoria, for almost a century, vines were grown by European settlers had been familiar with these plants in their own countries. The success and failure of the cultivation of this crop by Europeans in a country very different from their own is examined in the second part of this thesis.
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ItemThe phosphorus requirements of wheat crops grown in the Victorian Mallee( 1969)Some of the material presented in this thesis is based on papers which are already published or are in the process of publication. Paper 1 is taken from - McClelland, V. P. (1968). - Superphosphate on wheat : The cumulative effect of repeated applications on yield response. Aust. J. agric. Res. 19, 1-8. and paper 2 from - McClelland, V. P. (1968). - Superphosphate on wheat z The influence of previous level of application on current effect. Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 9, 622-4. Other publications from this thesis will also be in this author's name.
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ItemThe economics of irrigated dairyfarming in the Central Gippsland irrigation district( 1964)It is the purpose of this thesis to investigate the level of managerial efficiency obtaining on a group of dairy farms situated in the Nambrok-Denison area of the Central Gippsland Irrigation District, and to enquire into the possible avenues of increasing the profitability of such undertakings under existing conditions. Emphasis is restricted to analysis at the individual farm level, although the results could be adapted to shed some light on a number of important questions of national policy. Farm management is concerned with the proper combination and operation of production factors, and the choice of crop and livestock enterprises to bring about a maximum and continuous return to the most elementary operation units of farming (Yang 1958, p.4). A broader definition encompasses two further functions, viz. acquisition of factors of production, and adaptation of the farm plan to changing conditions (Castle and Becker 1962, p.253). The present investigation is restricted to an examination of the existing resource allocation efficiency. Thus it represents only a partial analysis of the farm management problem, but one which focuses attention on the more feasible possibilities of increasing farming efficiency in the short run; namely a more efficient reallocation of the resources presently employed on the farm, and the more profitable avenues of investment of additional funds. Farm management research employs the two major processes common to scientific research in general - deduction and induction (Heady 1952., p.14) - and the following pages illustrate this procedure. First, the problem is explicitely stated - how efficiently are the individual farms being managed given relevant restrictions? Second, the theoretically optimum model is defined - in terms of the criteria for efficient resource allocation - and the empirical procedures to be employed in investigating departure from this optimum, lug. residual imputation and regression techniques, are described. The required empirical data is then collected and analysed using the statistical procedures appropriate to the above techniques. Finally, the results of the empirical investigation are examined in the light of the defined criteria for efficient resource use, and on the basis of this comparison between actual and theoretically optimum conditions, suggestions are made regarding the possibilities of more closely approximating the latter.
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ItemAn economic study of small dairy farms in South Gippsland, Victoria( 1969)From the study of small dairy farms (defined as producing less than 10,000 pounds of butterfat in 1964-65) in the Shire of South Gippsland, and with the aid of a short-term linear programming model of a typical small dairy farm, it was concluded that alleviation of some of the problems of low-income dairy farms may be achieved by both increased levels of technology and increased farm area. The study began with a review of the structure of the dairy industry and an evaluation of research related to the low-income problem in that industry. An assessment of the extent and nature of the small-farm, low-income problem in the Shire of South Gippsland was made using the results of a survey of 26 small dairy farms in the Shire. To aid consideration of the conditions under which a typical small dairy farm, such as in the Shire of South Gippsland, might obtain a "reasonable" income (judged to be a farm income greater than $2,700), a linear programming model was constructed. The model was a short-term one designed to represent a typical small dairy farm. It was used to show the effects on income levels of the use of sideline enterprises such as vealers, pigs and sheep; the effects of changes in the level of technology (increases in production per cow and pasture production per acre), and the means of achieving improved levels; and also the effects of changes in farm area combined with changes in the level of technology. The marketing and support policies relating to the dairy industry play an important part in influencing the low-income problem, principally through the attraction of resources to the industry and the encouragement of resources already committed to the industry to remain. Such an effect calls for structural change and the reinstatement of the forces of supply and demand as the main determinants of the allocation of resources to the industry. The extent of the small-farm problem in the Shire of South Gippsland was indicated by the finding that 34 per cent of the dairy farms in the Shire produced less than 10,000 pounds of butterfat in 1964-65. The survey of 26 of these small dairy farms has permitted a clear definition of a typical small dairy farm in physical and financial terms. As well, it has highlighted the low income levels on such farms which obtained an average net farm income of $514 over the three years 1962-63 to 1964-65 and $769 in 1964-65. Only four of the survey farms had a net farm income greater than $2,000 in 1964-65. Farm-family welfare on most of the farms was considered to be inadequate and the allocation of resources to these farms was judged to be inefficient, even when the equalized and subsidized price for butterfat was taken to represent the social valuation, placed on butterfat. With an optimum allocation of the resources available to a typical small dairy farm, as represented in the linear programming model, it was found that either with or without sideline activities and with up to 400 acres of land such a farm could not be expected to produce a "reasonable" income. However, with moderate increases in the level of technology considerable increases in income levels were obtained (a farm income of $1,999 was obtained with a standard level of technology and 132 acres, but a farm income of $5,378 was obtained with an improved level of technology). It was also observed that the maximum income levels were obtained at farm areas somewhat larger than was typical of. the survey farms and that the farm area giving the maximum income increased with an improved level of technology. Other results indicated off-farm work to be helpful in raising income levels, but it is likely in the longer term to lead to deterioration of the farm. For this reason off-farm work may best be considered as a temporary expedient. It was found that pasture production was a major restriction preventing increased income and for this reason agistment played an important part in many of the plans derived. Working capital, as defined, was not shown to be a major limitation to the attainment of greater income. The value of linear programming in such a study was apparent. By specifying important relationships it was possible to determine the broad effects of a wide variety of changes that might be made. By making assumptions about the real situation and using a number of simplifications an understanding of a complex situation was made possible with this technique. The results showed the importance of increased farm area combined with higher levels of technology and this led to the suggestion that the proposed scheme for the encouragement of amalgamation of small dairy farms by the Commonwealth Government might well include some form of assistance in,planning farm development and raising levels of technology. Such assistance could be made conditional to the granting of help under the scheme. Although amalgamation and improvement in the level of technology are important adjustments, the problem of greater overall production as a result of such changes can only be overcome if changes in structure are made at both the farm and the national levels.
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ItemA study of the land in the Victorian catchment of Lake Hume( 1967)This report is the result of a broad-scale survey of the environment and land-use of the 3,900-square-mile Victorian catchment to Lake Hume. Because of the mountainous nature of much of the catchment, the climate varies considerably. Average annual precipitation ranges from about 30 inches with rare winter snow in the northern parts where elevations are low, to over 60 inches in the south-western highlands where snow forms the major part of winter precipitation. A strong rain shadow reduces annual rainfall to about 26 inches in the Omeo-Benambra area. The Cudgewa-Corryong area is in a less severe rain shadow with annual rainfall just below 30 inches. It seems probable that the Limestone Creek valley and several other valleys with north-easterly alignments may also be in rain shadows but there are no records to confirm this. Average temperatures for January and February, the hottest months, range from about 72 F. in the north-west down to about 51 F. on the highest peaks. In July, the coldest month, average temperatures range from around 46 F. down to about 29 F. The rocks are mostly poor in ferro-magnesian minerals; igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks are more or less equally represented. The texture of the parent material is an important factor in soil formation in the lower-rainfall areas. Small areas of basalt occur at high elevations in the south-west and near Benambra. Mountains ranging from about 1,200 feet to over 6,500 feet make up most of the catchment. Plateaux varying from a few acres to more than 50 square miles occur over a similar range of elevations. Broad, mature valleys with extensive terraces and fans are a feature of the northern part of the catchment. Except for small areas of soil on calcium-rich alluvium near Benambra, the soils are all acid, and most are phosphorus deficient, but fairly well supplied with potassium. The soils of the high-rainfall areas are well leached. Most of the plant nutrients they contain are concentrated in the surface few inches. However, there has been little or no eluviation of clay or iron. In the soils of the lower-rainfall areas there has been eluviation of clay and iron, and the distribution of plant nutrients usually follows a similar trend, except for some concentration at the surface because of biological recycling. The most important agricultural soils are the red podzolics of the terraces and the alluvial brown earths of the stream flats in the northern valleys. The distribution of the vegetation is strongly influenced by temperature and by soil-moisture availability, which in turn is affected by other factors. As rainfall increases, on well-drained sites, the dominant vegetation ranges from dry sclerophyll forest to wet sclerophyll forest. Above about 4,500 feet elevation, low temperatures are important, and the sub-alpine woodland which occurs above the forest-form vegetation becomes stunted, and finally gives way to alpine shrubs, grassland and herbfield. Sphagnum-moss bogs are an important hygrophilous community in the alpine tract. The vast changes brought about by settlement have not always been beneficial. Clearing of forests without the establishment of vigorous pastures has led to excessive run-off, erosion and flash floods. The higher-rainfall and snow-fall areas are of vital importance because of the high and sustained yield of water from these areas. Lower-rainfall areas probably contribute little useful water to the irrigation storages. Forestry is an important form of land-use. The most productive forests are in high-rainfall areas, so care in forest operations is necessary to prevent deterioration in the hydrologic condition of these areas. The northern valleys are the most intensively farmed areas in the catchment. Dairying is a major industry, and the grazing of sheep for wool and meat, and beef-cattle fattening are also important. Although the terrace country generally carries improved pasture, pasture improvement and grazing management on hill country are problems. In the Omeo-Benambra country where the grazing of sheep for wool, and beef-cattle production are the major primary industries, there is scope for considerable improvement in pastures and in grazing management. The Omeo-Benambra country is the most severely gully-eroded area in the catchment and probably contributes more sediment to Lake Hume than any other area. Sheet erosion in the alpine areas is a serious problem because of the effect on infiltration and run-off, and the difficulty of obtaining revegetation. Erosion of the banks of major streams also contributes to sedimentation of the reservoir and destroys valuable river flats. The widespread use of fire to improve grazing in the higher-rainfall forests in the past has apparently led to development of dense undergrowth. This has reduced the value of this country for grazing and has created a considerable fire hazard. Fire protection is vital to all forms of land-use. For convenience in describing the distribution of the environmental factors, the catchment has been divided into land systems which are units based on recurring patterns of land forms. The environment, land-use, erosion and problems specific to each land system are described. Diagrams are used to illustrate the pattern of land forms and to tabulate the environment and land-use of each land system. From considerations of the interacting effects of all of the factors of the environment, assessments of land-use potential have been made which provide a basis for sound land management.
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ItemA study of the land in the Grampians area( 1967)The land covered by this survey is considered in two ways. First, for the area as a whole, an account is given of the major features of the environment significant for land-use, namely climate, parent material, topography, soils and native vegetation, together with the chief kinds of land-use and the forms of land deterioration. Second, an integrated assessment of the environmental features allows the recognition of land-systems and land-units, which are areas of land each with its characteristic pattern of features. The area of the survey lies in central-western Victoria where the winters are cool and wet and the summers are hot and comparatively dry. The average annual rainfall varies from 17+ inches on the northern plains to 35 inches in the central mountainous zone. There are flat depositional plains of unconsolidated sediments, undulating plains and hills formed on igneous and sedimentary rocks, dissected tablelands, and rugged sandstone mountains. The soil groups are considered in three broad categories, namely, deep infertile sands, heavy clays, and soils in which sandy loams overlie a clay subsoil. The most important forms of land-use are sheep grazing for fine wool on the plains, and the maintenance of water supply catchments in the mountains. Nineteen land-systems comprising forty-nine land-units have been mapped and described. Soil erosion and salting are not common on most of the land. Where they do occur, overall treatment, including catchment improvement, is required to overcome these problems. Productivity of much of the land already developed could, with safety, be increased to that of the best properties. Most areas of undeveloped Crown lands have a low potential for economic pastoral production or softwood plantations. However, the cover of native vegetation on these areas performs a valuable function as catchment protection.
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ItemA survey of the Lands Department rabbit eradication campaign in the Mallee( 1964)This thesis reports some of the results of a sociological survey carried out in the Mallee region of Victoria, by Mr. H. A. Presser and the author. The survey was designed to study aspects of a regional rabbit eradication campaign undertaken by the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board of the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey. This campaign was held during 1962 and covered most of the Mallee Region (see Figure 2). The idea of the survey was suggested by the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board and accepted by the University. The survey was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the methods used in the campaign, and to investigate the factors related to any change that it induced. The assessment of the effectiveness of the poison, and of number of rabbits remaining after the campaign was left to officers of the Lands Department. In studying the methods of communication used in the campaign, two aspects were considered; firstly, the effectiveness of various sources of information and secondly, the differential use of the main sources by different groups. The effectiveness of the campaign was assessed in terms of attitude change and changes in methods of rabbit control. It was envisaged that this evaluation would supplement the experience of those people who organised and implemented the campaign. These two aspects, when combined, should offer a useful assessment of this approach to rabbit control. Independant evaluation has seldom been used in the assessment of specific extension programmes in Australia. The advantages of a formal research study lie primarily in its independance and in the greater control of the sample population. These allow more precise and more confident conclusions from the findings; and as a result, more useful predications can be made. The primary objective must be to obtain information that will be of use in the planning of a similar scheme. Both the strengths and the weaknesses must be considered, and the measures used must be both reliable and valid before a useful evaluation can be made. This survey was designed to study the 1962 rabbit eradication campaign; but, the approach that is emphasized is the use of a specific situation to illustrate wider generalizations.