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 question the basis of the philosophy of pasture improvement by sowing pasture species. If graziers are to adopt grazing strategies or stocking rates that are more ecologically sustainable, then clearly they must also be cost-effective in either increasing income or reducing costs so that they are economically sustainable. This paper describes the use of an interactive spreadsheet model developed to assist graziers and their advisers with assessing the long-term profitability of pasture management and/or improvement (and therefore pasture persistence). The model provides a comparative cash flow for 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 most profitable pastures are those that can sustain increased stocking rates for long periods of time, without the need for resowing.