Finding the ‘Sweet Spot’ for reproductive performance in north Australian beef herds

We know that nutrition has a dominating effect on the reproductive performance of beef breeding females, but the level of pasture utilisation required for optimal cow herd production in northern Australia is unknown. We are using existing datasets to: 1) quantify the effect of pasture utilisation rates on reproductive performance (pregnancy, lactating cows pregnant within four months, calf loss and weaning percentage); 2) improve the capacity of existing models to predict cow performance and economics of herd management; and 3) recommend management to improve cow herd performance, production and profitability while maintaining the land and pasture resource for different land types and regions in northern Australia.