Agriculture - Beef Industry - Southern Temperate Zone
Southern Temperate Zone
Benchmarking Rural Industries' Practices and Productivity Performance and Review of Industries' Capacity to Change
Where is beef produced in the Southern Temperate Zone?
The beef industry's Southern Temperate Zone stretches from inland Queensland south of around Biloela, through into the Murray Darling catchment and into southern South Australia. The majority of the feedlots in the industry are operating within this zone due to the relative close position to feed/grain sources and adequate reliable water supplies. Cattle are grazed over 9,044,788 hectares of land. 2% of the pasture in this region are sown or introduced, and 98% of the pasture is native or naturalised. The following maps represent the distribution of cattle within this region.
How much beef does the Southern Temperate Zone produce?
In 1999, the statistics on beef production in this region were:
- 2,227,548 head of grazing cattle in specialist enterprises
- 4,670,128 head of cattle in mixed or feedlot enterprises
- an average specialist producer stocking rate of 0.5 hectares/head or 2.0 head/hectare
What land and water resources are used in Australian beef production?
The Southern Temperate Zone experiences generally subtropical and Mediterranean climatic conditions, where yields depend upon conservation of soil moisture from variable rainfall. The climate is described as temperate and hot dry summers, cold winter regions with uniform winter and variable summer rainfall.
Enterprises in this region average approximately 1,825 hectares in size and produce beef for domestic and special foreign markets. In 1999, grazed land in the Southern Temperate Zone included:
- 11,950,512 hectares of native pastures
- 7,758,633 hectares of sown pastures
- 331,017 hectares of lucerne pastures.
Beef cattle typically graze sown pastures in this region.
What are the key characteristics of beef producers and farms in the Southern Temperate Zone and how do they compare with industry averages??
Key characteristics of beef producers and farms in this region include:
| Region Key characteristic |
Industry average | Region Average |
|---|---|---|
| Age of owner/manager | 58 years | 59 years |
| Owner/manager education and skill: - Completed university/tertiary or trade |
30% | 18% |
| - Completed 5-6 years high school | 22% | 20% |
| - Completed 1-4 years high school | 34% | 53% |
| - Primary or no schooling | 15% | 9% |
| Family members working on farm | 71 hr/wk | 45 hr/wk |
| Owner manager work on farm | 45 hr/wk | 69 hr/wk |
| Number of dependent children | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Farm cash income ($) | 43,954 | 37,559 |
| Total farm debt - June 30 ($) | 120,487 | 80,977 |
| Farm business profit ($) | - 9 033 | -10,595 |
| Total off farm income ($) | 29,858 | 23,368 |
| Owner work off farm | 6 hr/wk | 7 hr/wk |
| Area operated - June 30 | 11,688 ha | 1,815 ha |
| Farm ownership/ tenure: - Freehold |
12% | 51% |
| - Long term crown lease | 85% | 47% |
| Employment of non-family labour | 9 hr/wk | 17 hr/wk |
| Landcare membership | 33% | 21% |
| Length of group involvement | 6 years | 5 years |
Producers in this zone work the industry average on farm, have a slightly lower cash income, lower farm debt than the industry average, negative business profit, lower off-farm income, operate on more freehold land and have a lower than industry average landcare group membership levels. These combination of attributes suggest that the industry in this region has a capacity to implement change, but financial considerations and lower landcare membership levels will need to be taken into account due to high debt levels and reduced peer involvement.
What environmental challenges face the beef industry in the Southern Temperate Zone?
The proportion of beef farms with significant degradation problems is shown in the chart below. Weeds have been identified as the most significant of the nine ABARE (2000) surveyed degradation forms.
What is the beef industry doing to meet these environmental challenges in the Southern Temperate Zone and across Australia?
The regional adoption and applicability of various management practices being implemented by the beef industry are illustrated in the chart below.
Codes of Practice in the Southern Temperate Zone.
The beef grazing industry does not currently have a specific code of practice, however, some guidance is provided to farmers through codes of practice for general agriculture such as that developed by the Queensland Farmer's Federation or through the PROGRAZE program.
The PROGRAZE program, jointly developed by NSW Agriculture, the Meat Research Corporation and the International Wool Secretariat, commenced in NSW in April 1994. PROGRAZE uses a series of organised courses run by state department officers and other accredited deliverers such as agricultural consultants. The courses concentrate on setting and achieving livestock and pasture production targets using skills in assessing livestock and the quality, quantity and stability of plant species within the grazing system
Research and development being undertaken/planned in the Southern Temperate Zone.
The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for the Cattle and Beef Industry (meat quality) is a joint venture between the University of New England, CSIRO, NSW Agriculture and the Qld Department of Primary Industries. The CRC officially commenced operations in 1993 and has funding of $60 million over seven years. The Commonwealth Government and industry sponsors provide funding for the CRC operations.
The principle objectives of the CRC are:
- To develop genetic breeding technologies.
- To design novel feeding and management strategies to meet meat quality objectives in Australia's difficult environments.
- To address and resolve major constraints to intensive beef production by eliminating health and welfare concerns and reducing environmental pollution.
- To develop an understanding of economic relationships, evaluation of new technologies, and to assess broad community issues such as land and water use and long-term industry sustainability.
The CRC receives sponsorship from over 40 commercial firms from the beef production, processing and service centres. These firms provide cash or in-kind resources to facilitate research and education activities. Producers in this region participate in this program.
In addition, the CRC for the Sustainable Development of Tropical Savannas conducts research pasture and production system in the area bordered by Townsville, across the gulf and top end and over to the Kimberley. Research from this CRC investiges how the landscape works and various savanna ecosystems function. This research assists in the development of sustainable production systems in this region.
How is the Australian beef industry working with other agricultural industries to overcome some of the challenges faced by this region
Beef produced in the zone typically forms part of mixed farming systems and/or mixed farming regions. The majority of the zone falls within the Murray Darling Basin catchment, and this catchment is the most intensively developed catchment agriculturally in Australia. Beef is produced alongside areas supporting grains, horticulture, cotton and dairying land uses. Historic natural resource management issues that have potential to impact on regional environmental values and beef production include:
- containment of herbicides through spray drift and runoff mobilisation;
- runoff coordination affecting erosion rates and water flow patterns;
- unknown effects of genetically modified plantings; equitable water allocation.
The resolution of these issues requires ongoing research and development. The beef industry in the zone has involved itself in the planning processes presently proceeding on natural resource management issues such as:
- Water Allocation Management Plan (WAMP) development;
- Salinity Action Plan responses;
- Water Quality Improvement;
- Floodplain Management.
How do these factors affect the future prospects of the industry?
The beef industry in the Southern Temperate Zone is geographically spread across the Murray-Darling catchment and the coastal areas of South Australia. The general intensive nature of agriculture with many of the districts within the zone results in natural resource management issues such as dryland and irrigation salinity and weed control that are difficult to manage. The less intensive districts face environmental issues such as streambank stability and wind erosion.
Technology and research will need continual development if the insidious nature of salinity, woody weeds and erosion are to be checked. Cross industry environmental effects such as:
- herbicide containment
- water allocation
- runoff coordination
- floodplain management
- salinity management
occur in the intensively developed areas. The variability in the number of producers implementing improved management practices suggests a capacity for the region's beef producers to progressively implement some change, however as landscape processesn become better understood, ongoing programs to maintain change behaviour will need to occur.
Further information
Link to Map maker to make a map using this information.
Link to data available for download on "A spatially consistent sub-set of agricultural statistics (AgStats) data 1982/93 to 1996/97"
"Benchmarking environmental challenges and agricultural practice - an overview" report
Link to related web sites:
- Ausmeat website
- Australian Lot Feeders Association website
- Cattle Council of Australia website
- Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality website
- Meat and Livestock Australia website
- Producer Initiated Research and Development website
- CSIRO Livestock Industries website
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