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The Cavendish banana is Australia's most popular fruit and marketed as emblematic of Australian nationalisms. In July 2017, the disease-causing fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense was confirmed present on Australia's largest Cavendish banana farm, in the worst disease incursion that Northern Queensland Cavendish monocrop plantations have yet faced. Confronted with the potential collapse of the industry, banana growers and Biosecurity Queensland officials have deployed a biosecurity response centred on measures of border control and containment. This paper examines the othering of the disease vector Panama Tropical Race 4, revealing biosecurity attempts as embroiled in cultural preoccupations with invasion. In so doing, this paper establishes that the biosecurity concerns regarding Northern Queensland bananas are not just with the economic and biological productivity of nature, but entangled in post-colonial anxieties over who belongs within the landscape. Following the entangled relations between the disease and Cavendish bananas reveals cultural nuances and multispecies relations. These shape and are shaped by industry and government efforts as experts attempt to maintain governance over entities as they appear to slip from human control. This paper finds that the anxieties and narratives of Australian post-colonial politics are deeply imbricated with the logics of ecological protection, agricultural productivity and the banality of everyday nationalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Drawing on long‐term ethnographic fieldwork with Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) workers in south‐east Australia, I reflect in this paper on the experience of interminable temporariness and on its implications for the structural conditions underpinning contemporary horticultural labour in Australia. Although in many ways reflective of the specificities of a unique historical moment, the interminable temporariness experienced through the COVID‐19 pandemic also speaks to broader, enduring conditions produced within contemporary Australian agriculture. Here, the restructuring of the agri‐industry produces for many what Lauren Berlant describes as the "impasse" or "crisis ordinariness" of life under neoliberalism. At the same time, logics of development—including racialized imaginaries and border regimes—articulate with agricultural guest worker schemes in ways that seek to fix whole populations and regions in relations of suspended hope. In this context, I argue, the pandemic exposed and intensified structural vulnerabilities and unequal distributions of risk, which are encoded in the political economy of farm work in Australia, while also cleaving open new, if tentative, possibilities for agency and solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian dryland grain-cropping landscape occupies 60 Mha. The broader agricultural sector (farmers and agronomic advisors, grain handlers, commodity forecasters, input suppliers, insurance providers) required information at many spatial and temporal scales. Temporal scales included hindcasts, nowcasts and forecasts, at spatial scales ranging from sub-field to the continent. International crop-monitoring systems could not service the need of local industry for digital information on crop production estimates. Therefore, we combined a broad suite of satellite-based crop-mapping, crop-modelling and data-delivery techniques to create an integrated analytics system (Graincast™) that covers the Australian cropping landscape. In parallel with technical developments, a set of user requirements was identified through a human-centred design process, resulting in an end-product that delivered a viable crop-monitoring service to industry. This integrated analytics solution can now produce crop information at scale and on demand and can deliver the output via an application programming interface. The technology was designed to underpin digital agriculture developments for Australia. End-users are now using crop-monitoring data for operational purposes, and we argue that a vertically integrated data supply chain is required to develop crop-monitoring technology further. The Graincast™ suite of tools was developed to monitor crop productivity in near real-time across the Australian landscape. Four separate tools were created: the C-Crop model, which monitors crop yields with satellite; CropID, which monitors the crop species and areas of production; the Graincast™ app, which provides field-scale estimates of crop production and soil-water use; and Field Boundaries (ePaddocks), which identifies every cropped field across the landscape. The paper describes the design process, including data acquisition, machine learning, testing, validation, human-centred design and the delivery of outputs to end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Rural Australia" has long been a special site of political contestation. Staking the terms of public depictions of "the rural", "the bush", or "country life" is a constitutive thread running through Australian settler colonial identity and a cornerstone of national electoral politics. This paper analyses major News Corporation media outlets' presentation of an evolving political campaign, comparing contesting representations of farming and rural Australia deployed by the Morrison Coalition government and advocacy group Farmers for Climate Action, in the period between the government's re-election in May 2019 and July 2021. The paper steps through the key tactical discursive moves made by these contesting parties. It argues that in their depictions of rural Australia there are two important features that these perspectives share. Both embrace a discourse of increased agricultural productivity inspired by high-tech innovation, and both are silent on the related social and economic transformations that undergird the "crisis" of the rural. Consequently, public political contestation over rural policy unfolds without engaging transforming structural arrangements that fundamentally organise work and life on the land. • Presents comparative depictions of rurality by the Australian prime minister and advocacy group Farmers for Climate Action. • Political contests over the representation of the rural during the time of accelerating climate change are shown to have strong temporal framings. • Both government and Farmers for Climate Action embrace a discourse of increased agricultural productivity inspired by high-tech innovation and both are silent on socio-economic transformations. • Farmers for Climate Action have made significant steps towards normalising the idea that farming and climate activism go hand in hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the nineteenth century, common salt (NaCl) was liberally applied to Australian farmland as a manure to improve productivity and as a fungicide to prevent, or at least reduce, the impact of rust in wheat. In an age where salinity control is paramount for biodiversity and agricultural productivity alike, it is worth reflecting that during the nineteenth century salt was intentionally applied as a manure to improve soil productivity. This paper traces the origin and extent of this practice in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the article is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the concepts of landscape management in Australia, the challenges face by the agricultural production landscapes, and the history of the country's agricultural policy.

Soil acidification due to crop removal and the use of acidifying fertilisers reduce land productivity in many agricultural systems worldwide. The most common remedy is to apply lime to the soil surface. An alternative approach is to incorporate lime into the sub‐soil. This is a more expensive option, but it substantially reduces the time required to reduce acidity in the sub‐soil horizons. This paper presents a dynamic optimisation model to determine optimal rates, frequency and methods of lime application for a wheat monoculture system in the northern part of the Western Australian wheatbelt. Results show that optimal application rates depend on rainfall levels and soil‐acidity conditions. The net present value of profit is not sensitive to the frequency of lime application. Incorporating lime into the sub‐soil increases the net present value of profit, but only by a small amount: two to four per cent in most scenarios modelled. In the process, sub‐soil lime application reduces both the optimal lime application rate and the time required for the soil pH to increase to a target level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including development pattern for Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), productivity change and distance functions of agricultural production in the U.S., and productivity decline of mining in Australia.

This paper investigates the dynamic relationships between research and development (R&D) expenditure and productivity growth in Australian broadacre agriculture using aggregate time series data for the period 1953 to 2009. The results show a cointegrating relationship between R&D and productivity growth and a unidirectional causality from R&D to TFP (total factor productivity) growth in Australian broadacre agriculture. Using the dynamic properties of the model, data from beyond the sample period are analysed by employing the variance decomposition and the impulse response function. The findings reveal that R&D can be readily linked to the variation in productivity growth beyond the sample period. Furthermore, the forecasting results indicate that a significant out-of-sample relationship exists between public R&D and productivity in broadacre agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to seriously affect agricultural livelihoods and food security in all Pacific Island countries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation contends that, to adapt, both 'modern' and Indigenous agricultural practices and knowledge are needed. A challenge lies in combining agricultural knowledge systems and enabling adaptive knowledge to be shared amongst Pacific Islanders. Opportunities to integrate different types of agricultural knowledge (including 'modern' and Indigenous) are needed. This paper argues that international labour mobility programmes provide an avenue for knowledge exchange that can support climate change adaptation in agriculture. It presents empirical evidence from research with 33 Pacific Islanders who grow crops in their home countries and were employed in Australia's Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP). We demonstrate how SWP participation opened new possibilities for climate change adaptation in agriculture in the Pacific Islands. Adaptive knowledge stems from SWP workers' exposure to different agricultural skills and ideas in Australia, combined with their knowledge and experience of crop production in their countries of origin. SWP participation created opportunities for workers to draw on different agricultural skills and knowledge on return to the Pacific Islands. The ability for SWP workers to then exchange adaptive knowledge with other Pacific Islanders is enabled by their social relationships, the likes of which an official agricultural extension officer might not have to the same degree. So far, such adaptive agricultural knowledge and skills exchanges are serendipitous. There is scope to explicitly build climate change knowledge exchange into agriculture-focused international labour mobility schemes. • International labour mobility schemes facilitate agricultural knowledge exchange. • Labour mobility migrants adapt acquired agricultural knowledge to their countries. • International labour mobility schemes can build adaptive capacity in agriculture. • Adaptive capacity from labour mobility can spread via agricultural extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profitability change can be decomposed into the product of a total factor productivity (TFP) index and an index measuring changes in relative prices. Many TFP indexes can be further decomposed into measures of technical change, technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change and mix efficiency change. The class of indexes that can be decomposed in this way includes the Fisher, Törnqvist and Hicks-Moorsteen TFP indexes but not the Malmquist TFP index of Caves, Christensen and Diewert (1982). This paper develops data envelopment analysis methodology for computing and decomposing the Hicks-Moorsteen index. The empirical feasibility of the methodology is demonstrated using country-level agricultural data covering the period 1970-2001. The paper explains why relatively small countries tend to be the most productive, and why favourable movements in relative prices tend to simultaneously increase net returns and decrease productivity. Australia appears to have experienced this relative price effect since at least 1970. Thus, if Australia is a price-taker in output and input markets, Australian agricultural policy-makers should not be overly concerned about the estimated 15 per cent decline in agricultural productivity that has taken place over the last three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts of articles on economics published in the January-March 1965 issue of The Indian Economic Journal. In the paper An Activity Analysis Approach to Measure Productive Efficiency in Agriculture: A Case Study of Ahmednagar and Nasik Districts, by K. R. Bharadwaj and R. Bharadwaj, the authors have made an attempt to employ the activity analysis technique to measure productive efficiency of agriculture in India. This technique enables the authors to handle more efficiently multiple inputs without varying the usual index number problems. The approach requires only the more general convexity condition on the production set and the non-positivity of the slope of the isoquant. In the first two sections the methodological issues and the empirical procedure have been discussed. In the final section the results of an empirical enquiry using the farm management data pertaining to the Ahmednagar and Nasik districts have been presented. Furthermore, the article Central Banking in Developing Countries: Some Lessons of Australian Experience, by H. W. Arndt considers each of the major central banking functions such as foreign exchange policy, control of money supply, selective control of credit and development of capital market in order to show how they have come to be exercised by Australia's Central Bank, what problems have arisen and what lessons the Australian experience may hold for central banking in the developing countries. Moreover, the purpose of the paper Production Function for Indian Steel Industry, by A. K. Sarkar is to study the functional relationship of output in the Indian steel industry with that of different inputs. The modified Cobb-Douglas type regression equation has been fitted to the time-series data by the method of least squares in the multiple regression equation with a linear relationship.

Mungbean, a grain legume with high nutritional value, is grown widely throughout Asia and increasingly in Australia. Despite growing interest amongst farmers, mungbean remains an inconsistent and thus risky crop to plant in Australia. Cropping system models like the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) are valuable tools for helping farmers to examine options for improving crop management and assess production risks across potential growing regions for mungbean. This paper outlines the simulation capacity of a new mungbean crop model parameterized using the Plant Modelling Framework in APSIM Next Generation, the newest version of the APSIM framework. The aim of the paper is to document the parameterization and validation processes of the model. The new mungbean model was built using data from 28 field experiments to simulate measured phenology, canopy development, biomass accumulation/partitioning, stress responses, N fixation, root growth, and yield across a wide range of environments. The root mean squared error (RMSE) in predictions for grain weight and aboveground weight were 25.4 g m−2 and 91.4 g m−2, respectively. The model successfully captured the dynamics of crop response to sowing dates, water/irrigation regimes, and climate. The new mungbean model is a robust and accurate tool for use in Australia and tropical/sub-tropical Asia. Researchers can use the new mungbean model to determine best management practices such as the optimal time to sow mungbeans in different environments. The output from model simulations can help farmers assess risks associated with sowing at different times and soil water conditions specific to their region. Such risk analysis can improve farmer decision-making confidence in mungbean, increasing its potential production for Australia. Overall, the new APSIM mungbean model can be used effectively to identify and close the mungbean yield gap, mitigate risk of crop failure, and increase profits for mungbean farmers in Australia and tropical/sub-tropical Asia; it has the capacity to assist with increasing mungbean production globally under changing climate conditions. • The APSIM Next Generation mungbean model was built using data from 28 diverse field experiments. • Detailed phenology, biomass and N partitioning, and canopy data was used to parameterize parameters. • The model captures mungbean's dynamic response to water stress and targeted irrigation. • It is a robust, data-driven crop model that performs well in Australia and tropical/subtropical Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper points out some difficulties in the econometric estimation of the original paper and suggests procedures for overcoming these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is my reply to the comment (Parton, 2012) on my original paper (Culas, 2011). The issues pointed out in the comment are the circumstances under which the econometric method that I employed is applicable. My reply suggests the econometric techniques that could be more appropriate in various circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive substance flow analysis (SFA) of phosphorus (P) for a six-year period (2008–13) in Gippsland, a key agricultural region of Australia with high economic and environmental significance. The analysis has revealed that around 71% (10,904 t) of the mean annual total inflow of P was stored in this region. This finding is different from other published regional scale SFAs, where more than 50% of the P in annual total inflow eventually left the region. Per capita P inflow in Gippsland is also found substantially higher compared to available SFAs. In Gippsland, the annual inflow of P primarily occurred as commercial fertilizer (66% or 10,263 t) and livestock feed (29% or 4443 t), and the outflow mainly occurred as livestock products (94% or 4181 t); while the majority (66% or 7218 t) of the P storage occurred in soils of the livestock farming area. A comparative analysis of the magnitude of P flow in different subsystems indicates that more than 80% of the annual total inflow, outflow, and storage of P in this region is associated with the livestock (mainly dairy and meat cattle) farming subsystem. For the Gippsland region as a whole and almost all subsystems, significant annual variations in the magnitudes of P inflow, outflow, storage and internal flow have been observed. Between 2008 and 2013, both the annual total inflow (mainly as commercial fertilizer) and the annual total storage (mainly in soils) of P in this region showed a substantial decrease (41% and 54% of the 2008 level, respectively), while the annual total outflow (mainly as livestock and crop products) remained nearly the same, indicating an improvement towards sustainable P management. Despite such a positive sign, there is still adequate room for improvement. This analysis indicates that over the study period, about 65,424 t P were accumulated (mainly as soil storage) that is approximately six times the mean annual P inflow as commercial fertilizer in this region; while approximately 3241 t P lost as soil erosion and runoff, indicating substantial adverse economic and environmental implications. Based on the findings of the current analysis, this paper outlines a wide range of policy and management interventions to reduce the downstream loss of P and other nutrients as well as the region's dependency on imported commercial fertilizers and grain based feed. This paper also presents new criteria for data quality analysis and a set of P concentration data of various materials that could be readily utilized in future SFAs of P at any geographical scale. This paper suggests that considering the inter-annual variations in P flow as assessed in this SFA, future research should focus on identifying the influence of socio-environmental, technological and political factors on the magnitude P flow in Gippsland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous papers in this issue of Economic Papers have dealt with some substantive issues surrounding food security. The purpose of this article was different. We provide a general commentary on other Australian agricultural policy issues where the rhetoric of food security is used to exaggerate the challenges faced and/or to support solutions to some challenges that are expensive and unrealistic. This article comprises opinion based on historical observations of the agricultural policy process in Australia and the underlying principles of mainstream agricultural economics. It does not offer detailed empirical analysis of the issues discussed. The issues discussed are irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin, prospects for agricultural production in northern Australia, especially irrigation development, the bias in favour of further processing of agricultural products (value adding), food imports and foreign ownership, and the effects of Asian economic development on Australian agriculture and agricultural trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing appropriate climate change adaptations to protect biodiversity requires taking into account the dynamics of agro-ecological and socio-economic change. A framework for approaching this problem was proposed, but not applied in detail, as part of a major biodiversity and climate change report prepared in Australia. This paper describes the first trial application of the method. It was applied across Vietnam as the Government is interested in identifying adaptation options and detailed data are readily available for its 65 provinces. The process involves identifying ecoregions and collating information for each region based on the current conditions and trends in biodiversity, population, income and agricultural production. Climate change scenarios are identified for each region, together with governance options. Educational needs and key adaptation actions are then identified for each region taking into account the agro-ecological and socio-economic input data. It is concluded that the framework could easily be applied in other countries and should assist the development of strategic adaptation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than attempting to create a single integrated economic–environment model of the Australian economy, this paper presents research on the linking or soft-coupling of separate environment and economic models. The model of the environment is provided by the Australian Stocks and Flows Framework (ASFF), used to identify the significant physical challenges facing Australia in the decades ahead. To address the perceived issue of missing prices in the ASFF this research explores how the link with economic models can be made, and demonstrates several advantages of taking this approach. This paper shows the results of coupling the ASFF with two different economic models, a partial equilibrium model and a dynamic monetary circuit model, which differ substantially in their fundamental assumptions and representation of the way national economies function. This demonstrates the flexibility inherent in soft-coupling separate models, as compared with the more common approach of using fully integrated models. We find coherence of the biophysical model with the partial equilibrium model is limited as the latter does not have a system-wide extent. The coupling between biophysical and dynamic economic models demonstrates the role of increasing efficiency as a driver of economic growth and subsequent environmental degradation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Assessment is increasingly being applied to manage natural resource problems internationally. The development of Integrated Assessment models requires application of an adaptive process of model development, incorporating both stakeholder and scientific knowledge in model development. Such a process should allow the development of trust between stakeholders and scientists to help overcome conflicts arising from model application. This paper outlines one such adaptive approach to Integrated Assessment modelling. It examines an integrated assessment model which has been developed using this process to assess long term outcomes of management options for water allocation in the Namoi River catchment, Australia. The development of this tool has been undertaken using an iterative approach with key stakeholders. The approach embraces collaboration with relevant stakeholder groups on the issues to be addressed by the model (conceptualisation, regional discretisation, system knowledge, scenario framing and results) and preferred future directions of model development. A key aspect of the model framework is that it has been developed to be sufficiently general for reapplication and extension to a wide range of water allocation issues in other catchments. Lessons are drawn from this experience in framework development for the field of integrated assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International agricultural research aimed at improving productivity in developing countries also has spill-over effects on developed countries. Research that affects the supply of commodities is also likely to affect the world price of tradeable commodities. In this paper, the effects of spill-overs to Australia from successful cost-reducing research into sorghum and chickpeas at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) aimed at developing countries are assessed. Genetic materials developed and distributed through ICRISAT are used in Australia to increase productivity. The price-reducing effects of successful research are incorporated into the analysis of spill-over impacts on productivity. The net effects on welfare for producers and consumers of sorghum and chickpeas in Australia and the Rest of the World (ROW) are identified. The consequences of the impacts are discussed and the implications for further funding of international agricultural research are also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper examines how Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) farmers respond to water-related challenges such as induced by climate change and environmental policy. This is a critical and ongoing aspect of farming operations in Australia’s largest watershed. Using the 2013 Regional Wellbeing Survey data, we show that irrigators and dryland farmers adjust their production processes and business models using a wide range of strategies, with irrigators adopting more strategies than dryland farmers and investment-related strategies being the most prevalent form of adjustment. The extent of adjustment depends on farm characteristics: large, intensive-farming units, on-farm income-dependent and annual cropping farmers were more likely to adapt among irrigators. Irrigators also generally place more importance on water-related strategies than output- and input-related strategies. Amongst dryland farmers, hobby farming, non-intensive-farming and perennial cropping units were more likely to adjust than other dryland farms. These empirical findings inform the important debate about developing and targeting adequate policy support for structural adjustment of farming operations in the MDB. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite there being considerable research and knowledge surrounding the risks of climate change on agricultural productivity, fewer studies have examined risks from a whole-of-chain perspective (i.e. from producer to consumer) and the perceptions of consumers about the climate adaptation strategies of food businesses. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 1532 Australian consumers and how they might respond to a food company's climate adaptation strategy. Three respondent archetypes, ' Eco-warriors' ( n = 557), ' Undecideds' ( n = 600) and ' Abdicators' ( n = 375), were identified based on their perceptions of risks associated with climate change and their attitudes towards climate adaptation. Further analysis was carried out to understand how each group of respondents would respond to adaptation strategies employed by food companies. Based on the findings of this study, two main challenges are presented for food value chains: (1) translating consumer needs and preferences to niche opportunities arising from adaptation and (2) understanding how best to communicate adaptation benefits based on varying attitudes and information needs. By addressing these challenges, synergies between adaptation goals and competitive strategies in food value chains may be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In common with much of the Western world, agrarianism-valuing farmers and agricultural activity as intrinsically worthwhile, noble, and contributing to the strength of the national character-runs through Australian culture and politics. Agrarian sentiments and attitudes have been identified through empirical research and by inference from analysis of political debate, policy content, and studies of media and popular culture. Empirical studies have, however, been largely confined to the US, with little in the way of recent re-evaluations of, or developments from, early work. This paper reports on research that seeks quantitative empirical evidence for the existence of agrarianism in the Australian community and seeks to identify its core characteristics. Using a purpose-designed sub-set of items within a large, omnibus-style survey of regional and rural Australia, we demonstrate that agrarianism exists as a scientifically quantifiable concept identifiable through responses to four key propositions: that Australians should support policies aimed at improving the position of the agricultural industries; that working in agriculture and associated industries brings out the best in people; that agricultural producers make a major contribution to environmental protection and biodiversity conservation; and that the development of agriculture in Australia contributed to the development of the national character. We found very little variation in the degree to which different demographic groupings agree with agrarianism. Older people, farmers, and non-Indigenous Australian-born respondents were among those who were statistically significantly more likely to agree with the defining propositions of agrarianism, but their scores were only very slightly higher than those of other sub-populations in the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2016, the 60th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society ( AARES) was held in Canberra, 20 years since we added 'and Resources' to the Society's name and Journal. As one way of commemorating those anniversaries, a pre-Conference workshop was held to highlight the contributions of the Society's agricultural and resource economists. Papers were solicited with the expectation that they would be presented in a way that is accessible for the broad membership of the Society and that revisions would be published along with reviewer comments in the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics ( AJARE). This Special Issue is the upshot. This article introduces the Issue and the other articles in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of agriculture on Australia's nineteenth and twentieth century economic development is well known. While wool's contribution is rightly celebrated, the contribution of agricultural crops has received less attention. This paper focuses on one major staple, wheat, from 1861 to 1939. Both patent data and a new measure of technological progress, the cumulative number of wheat varieties tested for local adoption, are used to quantify the contribution of agricultural innovation to growth. We find innovation in this sector made an important contribution to the growth of total factor productivity over the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the unique nature of agricultural production, costing of agricultural products presents a major challenge to the management of farms and other organisations that involved in agricultural production. Activity-Based Costing (ABC), with its ability to apply non-volume driven cost drivers and disentangle resource costs and cost objects through two-stage allocation process, has the potential to address issues in costing of agricultural products. This paper presents a case study of ABC implementation in a familyowned Australian farm. The objectives of the study are to develop an understanding on how the ABC model can be implemented in farms and to examine issues associated with the implementation of the ABC model in farms. Findings from the case show that implementing the ABC model in farms is possible with the use of heuristics. Technical factors are found to be dominant over behavioural factors in the development of the ABC-based costing model for the farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of communication technologies ( CTs) in Australian broadacre agricultural production using data over the period of 1990-2013. Allowing for cross-sectional independence in the data, the pooled mean group and augmented mean group techniques are applied to estimate dynamic relationships among variables. The empirical results demonstrate that CTs affect agricultural output positively in the long run. The estimated elasticity is 0.237. This result suggests that government policies that lift investment in telecommunication facilities are shown to contribute to an increase of output in Australia's broadacre agriculture in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantifies the levels of assistance received by producers of the major agricultural crops and animal products in Australia from Federation to the end of World War II. We outline the history of government assistance to the sector after Federation. Six measures of assistance are examined. Then the nominal rates of assistance from these measures are calculated for 20 agricultural products, 14 of which are classified as exportables and 6 as importables. From these product measures of assistance, we construct a series of the production-weighted average nominal rate of assistance for the group of exportable products and for the group of importable products and for the whole sector. Our results show that, from the time of Federation, the pattern of assistance to the sector discriminated persistently and heavily against the exportable agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide use is pervasive and intensive in agricultural production. Certain food activists, producers, and public health researchers contest pervasive pesticide use on the basis that it is unsustainable for human health, the environment and the control of pests in growing food. In Australia government has largely left the resolution of this contestation to consumer choice. Yet the use of pesticides is barely visible to those consuming the products. This paper uses the example of strawberries to trace back how consumption choices are framed by regulatory choices in which consumers have little engagement. Strawberries have traditionally been a highly pesticide-intensive crop. The results highlight the limits of consumer choice as a method of deliberative democratic engagement with issues of agrifood sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the economic efficiency of irrigated agricultural enterprises using a non-radial data envelopment analysis approach. While a number of studies have used radial measures based on data envelopment analysis to obtain efficiency scores for a given production technology, we calculate non-radial measures to understand the efficiency of using individual inputs employed in the production process. In particular, the measures of economic efficiency are decomposed into water use efficiency and managerial efficiency. This decomposition enables us to obtain an efficiency score for the use of water as an environmentally sensitive input in irrigated crop production systems. Treating water input in this way goes beyond traditional measurement of water use efficiency, as the calculated efficiency scores can be used as indicators of sustainability in terms of water withdrawals for irrigation purposes. The results show that the overall efficiency for the considered irrigated enterprises is quite high. This is in contrast to the findings on the water use efficiency scores, which are fairly low. This indicates that while Australian irrigated farms are comparatively more efficient in overall farm activity management, they are not very efficient in managing water resources. In turn, this threatens the sustainability of this industry. There is a substantial variation of water use efficiency scores across irrigated enterprises and across regions. Analysing these variations can provide important insights for current policy and for future efforts to improve water use efficiency that will lead towards more sustainable irrigation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines broadacre farm performance in south-western Australia. This region has experienced pronounced climate variability and volatile commodity prices since the late 1990s. Relationships between productivity and profitability are explored using panel data from 47 farms in the study region. The data are analysed using nonparametric methods. By applying the Fare- Primont index method, components of farm productivity and profitability are measured over the period 1998-2008. Growth in productivity is found to be the main contributor of profitability. Gains in efficiency and technical change are identified as jointly and similarly important in their contribution to total factor productivity for the farm sample in the region from 1998 to 2008. However, across environments, efficiency gains play an increasingly important role in influencing productivity as growing season rainfall increases. We conclude that R, D& E that delivers further improvement in technical efficiency and technical change is needed to support the profitability of farms across the study region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides historical context for contemporary discourses on landownership, notably the changing scale of absentee landownership and foreign ownership since 1849. Trends in landownership since European occupation of one of the most agriculturally productive regions in south east Australia, the Lachlan River catchment, are examined at regional, shire and district scales. Evolution of tenure indicates that absentee landowners owned most of the land until after 1935, but between the 1860s and 1970 the proportion of landowners who were resident landowners increased. In 1970, resident landowners owned most land. Since 1970, absentee landownership has increased, the most dramatic increase occurring after 1990. By 2009, absentee landownership had reached the high levels of 1849. While most contemporary types of landowners have historical antecedents, new trends include changes in the country of origin of foreign investors, increased small property ownership by city-based individuals and the establishment of Indigenous incorporated ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper critically examines the role of farmers' markets in Australian agriculture. A case study is undertaken in South Australia, where all stallholders at three farmers' markets situated in Adelaide, Willunga and Berri were surveyed regarding their production and marketing techniques. Overall responses supported literature highlighting the importance of farmers' markets to the producers who chose to exploit this marketing niche. A strong co-reliance on 'wholesale sales' was also recognised, suggesting an important integration of productivist and post-productivist approaches to agricultural development. Of most promise for long-term agricultural sustainability was evidence that certain groups of farmers were found to be realising the potential of these and other alternative markets, in terms of their risk reducing capacity, and diversifying to include various conservation values into their agricultural enterprises. These groups were less concerned about market fluctuations and more concerned with issues of social equity, environmental health and having fun, which meant they unwittingly epitomised the goals of political ecology, by challenging the dominant agricultural methods of production and marketing. It seems these groups also recognised that the direct nature of their transactions would sow beneficial social, environmental and economic 'seeds' for change. Finally, it is argued that policies to improve access to farmers' markets and reduce the cost of participation would assist small scale Australian agricultural producers to evolve smoothly into a multifunctional era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ongoing crisis in Australian agriculture resulting from climate crises including drought, decreasing irrigation water, more recent catastrophic flooding, and an uncertain policy environment is reshaping gender relations in the intimate sphere of the farm family. Drawing on research conducted in the Murray-Darling Basin area of Australia we ask the question: Does extreme hardship/climate crises change highly inequitable gender relations in agriculture? As farm income declines, Australian farm women are more likely to be working off farm for critical family income while men continue to work on farm often in circumstances of damaged landscapes, rising debt, and limited production. This paper examines the way gender relations are being renegotiated in a time of significant climate crisis. Our research suggests that climate crises have indeed led to changes in gender relations and that some changes are unexpected. Whereas one would logically assume that women's enhanced economic contribution would increase their power in gender negotiations, we argue that this does not necessarily occur because their contribution is viewed as a farm survival strategy. Men are committed to prioritizing the farm and view women's income generating work as critical to this purpose and yet, paradoxically, long for a return to traditional farm roles. We find that women are actively resisting traditional gender relations by reshaping a role for themselves beyond the farm-in the process moving physically and mentally away from a farm family ideology, questioning gender inequalities, and by extension their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to an improved understanding of contemporary agricultural extension. Specifically, it considers how extension can add to capacity and resilience of Australian rural industries and their associated communities. It provides perspectives and examples on how extension, capacity-building and resilience are conceptually linked and includes an extension program in the the Tasmanian sheep industry as a supporting case study. Commenced in 2003 the 8_5 Wool Profit Program, now SheepConnect-Tasmania, was funded by Australian Wool Innovation, and the findings of an independent external review, together with supporting documentation from agencies closely linked to the extension program are presented. This study confirms rural extension services can function in capacity-building roles in communities that far exceed simply achieving changes in on-farm agricultural production or natural resource management practices. Extension agents are investments that add value and capacity to the communities that rely on them, providing vital accessible skills to stakeholders negotiating challenging circumstances. Retention of core agricultural extension capacity and expertise at regional levels should therefore be a strategic objective for rural community stakeholders, and industry and government policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines various methods for estimating productivity incorporating environmental effects for the Australian agricultural sector. The agricultural sector has been selected because of its strategic position in the economy of Australia. The findings of this study indicate that the application of environmentally adjusted productivity methods is a credible approach to measure productivity, in the context of sustainable development. Although the empirical findings of this research are case study specific, the results provide evidence supporting the adoption of these techniques to other sectors of the economy when measuring productivity and needing to be cognisant of sustainable development. The findings suggest that adjusting for the environmental impacts of soil erosion can result in higher or lower agricultural productivity depending on the assumptions we make regarding damage costs of erosion. It is argued in this paper that, for soil erosion in Australia, assumptions yielding higher productivity (i.e., upwardly adjusted) are justified. Finally, the findings of this study and the use of the methods presented point to important gaps in data availability. This gap needs to be addressed by policy makers if sustainable development objectives are to be credibly assessed using these techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Australians are among the largest consumers of marijuana in the world, and estimates show that their expenditure on marijuana is approximately twice that on wine. In the present paper, the evolution of Australian marijuana prices over the last decade is analysed, and a decline in real terms by almost 40 per cent is shown. This decline is far above that experienced by most agricultural products. Why has this occurred and what are the implications? One possible reason is the adoption of hydroponic growing techniques that have enhanced productivity and lowered costs and prices. Another reason is that laws have become softer and penalties reduced. Patterns in prices are found that divide the country into three broad regions: (i) Sydney, where prices are highest; (ii) Melbourne and Canberra, which have somewhat lower prices; and (iii) everywhere else, where marijuana is cheapest. An exploratory analysis indicates the extent to which the price declines have stimulated marijuana consumption and inhibited the consumption of a substitute product, alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is an island nation and a primary producer of agricultural and horticultural products. There is a large diversity of plant biosecurity threats which could adversely impact on Australia's production and exports. Surveillance has traditionally been used to monitor pests and optimise production. Increasingly surveillance is being used for early detection of exotic incursions, demonstration of eradication of incursions and pest freedom from exotic or endemic pests. These newer uses of surveillance utilise general and specific surveillance: surveillance data is maintained in electronic databases. Specific surveillance is a targeted surveillance search used by industry or state regulators for a specific pest to support pest freedom or other trade standards. The plant biosecurity surveillance cycle shows the flow of surveillance operations. In this paper, this cycle is demonstrated by case studies including pre border and the northern Australian at-border surveillance for the Australian-Asian interface. Within Australia, the multiple plant pest surveillance program was established in most capital cities where there are high flows of population and produce. As an industry example, the cotton industry surveillance program, particularly for cotton leaf curl, demonstrates how plant biosecurity surveillance operates within an industry. Asiatic citrus canker is another example of industry pertinent surveillance. Finally, surveillance for the purpose of declaring pest freedom areas is reviewed using fruit flies and currant lettuce aphid as examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]