Modelling of Growth and Development for Optimising Beef Cattle Production Systems

Abstract

The continuous need for improved agricultural production efficiency requires that a greater quantity and quality of information is available for producers to base their decisions upon. This information pertains to current production circumstances (e.g. production levels, price structures and environmental conditions) as well as the outcomes from scientific research. The incorporation of scientific findings into decision support systems (DSS) is increasing the use of available production information and allowing different production scenarios to be explored in order to help improve the quality of decisions made. However, most current DSS do not have the capacity to determine what decisions would be optimal for a given production system. Instead they simply support decisions by predicting possible outcomes that are not immediately obvious and/or obtainable. Scientific outcomes can be incorporated into DSS in the form of simulation models that describe the system under consideration. In the context of beef cattle production, decisions relating to drafting, feeding, marketing, logistics and breeding could be optimised based on the output from a feeding and growth model. The successful application of a DSS of this nature would rely on how indicative the model is of animal growth and development in a variety of production environments and for different animal types.