2001, Volume 9, Paper 1

ISSN: 1883-5675

Farmer Returns from New Technologies in the Australian Beef Industry: On-farm Research versus Off-farm Research

Xueyan Zhao, Garry Griffith and John Mullen

Abstract

The issue of the relative returns to farmers from on-farm research versus off-farm research is examined using a multi-sectoral equilibrium displacement model of the Australian beef industry. Total economic surplus changes and their distributions among various industry groups resulting from 1% cost reductions in various farm sectors (weaner production, cattle backgrounding and grass-finishing) and off-farm sectors (feed lotting, processing, and domestic and export marketing) are estimated. The results are consistent with previous studies in showing that in general, the share of total benefits to farmers is larger from on-farm research than from off-farm research. The exception is the export marketing sector. The net returns from the different cost reduction scenarios depend on the costs of achieving them.

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