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Abstract

Economic pressures have challenged Australia’s northern beef industry over the last decade.

Productivity improvement has been slowing, costs of production have escalated rapidly and

beef prices have not increased in real terms since 2004. Reversing these trends is imperative

for a viable industry over the long term. We describe the approach we have taken in a new

project that is exploring options for sustainable development of the industry as a basis for

guiding research and development for the next 20 years. A range of development scenarios

that offer potential to significantly improve profitability through productivity gains were

developed in consultation with industry and technical experts. These scenarios are being

assessed using a new simulation model of northern beef enterprises to explore their potential

effects on productivity and economic and environmental outcomes in six regions.