GrassGro Case Studies
Case studies undertaken with GrassGro
| Enterprise | Location | Issue analysed | File to Download |
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Tactical and on-farm case studies |
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| Breeding ewes | Moyston, Victoria |
Tactical destocking in late spring |
Agriculture Victoria website |
| (Feedbase) | South West Victoria |
Autumn-winter feedbase planning |
Southern Farming Systems website |
| Fine wool Merino | Bungarby – Monaro area NSW | Restocking after drought. Choosing to purchase or modify lambing times. | Oliver Cay – 2012
Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of The Grassland Society of NSW |
| Crossbred ewes | Wagga Wagga, NSW | Assessing management options for predictable feed gaps in Autumn | Poster GSNSW 2008 Paper GSNSW 2008 |
| Merino wethers | Beaufort, VIC | Assessing emerging seasonal risks with successive tactical analyses | Abstract-GSSA 2007 Poster-GSSA 2007 |
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Livestock enterprise comparisons |
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| Multiple | South West Victoria |
Intensification and enterprise-level diversification of already-profitable livestock farms |
Tocker et al (2022) Australian Farm Business Management Journal |
| Merino wethers; Merino, Dual-purpose and First-cross ewe flocks | Mortlake, VIC; Rutherglen, VIC; Cowra, NSW; Naracoorte, SA | Optimum wool-meatsheep enterprise mix | Paper-Sheep CRC 2006 |
| Enterprise management options | |||
| Breeding ewes | New South Wales (5 sites) |
Groundcover trigger points during drought |
Robertson (2023) Project Report |
| Merino ewes producing crossbred lambs | Tarcutta (NSW) |
Stocking rate |
Robertson & Friend (2020) Animal Production Science |
| Multiple | Temperate Australia |
An estimate of carrying capacity of land for ruminant livestock production across southern Australia, using gridded batch simulation modelling |
Thomas et al. (2019) Agronomy Conference |
| Merino ewes | Skipton (VIC) | The costs and benefits of implementing an intense rotational grazing system | GrassGro e-news (Apr 2009) |
| Merino ewes | Yass and Parkes, NSW | Costs and benefits of achieving fat score targets for national Lifetime Wool Project | Paper-AFBMNetwork (3)2 |
| Beef cows | Apsley, TAS | Profit drivers for beef herds-calving date, stocking rate and weaner vs yearling production | Paper-GSSA TAS 2005 Presentation-GSSA TAS 2005 |
| Bull beef trading | Branxholme, VIC | Assessing production risks and profitability of Friesian bulls using tactical analysis | Paper-GSSA 2003 |
| Merino wethers | Hopetoun, WA | Economic impact of destocking pasture to reduce soil loss | Paper-WTSB 2002a |
| Merino ewes | Kybybolite, SA | Costs and benefits of grazing deferment | Paper-WTSB 2002b |
| Feedbases: species choice and pasture genetics | |||
| Mixed farming | Corrigin, WA Lameroo, SA Condobolin, NSW |
Shifting the feedbase to hard-seeded annual legume pastures |
Thomas et al. (2025) Agricultural Systems ResearchGate |
| Crossbred ewes | Nimmitabel, NSW |
Phalaris vs lucerne for the winter feed gap |
Monaro Farming Systems (2024) Resilient Pastures |
| Merino ewes | Bombala, NSW |
Phalaris vs perennial ryegrass for drought resilience |
Monaro Farming Systems (2024) Resilient Pastures |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes | South West Victoria | Aluminium tolerance in lucerne | International Grasslands Congress 2013 |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes | Southern Australia (7 low-medium rainfall sites) |
Implications of differences in the nutritive value of annual pasture legumes for the economic value for mixed farming systems of southern Australia |
Thomas et al. (2021) Agricultural Systems ResearchGate |
| Dual purpose Merino | South West WA | Introducing perennials for increasing gross margins | International Grasslands Congress 2013 |
| Merino and crossbred ewe flocks | Inverleigh, VIC | The indirect benefits for pasture production when grazing dual-purpose cereals | Poster GSSA 2008 Paper GSSA 2008 |
| Merino ewes producing heavy wethers for live sheep trade | Willalooka, SA | The value of lucerne to a wool enterprise | Presentation Paper-GSSA2002 |
| Livestock genetics in the grazing system | |||
| Beef cows | South West WA South West Victoria |
Introducing twinning genotypes as a way of reducing methane emissions intensity |
Gebbels et al. (2023) Animal Production Science ResearchGate |
| Merino sheep | Trangie, NSW |
Valuing ram genotypes in the grazing system |
Wallace et al. (2021) AABG Conference |
| Merino ewes | South West Victoria |
Introducing a fecund genotype as a way of reducing methane emissions intensity |
Harrison et al. (2013) MODSIM |
| System-level effects of changing the inputs to grazing enterprises | |||
| Self-replacing Merino ewes, Self-replacing Dorset ewes, Crossbred ewes producing second-cross lambs |
South East Australia (8 sites) |
Effects on production and risk of shifting supplementary feed allowances |
Bates et al. (2024) Animal Production Science ResearchGate |
| (Feedbase) | Wagga Wagga (NSW) |
Control options for barley grass in lucerne ley pastures |
Kelly et al. (2023) Crop & Pasture Science ResearchGate |
| Merino ewes producing crossbred lambs | Tarcutta (NSW) |
Effect of initial debt:equity ratio on the financial risk facing farmers |
Godfrey et al. (2021) agriculture ResearchGate |
| Merino ewes, Merino wethers, crossbred ewes | Hamilton (VIC) & Bookham (NSW) | The effects of fertiliser price on the optimal management of fertiliser application rate and stocking rate | GrassGro e-news (Jan 2009) |
| Climate change impacts, adaptation & mitigation | |||
| Multiple
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North West & Midlands, Tasmania |
Participatory analysis of climate change impacts and adaptation |
Bilotto et al. (2023) Sustainability Science ResearchGateBillotto et al. (2025) Nature Communications |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes, Merino wethers | WA wheatbelt |
Scope to reduce the intensity of livestock methane emissions |
Gebbels et al. (2022) Animal ResearchGate |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes | South West Victoria | Estimation of whole-farm greenhouse gas balances | Doran-Browne et al. (2016) Animal Production Science |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes | South West Victoria | Scope to reduce whole-system livestock methane emissions: – Lambing time – Younger first joining of ewes – Ewe fecundity – Conversion efficiencies |
Alcock et al. (2015) Agricultural Systems |
| Self-replacing Merino ewes | Southern Australia | Effect of climate change on grassland production and lucerne content | International Grasslands Congress 2013 |
| Variety | Southern Australia | Climate change adaptation – genetic improvement and enterprise choice | International Grasslands Congress 2013 |
| Other case studies | |||
| Merino wethers | Yass, NSW | Variability in production risks and cash flows over 117 years | Paper-GSNSW 2007 Poster-GSNSW 2007 |
| Merino ewes | Gundagai, NSW | Using production risks to assess land capability | Presentation |