Rangeland pastoralism in northern Australia: change and sustainability

Abstract

Australian rangeland pastoralism is now a marginal economic activity. To survive as an industry, it must retain critical mass and to do that, the majority of producers need to be financially sustainable. Significant change has taken place in the past 40 years to facilitate this, but this change appears to have had limited enduring value for much of the industry. The productivity of the average northern rangeland beef herd in absolute terms is poor and is far from being competitive now, let alone in the future. If preservation of the natural resource base is included as a sustainability criterion, the industry outlook becomes even more uncertain. The conundrum is that it has never been more opportune to succeed in rangeland pastoralism, but the evidence is that most producers do not. The conclusion is that the lack of financial literacy and business skill remains the biggest impediment to most pastoralists achieving financial sustainability.