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A Bioeconomic Model for Sustainable Grazing of Old World Bluestem under Uncertainty
Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA
Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA
- 1 Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA
- 2 Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA
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Abstract
"WW B. Dahl" , a perennial old world bluestem (OWB) grass, has been promoted as a forage suitable for dryland graz ing. Dryland grazing of OWB is however inherently risky economically and ecologically, and may not be sustainable while remaining profitable. In this paper we develop a biological and economic single-season model of dryland grazing given production and price uncertainty, and identify a stocking rate that maximizes expected net revenue, subject to a sus tainability constraint. We then simulate the distribution of net revenues, and find that probability of loss is greater than 35%, and median profit is roughly $30/ha.
KeywordsDryland GrazingSustainable GrazingProfit Distribution
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