Optimum Programmes for Irrigation Farms

Parametric linear programming is used to derive optimum programmes for 590 different resource situations representing the range existing in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of New South Wales. Enterprises comprising optimum plans included rice, commercial lucerne hay using farmer owned equipment, merino ewes x border leicester rams for spring lambing (carryover), linseed (or a 54 bushel wheat crop), sod-sown malting barley and grazing oats in rice stubble, grain feeding of sheep in autumn and early summer. When labour is a limiting factor, autumn calving beef cows for vealer production together with purchase of spring drop crossbred lambs in March for sale in October replace the breeding sheep enterprise. Popular enterprises on the M.I.A. which had high opportunity costs in the solutions were sudax, grain sorghum (contour method, yield 1.5 tons) fallowed wheat (39 bushels), grain oats (yield 45 bushels), fallowed malting barley (yield 42 bushels), crossbred ewes x dorset horn rams and merino wethers