The potential value of seasonal climate forecasts for beef grazing enterprises in the Charters Towers region

While research indicates that seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs) have the potential to improve productivity and profitability in agricultural industries, we also understand that there are a range of factors that currently prevent their widespread use in agricultural decision making. Some of these include the inherent (‘irreducible’) uncertainty of these forecasts, which – despite improvements over recent decades – is tied to the climate variability experienced in many regions and par-ticularly problematic in north-eastern Australia (one of the most variable agricultural climate regions in the world). Another barrier is the lack of sufficient evidence of the economic value of forecasts – particularly focusing on imperfect forecasts - in decision making