Perth, Western Australia (pop. 1.6m) derives 60% of its public water supply from the Gnangara groundwater system (GGS). Horticulture, domestic self-supply, and municipal parks are other major consumers of GGS groundwater. The system supports important wetlands and groundwater-dependent...

Wildfires can cause significant damage to ecosystems, life and property, and wildfire events that do not involve people and property are becoming rare. With the expansion of the rural–urban interface in Western Australia and elsewhere, objectives of life and property protection become more...

The Multi-species RIM (Resistance and Integrated Management) model is used in this analysis to investigate the value of Roundup-Ready® canola in the simultaneous management of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). It is likely that the transgenic canola...

Opportunity cost constitutes a substantial component of the costs of ecological restoration projects undertaken in agricultural landscapes. Private benefits generated by restored environmental assets are also important in determining the success of restoration projects. In this study, we compare...

Risk and uncertainty have been extensively studied by agricultural economists. In this paper we question (a) the predominant use of static frameworks to formally analyse risk; (b) the predominant focus on risk aversion as the motivation for considering risk and (c) the notion that explicitly...

The parameter values and assumptions of any economic model are subject to change and error. Sensitivity analysis (SA), broadly defined, is the investigation of these potential changes and errors and their impacts on conclusions to be drawn from the model. There is a very large literature on...

In this paper we present a conceptual framework of individual farmers' decisions on adoption of a new innovation, using the example of a new crop species. This framework overcomes the shortcomings of a number of previous studies. It represents the adoption of an innovation as a dynamic decision...

Compared to studies evaluating the benefits from agricultural research, there are relatively few empirical studies of the net economic benefits of agricultural extension, and even fewer that consider both public and private sector extension effort. In this study we examine regional differences...

Herbicide resistance has become a major problem in Australian dryland agriculture. This situation has resulted from the repeated use of herbicides in place of the traditional weed control provided by cultivation and grazing. Farmers have addressed the problem of herbicide resistance by adopting...