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Demographic modelling of the Australian sheep farming industries (EC589)

Project start date: 01 October 2004
Project end date: 30 March 2006
Publication date: 09 December 2005
Project status: Completed
Livestock species: Sheep
Relevant regions: National
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Summary

The research team has developed a description of the demographic structure of the Victorian woolgrowing industry and a model of the influences on its structure. Project 'Demographic Modelling of the Australian Sheep Farming Industries' extended this analysis and model to the structure of the Australian wool and lamb/sheep meat industry on a national basis. 
This demographic study developed an understanding of the past, present, and likely future demographic structure of Australia's wool and lamb/sheep meat producers.The project contained several components: 

a) A description of the changing demographic structure of Australia's wool producers and lamb/sheep meat producers. This will be produced by analysing special tables obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), covering data from the Censuses of Population and Housing for 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001. 

b) A model or models of the effects of various economic, technical and climate factors on the demographic structure of the industries. The models will be developed from the results of the demographic analysis, the research team's previous experience of modeling the demographic structure of Australian agriculture, and its knowledge of Australia's wool and lamb/sheep meat industries. 

c) A set of likely future scenarios of change to the demographic structure of the industries, based on the modelling.

More information

Project manager: Blair Brice
Primary researcher: Department of Primary Industries, Bendigo, Victoria