P.PSH.1391 - PLANET - Projecting Livestock, Agriculture, Nature, Ecology and Technologies - Australia Edition

Summary

This project was undertaken as part of an agreement between GOALSciences and MLA, with the overarching aim of determining global grazing capacity in both a worldwide context and on a country or region-specific level. By comparing estimated grazing capacity with livestock distribution data, it is possible to identify regions where additional livestock could be supported, as well as to determine areas that are overstocked and require supplementary feeding. This report summarizes the project’s objectives, methods, and findings, indicating which goals were achieved and highlighting the limitations that must be addressed for more precise, localized applications.

Objectives

The principal objective was to quantify the world’s overall grazing capacity, while simultaneously breaking this capacity down by individual countries or regions. A related goal was to compare these capacity estimates with current livestock numbers so that areas with the potential for expanded herds, as well as those necessitating supplementary feed, could be identified. A further objective was to understand what proportion of the global grazing capacity is already being utilised.

Key findings

- Overall, these findings highlight substantial surpluses of dry matter across all regions, suggesting opportunities for further livestock production or more efficient resource utilisation. 
- However, it also highlights the challenges in accurate grazing estimations as much of the dry matter availability may account for forests and tree or shrub species which are inedible yet cannot be accurately distinguished by the global monitoring tools, datasets and satellites.

Benefits to industry

By comparing estimated grazing capacity with livestock distribution data, it is possible to identify regions where additional livestock could be supported, as well as to determine areas that are overstocked and require supplementary feeding.

MLA action

MLA has made the link available to the finalised tools by GOAL Sciences to inform future global conversations on Livestock's role in the environment and society.

Future research

Future research will focus on refining these limitations by incorporating local utilisation data specific to land-cover classes where such information is available on a country level. More detailed investigations into country- and site-specific herd dynamics and livestock production systems will also be conducted as additional data becomes available. Efforts will be made to integrate detailed vegetation quality and species-specific information wherever possible, allowing for a more accurate representation of dry matter productivity and utilisation.

Furthermore, continuous validation against local data on grazing capacity will remain a priority. This process will involve collaboration with industry experts to regularly update and verify assumptions, ensuring the results are robust and reflective of actual field conditions. Future models will also aim to balance global-scale applicability with regional accuracy, integrating both high-resolution datasets and traditional knowledge to improve the precision and applicability of the findings.