Animal Production

Question 1

What changes consumption patterns regarding export and imports?

Answer 1

-wealth- as wealth increases, consumption of a range of products, including livestock, tends to increase

Question 2

Which countries and in what order, have the highest amount of imports of abaca, manila hemp and raw?

Answer 2

1. Asia
2. Africa
3. Americans

Question 3

What is Australian soil fertility particularly low in?

Answer 3

Phosphorous

Question 4

What has dramatically changed livestock production systems, plus cropping systems?

Answer 4

New technologies - mechanisation

Question 5

How did using tractors instead of horses improve farming?

Answer 5

-tractors increased the areas that could be sown/harvested

Question 6

How does modern tractors and harvesting equipment improve farming?
Hint: are as many employees required?

Answer 6

-modern tractors and harvesting equipment reduce teams needed from large numbers to 2-3 people to completely harvest crop

Question 7

What product has allowed for minimum till production?

Answer 7

-round-up products

Question 8

What is tilling in agriculture?

Answer 8

-turning the soil to control for weeds and pests and to prepare for seeding

Question 9

What can intensive soil tillage do?

Answer 9

-increase the likelihood of soil erosion, nutrient runoff into nearby waterways, and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Question 10

What is the meaning of no-tillage or zero tillage?

Answer 10

-seeds are directly placed into untilled soil, which has retained the previous crop residues
-also referred to as no-till

Question 11

How do special no-till seeding equipment work?

Answer 11

-they open a narrow slot into the residue covered soil which is only wide enough to put the seeds into the ground and cover them with soil

Question 12

What is the aim of no-till seeding equipment?

Answer 12

-to move as little soil as possible in order not to bring weed seeds to the surface and not stimulating them to germinate. No other soil tillage operation is done. The residues from the previous crops will remain largely undisturbed at the soil surface as mulch

Question 13

What are the advantages of no-till farming?

Answer 13

-more productive soils
-profitable farms

Question 14

What does tilled soil by machinery cause?

Answer 14

-exposes soil to air
-organic matter is lost
-trapped carbon that is vital for soil health gets lost into the atmosphere

Question 15

What 3 things does no-till farming help retain in the soil?

Answer 15

-organic matter
-nutrients
-water

Question 16

What are the advantages of crop residues being left on the soil surface?

Answer 16

-protects the soil from water and wine erosion
-reduces the risk of sealing
-reduces nutrient run-off
-better soil structure
-better water-holding capacity
-increased microbial activity

Question 17

In no-till systems, weed seeds stay near the soil surface. Is this an advantage or disadvantage and why?

Answer 17

-advantage
-on the surface the seeds are subjected to decomposition and predation
-seed bank will decrease over time

Question 18

What are the 2 minerals that soils are particularly fertilised with across Australia?

Answer 18

-phosphorus
-nitrogen

Question 19

What is the purpose of sub-clover?

Answer 19

-to provide nutritious feed for livestock
-improve soil fertility
-improves nitrogen levels in soil

Question 20

What is the largest irrigation area in Australia?
Hint: what 2 rivers irrigate Victoria, Sth Queensland and NSW

Answer 20

1. Murray River
2. Darling River

-Murray Darling Basin

Question 21

What are the advantages of the Great Artesian Basement (rivers)?

Answer 21

-supply ground water for livestock watering systems

Question 22

How is productivity generally measured?

Answer 22

-output/animal or
-output/area

Question 23

What is profit?

Answer 23

-the amount of money left after all other business expenses are paid and income accounted for
-over a given period of time

Question 24

What can be shown by ‘return on assets’ or ‘return on investment’?

Answer 24

-profit

Question 25

What represents how a business performs?

Answer 25

-profit

Question 26

What is the point of maximum yield?

Answer 26

-the point where you put in an amount of input and you keep getting output

Question 27

What is a cash flow budget?

Answer 27

-a budget to determine how much money will be coming in vs the costs
-hopefully at the end of the selected period, there is money left over

Question 28

What is the most common periods for cash-flow budgets?

Answer 28

-financial year

Question 29

What is a gross margin?

Answer 29

-the income attributable to a particular enterprise on a farm, less the variable (changeable) costs associated with it

Question 30

What are the variable costs?

Answer 30

-costs that vary with the size of the enterprise
eg. you have 100 cows, you add another 20 to the herd
-variable costs will increase to vaccinate all the cattle

Question 31

What is a fixed cost?

Answer 31

-something that won’t change/is fixed
-eg. cattle yards are unlikely to change if you’re only purchasing a moderate number of animals

Question 32

What does gross margin not equate to profit?

Answer 32

-it doesn’t include fixed or overhead costs
-eg. permanent labour, depreciation, interest and rates