An overview of the incorporation of management systems for red and rusa deer in queensland within a decision support system

Abstract

Decision support systems (DSS) provide for effective transfer of new information and technology in addition to evaluating management scenarios to aid in end-user decision making. The latest FEEDMAN (Version 3) software package has been developed to provide a deer module, in addition to an existing beef management DSS template, applicable for use in pastoral-based animal production systems in southern Queensland. FEEDMAN incorporates results from research on grazing systems for both beef cattle and more recently deer, and has been released commercially to aid in decision making and strategic planning for farmers and agricultural consultants. The package considers input data and parameters for a specific farm and essentially evaluates feeding management strategies for both beef cattle and deer in sub-tropical Queensland. Since it is a repository of past research it is an aid to information transfer and to the adoption of sustainable pastoral animal production based on deer and or cattle. While existing and potential deer farmers will benefit from use of this package, an ultimate goal is to encourage more commercial size deer enterprises seen as essential for a sustainable and viable deer farm industry in Queensland.