Abstract
This is the first of a series of papers dealing with a survey of the agricultural climate as it pertains to the beef cattle industry in northern Australia. Beef cattle production here, as in most of the tropics, is characterised by an annual periodicity of weight gain and loss in train with seasonal water supply and temperatures. Trends in a weekly growth index derived from a simulated water budget and mean daily temperatures were found to correlate with trends in liveweight changes. Criteria for estimating the start and cessation of a ‘green season’ and a ‘dry season’, corresponding to the main liveweight gain and loss periods respectively, are derived and validated using cattle liveweight data from seven locations and both native and improved pastures. Linkage between cattle liveweight change and climate was close on native grass pastures but not on legume-improved pastures.
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