Simulation model for dryland crop production in the canadian prairies

Modern commercial agriculture is characterised by rapid technological change. These new technologies complicate decision-making for farm managers. Effective decision-making in this environment requires a systematic means of evaluation—one that attempts to evaluate the consequences of various management and production choices before resources are committed. The systems model described in this paper is considered to be an important step in this direction. The model provides a means for testing new production alternatives for cereal and oilseed crops in western Canada without actual farm application and thus of eliminating some of the trial and error associated with conventional decision-making methods. It does not replace the farm manager as the decision maker but it does provide information to facilitate his management function.