RANGEPACK: The Philosophy Underlying the Development of a Microcomputer-Based Decision Support System for Pastoral Land Management

CSIRO RANGEPACK is an evolving decision support system for the management of extensive grazing properties in the context of a variable climate and market. The system's modular tools are mainly microcomputer based. They include: programs such as HerdEcon, an integrating herd dynamics and property economics model; easily-used databases such as Climate, which provides ready access to meteorological data; and design tools such as Paddock, which assists managers to develop the spatial layout of their property. RANGEPACK philosophy includes the following: (i) decision support tools must be directed at significant management problems to be useful; users must be involved in establishing implementation priorities; (ii) a modular design allows important decisions to be targeted individually, and allows modules to be region specific: large process models of complex systems are obscure and difficult to interpret; (iii) it is important to make it easy for users to proceed by 'successive approximation': optimization techniques tend to obscure limitations in models; (iv) it must be possible to apply tools to specific properties and paddocks: managers do not like making decisions based on 'district averages'; (v) programming design should ensure ease of use, flexible communications between modules, and easy updating of modules; (vi) alternative media, such as wall charts and manuals, may be better than computers for some tasks, especially where microcomputer technology is not available.