Beefplan Review (2006)

Summary

This report evaluates BeefPlan for the purpose of revealing its associated economics and the linkage between improved economic performance and the adoption of new practices.  A benefit cost analysis (BCA) was conducted that incorporated investment costs over an eight-year period and the associated benefits expected to continue for seven years beyond 2005/06.  An evaluation of this nature is necessary to provide reassurance that the beef industry's levy funds are being invested competitively relative to alternative uses of the funds.  
The current program was supported following a pilot program that ran from March 1998 to June 2001 (NAP3.319).   The evaluation has been based on data gathered from MLA and directly from cattle producers who participated in BeefPlan groups between 1998 and 2005.  MLA has funded the major activities associated with BeefPlan and assisted with administration of the groups.  Participation in BeefPlan activities caused group members to incur a relatively small proportion of the total cost.  
While BeefPlan costs are easy enough to identify and quantify, the same cannot be said of benefits because these are embedded in the producers overall wealth stream, which is affected by multiple influences.  Moreover, BeefPlan influences income through a complex sequence of events that commence with awareness of the need to change and flows through to acquisition of knowledge and skills before culminating in real practice change that lifts economic performance.
The evaluation uncovered several inherent problems with assessing the effectiveness of the BeefPlan model.  In the first instance, experimental conditions have not applied, making it necessary to rely on the participants own estimates of the difference between with BeefPlan and without BeefPlan.  Apart from the absence of experimental condition (that would measure the income response due to BeefPlan) and no purpose-built recording systems (that would capture BeefPlan impacts through time) the groups relied on self-direction from the outset and in several cases this caused delays in identifying worthwhile goals.