Source
https://lrp.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/key-documents/luc-handbook — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
LUC Survey Handbook, 3rd ed. (Lynn et al. 2009)
The authoritative method behind the model's LUC-class stocking layer (④f)
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research / AgResearch / GNS. The NZ standard for Land Use Capability (LUC) classification + the NZLRI stock-carrying-capacity indices. §4.6.1 + Table 23 read directly.
Summary
The national standard for NZ’s Land Use Capability (LUC) survey. For the Neobiome livestock module, the load-bearing section is §4.6.1 “Stock carrying capacity indices”: carrying capacity is estimated per LUC unit (in the regional NZLRI extended legends), at three management levels, for sheep-and-beef pastoral systems only, with Table 23 giving the potential SU/ha ranking bands.
Key claims
- claim: "NZLRI stock carrying capacity is estimated for each LUC UNIT (not class), at three levels: (1) Present Average — SU/ha the 'average farmer' was typically carrying on that unit; (2) Top Farmer — SU/ha the highest-stocking farmer (with at least average performance) was carrying; (3) Attainable Physical Potential — SU/ha capable of being carried under present technology + favourable socio-economic conditions. One stock unit (SU) = a 55 kg ewe rearing one lamb (annual). Estimated by MAF Advisory Officers with NZLRI survey staff. CRUCIALLY: 'NZLRI stock carrying capacities only apply to typical sheep and beef farming systems. They do not apply to dairying or cropping systems' (LRG 1981). Carrying capacities are held in the regional extended legends — significant regional variation occurs."
source_location: "§4.6 Productivity indices; §4.6.1 Stock carrying capacity indices (p.114)"
- claim: "Table 23 — potential stock-carrying-capacity ranking bands (potential SU/ha): Very high >25; High 21-25; Moderately high 16-20; Moderate 11-15; Low 6-10; Very low 1-5; Sparse <1. (These are POTENTIAL/attainable rankings, not Present Average; significant regional variations occur.)"
source_location: "Table 23, p.114"
- claim: "National-consistency assumptions behind the carrying-capacity estimates: the land was assumed managed exclusively for livestock grazing; only on-farm feed cropping was considered; stock were assumed carried all year (in high country, where stock are carried only part of the year, seasonal figures were converted to an annual stocking rate); and each LUC unit was managed as a discrete entity. The LUC hierarchy is Class → Subclass → Unit."
source_location: "Section 4: Mapping, p.114-115 (national-consistency criteria)"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
The authoritative methodology behind the model’s LUC-class stocking layer (model_design.md §4 ④f). It supplies (a) the carrying-capacity levels — the model uses Present Average (realistic, not the Attainable ceiling); (b) the Table 23 ranking bands used to differentiate su_ha[LUC] by class, calibrated to the one hard sheep-beef datapoint (7.5 SU/ha at LUC 6–7, OT_082); and (c) the hard scope limits: sheep-and-beef only (dairy/cropping need separate yield logic), grazing-managed land, per-unit/per-region structure (so a national per-class figure is an approximation; regional per-unit precision via the extended legends is a future refinement). The full per-unit SU/ha data is not in the NZLRI GIS attributes — it lives only in the printed regional legends.
Notes
Filed PDF (3rd ed., 164 pp.; only §4.6.1 + Table 23 + the LUC classification structure are NI-relevant). data_quality high (national standard, read direct). Per-unit regional SU/ha extraction (12 extended legends) = a future precision RT (RT_281) — the South Island Extended Legend (219 units, 4 South Island MAF regions) is now filed as RD_029; North Island legends + the per-unit table extraction remain.
Connections
Links to
Referenced by
Sources (4): OT_091 · OT_171 · RD_029 · URL_032
EDT domains (1): D02: Smart Food Systems & Agriculture