Multi-agent simulation models in agriculture: a review of their construction and uses

Abstract

This report lays the groundwork for modelling to be undertaken as part of the Rural Futures FRST research programme in New Zealand, which is a five-year FRST funded collaboration including AgResearch, Lincoln University, Otago University, and The Agribusiness Group. The Rural Futures programme includes the creation of an industry-level multi-agent simulation (MAS) model of New Zealand’s pastoral industries. This model will describe the strategic decisions and behaviours of individual farmers in response to changes in their operating environment, and link to the production, economic and environmental impacts of their management. The MAS will need to represent the heterogeneity that exists in farmers, their systems, their responses to interventions and environmental changes, and the resultant consequences for the industry.