LAUSR

Abstract This “perspectives” article draws upon close to 50 years of experience in the development and application of crop, soil and farm systems models in pursuit of enhanced productivity and sustainability of agricultural systems. The scientific foundations and practical utility of such models have been questioned by some and this article shares the author's learnings around model development, testing and application in settings of applied agricultural research and development. The article concludes that provided a rigorous scientific approach is retained to model development, parameterisation and application, farm system models will remain essential in supporting effective agricultural research – in particular in addressing the 21st Century challenges of food security and sustainable development in the face of climate change.