Potential carrying capacity measures a farm’s ability to sustain animals under optimal management conditions, which could include pasture composition, rotation rate, and fertiliser application. Using potential carrying capacity allows farms to be easily compared by standardising land management practices. Potential carrying capacity is distinct from actual carrying capacity, which measures a farm’s actual ability to sustain animals over time. To calculate potential carrying capacity, actual climate and soil data, feed availability and typical pasture compositions (on a per area basis) are applied to an economic model of grazing enterprises. This data is processed and generated by the CSIRO.

Dry Wethers (DSE)
One DSE (Dry Sheep Equivalent) is the amount of feed required to maintain the weight of a 45 kg, two-year-old Merino sheep. It follows that carrying capacity is fundamentally a measure of energy produced over time, where one DSE is equivalent to roughly 7.6 megajoules (MJ) per day
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Steer (AE)

AE (Adult Equivalent) is the corresponding standardised measure for beef cattle. This measure is for a 450kg Bos Taurus steer maintained at that weight.