Furthermore, the real power of the IAT lies in being able to compare the production, economic and social consequences of different scenarios and the tradeoffs between crop, forage and cattle production, where the relative differences between scenarios is typically more informative than the output for each individual scenario. With this in mind, the IAT was configured to represent a generic farm and used primarily as a communication tool to inform a broader dialogue between the operator and the smallholders regarding the potential impacts of cattle improvement strategies. The main benefit from the modelling activity was the efficient identification of profitable strategies for subsequent on-farm trials and screening out of less profitable strategies. The modelling also served to promote and educate smallholders and Indonesian staff on farming system approaches and responses. Feedback from the household exit interviews suggested that the modelling activity was not a major factor in promoting adoption per se, with just a small number of households indicating that it had provided ‘motivation’ to become involved.