Of the number of seasonal forecasting systems that have been developed of late, none are of practical benefit to Western Australian farmers. This study aims to improve the methodology for assessing the value of forecasting technology ex ante to its development, using the Mer-redin agricultural region of Western Australia as an illustration. Results suggest that a sea-sonal forecasting technology that provides a 30% decrease in seasonal uncertainty increases annual profits by approximately 5%. The accumulated annual benefit to farmers in the Mer-redin region (an area with 754 farm holdings over 35,500 km2 of land) is approximately 2 million dollars. Hence, support is given for the development of seasonal forecasting techni-ques in Western Australia. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.