The main selection criterion in the Australian breeding program, Economic Genetic Value (rEGV), does not adequately account for cane fibre content and does not account for fibre quality. These fibre parameters can have a large impact on the processing cost for a variety, and, hence, affect its attractiveness from an overall industry perspective. This paper presents an economic model that does account for the processing cost of a variety and calculates a net economic value for a variety in dollars per hectare relative to the value calculated for Q208 A , a widely-grown variety. The model was applied to data from three Australian factories and used to determine the most profitable of the major varieties processed by those factories. The model was also applied to several new, softer varieties, and showed significantly higher processing costs in some cases. Those costs were very variable, because of the relatively small amount of those varieties processed for calculation of model parameters. There is scope to improve the modelling of minor varieties through development of empirical models to predict parameters such as stop duration. The economic model does provide a consistent approach to assess the overall benefit of a variety, including higher processing costs of some varieties in addition to the sugar production benefits. Key words Cultivar, clone, variety, economics, fibre, assessment