WITH the dry showing no sign of ending anytime soon, an increasing number of graziers are looking at ways to better maintain good levels of pasture and to make their businesses more resilient.
NQ Dry Tropics has been working with some of these graziers to trial the holistic management approach to managing their business and their land, and the excellent results achieved so far have certainly set tongues wagging among property owners in North Queensland.
So it was no surprise that nearly 25 graziers attended Friday’s Managing Grazing Holistically - An Introduction event at Balfe’s Creek, 40km west of Charters Towers.
Certified Holistic Management educator Brian Wehlburg, of Inside Outside Management said: holistic management is a decision-making framework that ensures your decisions are economically, environmentally and socially sound and enables you to develop a clear vision for the future you want.
At the workshop, Mr Wehlburg presented on the basic cornerstones of Holistic Management - and attendees liked what they heard.
“It was nice to have a day where we focus on what we can do instead of what we shouldn’t do,” Powlathanga Station’s Stephen Lawrie said.
Caleb Lang from Red Hill Station at Mingela said holistic management has shown him ways of using animals as a tool to implement earthworks and improve infiltration through managed, short bursts of high impact.
“I learned how much, in terms of ecosystem services, a well-functioning ecosystem provides for free. We are a lucky industry in that respect,” Ross Webb from The Bluff Station at Charters Towers said
Mick Alexander, director of Grazing Best Practice (GBP) was the other presenter. He spoke about how to improve infiltration and avoid runoff and also how to evenly graze a paddock to avoid patch grazing effects and stands of under-utilised rank grass.
“There is not much rainfall getting around so we have to store it in the soil by maintaining good ground cover, and not let it evaporate back to the atmosphere where plants cannot utilise it,” Mr Alexander said.
Dr Scott Crawford, CEO of NQ Dry Tropics, said that due to the increased interest in holistic management, NQ Dry Tropics has organised a new training program for up to 20 businesses across the Burdekin region.
“Representatives from nine properties met for two days at Charters Towers a fortnight ago to commence the program, and participants at the Balfes Creek workshop will be offered the opportunity to join as well,” Dr Crawford said.
