Putting plans into action for sustainability

The four-year $5.1 million Upper and East Burdekin Water Quality Program encompassed the grazing-dominated Upper and East Burdekin catchments, and the mixed agriculture catchments of the Don and Haughton. Technical and financial support were provided for management practice changes that would increase groundcover and reduce sediment losses for improved water quality on the Great Barrier Reef. 

A new grazing plan in action on Mount Cooper Station is expected to improve ground cover, improve soil fertility, reduce feed costs, increase animal health and keep the business profitable.  

Program participant and Mount Cooper grazier Kevin Herrod said, “Reducing grazing pressure is going to pay dividends to improve ground cover and diversity of plants. It’ll increase our drought tolerance and resilience which is important in the rangelands." 

In 2021, Kevin and Delia Herrod took ownership of Mount Cooper Station with a clear vision for a profitable and sustainable breeder business. They spent hours traversing the new block to get a feel for the country and identify areas that needed attention or rest. Their aim was to introduce grazing rotation and spelling and implement best grazing management practices across the whole property.  

Through the Program, Delia attended a Maps and Apps workshop and produced a customised map of the property to help analyse and plan property infrastructure and land resources.  

Existing scalds and washaways had the potential to impact on the productivity of paddocks if they didn’t make some serious moves before the wet season.  

Delia said that they wanted to prevent topsoil being washed away and erosion eating away at productive pastures. "The first step was to get cattle away from these areas to allow the country to rest properly, and increase ground cover,” she said.  

The priority was also to improve the water infrastructure to better manage grazing distribution and pressure. Through the Program, the Herrods accessed incentives and shared costs to fast track their plans.  

Eight new watering points were installed including 6.5km of poly pipe, a solar pump on a new bore, and two new 22,700L tanks on ridgelines to allow gravity feeding to five new troughs. 

The rewards of the strategic approach to stock management were immediate. Increasing the number of water points has promoted more uniform grazing pressure across the project site which includes four paddocks. The Herrods have set up multiple troughs in each paddock, the water points are turned on and off as necessary to ensure cattle are moving from point to point to rotate through the paddocks. 

New water infrastructure has effectively halved the number of cattle in the project area. This has enabled grazing in the heavily wooded areas of the paddocks and provided an opportunity for pasture grasses to recuperate and to ensure topsoil is retained. Moving cattle from the favoured Buffel pastures will also reduce the risk of overgrazing. 

Delia said short-term project results demonstrated they were on the right track. “Water is key. You need water on your land for grass growth, and you need it for your cattle, so water placement is critical,” she said.  

“Installing new water points across paddocks means we’re grazing the land more evenly, and not having cattle having to walk too far for a drink. 

A wet season spell has been introduced on a biannual schedule which allows a full wet season spell for a different half of the project area each year — providing a full wet season spell for 50 per cent of the project area in any given year.  

Pasture will be managed by matching the stocking rate to carrying capacity through land condition assessments. 

“Having the ability to move cattle around to graze underutilised land rather than having them congregate in one area, means we’re going to improve overall ground cover, particularly in the current overgrazed areas,” said Delia. 

Zig Zag Station grazier and Program participant Brad Howe said, “We’re managing to improve soil health. We want to get a deep root system to service the plant on top and get more organic matter in the soil. It takes time but it’s worth it for the long-term health and productivity of the country.”  

When Brad and Rosie Howe took over management of Zig Zag Station eight years ago, their aim was to improve pasture productivity through grazing practices, increase livestock growth, improve nutrition, and to protect riparian areas.  

The Howes were attracted to Zig Zag because of Running River, the main watercourse that runs through more than 28km of the property and contributes a sizeable proportion of flow to the Burdekin River. The river flows all year round and boasts a stunning gorge and falls.  

They developed a property plan to support a productive grazing business while safeguarding the river’s pristine beauty. The key elements of the plan were improving water infrastructure, reducing paddock sizes and implementing rotational grazing.  

Preferential grazing and erosion had occurred in some riparian areas and there was a lack of infrastructure for the rotational grazing needed to improve end of dry season ground cover and the recovery of perennial, palatable and productive (3P) grasses and legumes.  

The Howes shared costs with the Program to install infrastructure — 8km fence and four water troughs — to help repair and protect the flats and riparian extent of Running River. The new water points provide larger water distribution across the paddocks and cattle are drawn away from the flats when they’re grazing the Running River paddock.  

Brad said having the right infrastructure was critical for appropriate grazing practices. 

“Providing livestock with water away from the river keeps them from trampling and undercutting streambanks where they go to drink. It’s allowing native vegetation to regrow and set seed which is important to encourage diversity of plant species and increased ground cover.” 

“Prior to the fence and troughs being put in, during hot weather, cattle would selectively graze on the more palatable species in preference to the woody and more mature plants found in the hilly country. They’re now grazing more evenly across the paddocks, including the hilly country,” said Brad.

Brad said timing of riparian grazing was important to prevent erosion and soil degradation. “These areas aren’t grazed when they’re wet and most vulnerable to compaction, or when plants are emerging or setting seeds, or when ground cover is limited because of prolonged dry conditions,” he said.  

“When an abundance of grasses and other plant species are established, we’ll know we’ve improved runoff quality in the uplands country, and that will be a great feeling.  

“To get there, we have to work with the environment, and that means continually observing what’s going on because each season is different. We’ll adjust grazing management depending on the season,” said Brad. 

The Upper and East Burdekin Water Quality Program was delivered by regional Natural Resource organisation NQ Dry Tropics and funded through the partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. 

Through the Program, 62 graziers completed 75 on-ground grazing land management projects and remediated nine small gullies positively impacting over 360,000 hectares of grazing land.  

Over 64 kilotonnes of fine sediment (modelled using Paddock to Reef projector) have been stopped from entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon every year through the adoption of improved grazing land management practices.