Prepare post-fire pasture for stock

One of the most pressing issues for those with livestock is when they can return their animals to their properties and, following that, how best to manage pasture and stock.

A series of workshops hosted by Natural Resources Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges and presented by farm consultant Simon Ellis earlier this month sought to assist landholders as they continue the long road to recovery.

"I've been through six fires and I guess we're going to face more, as the climate is moving," Mr Ellis said.

"When you take away all the ground cover, its like overgrazing the pasture, so you're going to have more broadleaf weeds; I don't think there's any question they're going to be in abundance."

In the first year following fire, getting on top of those weeds would be important.

"Otherwise they'll set buckets of seed and that could have implications into the future," he said.

Bare ground favoured broadleafed plants and those affected by fire should prepare for capeweed, salvation jane and geranium, particularly on ridges.

"Be ready to get on top of them," he said.

"The other side of that equation is if that's the only plant that's there, we don't want to be killing it, because then there'll be nothing to hold the soil.

"It's a balancing act, it depends what else has germinated as well as those broadleaf weeds.

"Hopefully, and from what I've seen so far, there will be other stuff there."

With light rainfall through the Hills, clover was another plant which could germinate, and Mr Ellis was quick to assure landholders that while this had already occurred, there would still be a "whole swag" of seed in the ground to germinate next time, thanks to clover's soft and hard seeds.

"One of the key things is, you really don't want to graze those plants (weeds and grasses) between now and probably the end of July," he said.

"When you graze a plant, you take the top down and the roots shrink, and they try and move nutrients to replace what's been eaten. The less you graze it, the better its recovery will be.

"Keeping stock off your pasture between now and quite late in the season (depending on when it rains) is going to be important."

Leaving perennial grasses ungrazed this summer, autumn and winter would allow them to recover well.

"You'll be pleasantly surprised with what can recover," Mr Ellis said.

"If you want quicker, stronger response from your perennials - don't graze them."

There was also quite a bit of dandelion, or flat weed, around which Mr Ellis said was not necessarily as bad as some might think.

"It's not a high producer, it holds the ground, and stock happily eat it,'' he said.

Getting grazing under control was the most important thing before considering resowing pasture.

"You need to be prepared not to have livestock back on until the end of July, maybe August," he said.

While bushfire could be devastating, there was a silver lining.

"You can start with a blank canvas, and come up with a plan (for fencing). It doesn't matter the size of the property - the smaller the property the smaller the paddocks, the bigger the property the bigger the paddocks.

"Before you put the fences back where they were, do a plan.

"For a lot of properties, when you rebuild the fences you can put them in better places."

Now was an ideal opportunity to put into place new ideas and methods.

"Quite often you can end up with a better-managed farm as a result of putting those fences in the right place."

Once plants had recovered and new fencing was in place, it was important to rotationally graze paddocks.

"Maybe one to two weeks, then rest them until they regrow," he said.

"That's going to be the critical bit for the next couple years.

"For others who have had fire, they reckon it takes a couple of years for the pastures to get their full strength back again - and when you think about the assault they've suffered, that's not surprising."

Make the sacrifice

Sacrifice paddocks - or containment areas - can prove handy and even necessary in the wake of a bushfire if you choose to return stock soon after.

Stock containment allows for closer monitoring of stock health and welfare following the fire, and it also means they can be contained with very little fencing; temporary fencing can be used, giving time to fix or replace other fences on the property.

"Other advantages include not overgrazing the whole property while it is fragile, and pastures have time to recover," Mr Ellis said.

"Stock also don't waste energy walking and searching for food."

Pasture can germinate and establish, reducing erosion potential and allowing good weed management.

In containment areas, only one water point needs to be monitored while others on the property are being fixed or replaced.

Supplementary feeding in containment areas also reduces the risk of weed spread and soil loss across the property.

According to advice from Natural Resources, these areas should ideally be located in low erosion risk areas with nor more than an eight per cent slope, and be at least 50 metres from a watercourse.