IT may be the fourth driest year at Wambiana in over a century, but the lack of rain certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 170 participants of an innovative field day at the Lyons family property last month.
Wambiana (located 70km south of Charters Towers) has been focus of a long-term research project which was started in 1997 by DAF and MLA.
With the aim of helping producers better manage for climate variability, the project has produced state-of-the-art findings on how different stocking strategies impact land condition, profitability and other key issues for the pastoral industry.
DAF principal scientist and project leader Dr Peter O’Reagain said the field day brought together outcomes of a number of studies conducted across the different grazing treatments on the 1000 hectare trial site.
“Much to the benefit of attendees, many of the project collaborators were on hand to describe the results of their particular areas of research,” Dr O’Reagain said.
One of the key presentations was on the relative animal performance and profitability of the different stocking strategies.
DAF senior experimentalist John Bushell said that over the 18 years of the trial, the best weight gains and fastest growth rates were under lighter stocking regimes.
“While heavier stocking gave more beef per area it also needed drought feeding in five of the 18 years and led to a big decline in land condition and a loss of resilience in the pasture,” Mr Buschell said.
DAF economist Tim Moravek said that the more moderate stocking rates are far more profitable than heavy stocking.
“This is due to increased market premiums for better condition animals, and lower costs of production at lighter stocking rates,” Mr Moravek said.
A presentation by Professor Lin Schwarzkopf of James Cook University on how grazing impacts biodiversity attracted significant interest from participants.
“Graziers were fascinated to discover just how much hidden biodiversity they have in their paddocks,” she said.
“Participants learnt that heavy stocking reduces biodiversity, but that lighter grazing and spelling regimes maintain biodiversity more effectively.”
Collaborative work by DAF and CSIRO also revealed the benefits to the soil of lighter stocking and wet season spelling.
CSIRO soil researcher Aaron Hawdon said better soil condition increases rainfall infiltration, meaning much greater pasture production and less runoff and soil loss to the Great Barrier Reef.
Participants also attended a demonstration of a new web-based tool called ‘Forage’. This uses satellite data to track changes in ground cover over time on individual paddocks, allowing managers to assess their own practices and compare themselves with the rest of the district.
The diverse group attending the day was comprised mostly of graziers who collectively manage over 1.4 million hectares of land.
A number of JCU staff and students, agricultural advisors, bankers, lawyers and accountants also attended.
The field day concluded with graziers David Hood, Kirkton, and Emma Robinson, Caerphilly, giving a ‘Producer’s Perspective’ of the day.
Dr O’Reagain highlighted that ongoing involvement of graziers was critical in ensuring the work at the Wambiana trial remained relevant to industry.
Feedback about the field day and the trial was overwhelmingly positive, with chairman of the day, Don Heatley, Byrne Valley, saying he is pleased that this research has been able to be continuously refunded for 18 years.
“It’s a wonderful piece of work,” Mr Heatley said.
There will be a consultative process over the next nine months about the Wambiana Grazing Trial’s future.
To have your say, contact project leader Peter.O'Reagain@daf.qld.gov.au.