GLM+ Delivers Improved Natural Resource Management and Production Outcomes to Extensive Grazing Properties in the Savannas of Semi-Arid North Queensland, Australia

Native pastures are the main feed resource on extensive cattle grazing properties (each usually \u3e25,000 ha) in the savannas of semi-arid north Australia and it is widely accepted that condition of many important land types is declining. A wealth of resource information is publicly available but it is usually complex in nature, diffuse and not presented in terms readily understood by land managers. Extension agencies have also moved towards information delivery using group processes that are not readily accepted by remote land managers. The GLM+ program uses concepts and tools from the Grazing Land Management (GLM) workshop (Chilcott et al., 2003) and also incorporates and builds on producer experience. It is delivered on-property to individual management teams who identify their own resources, the condition of those resources, and opportunities to manage for improved land condition. Its use is described in this paper

A contemporary assessment of land condition in the Northern Gulf region of Queensland

A framework using assessments of soil condition, pasture composition and woodland density was applied to describe 14 grazing land types as being in A (100% of original carrying capacity), B (75%), C (45%) or D (20%) condition. We assessed the condition of 260 sites, principally along public and some station roads, to provide a benchmark for current land condition. Land types were also assigned relative grazing values between 10 (best) and 0, reflecting soil fertility and potential biomass production. The method identifies particular, 'at-risk' land types for priority investment of resources, while the rationale behind assessments might point to management interventions to improve the condition of those land types. Across all land types, 47% of sites were in A condition, 34% in B condition, 17% in C condition and only 2% in D condition. Seventy-five percent of land types with grazing values >5 were in A or B condition, compared with 88% for those with grazing values ?5. For Georgetown granites, only 27% of sites were in A or B condition, with values for other land types being: alluvials 59%, black soils 64% and red duplex soils 57%, suggesting that improving management of these land types is a priority issue. On land types with high grazing value, the major discounting factor was pasture composition (72% of sites discounted), while increasing woodland density was the main discount (73% of sites discounted) on low grazing value land types

Adoption, profitability and future of leucaena feeding systems in Australia

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly palatable and productive forage used mainly by beef producers on extensive properties in northern Australia. When sown into native or sown grass pastures, leucaena provides significant production, economic, environmental and social benefits. Adoption of leucaena was slow initially due to a range of technical, agronomic and landscape factors. These have now been largely overcome through extensive research, development, producer experience and other advances, resulting in around 130,000 ha of cultivated leucaena being utilized across northern Australia. A range of aspects will need to be addressed if the adoption of leucaena is to be accelerated into the future. These include environmental concerns, especially potential weediness, and a range of technological needs, including soil nutritional requirements, grazing and toxicity management, opportunities for companion fodder systems and conservation options. Advances in technology and the ongoing need for a high-quality, profitable and sustainable perennial forage will ensure the continued adoption of leucaena across northern Australia for the foreseeable future. © 2019, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)

Adoption, profitability and future of leucaena feeding systems in Australia

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly palatable and productive forage used mainly by beef producers on extensive properties in northern Australia. When sown into native or sown grass pastures, leucaena provides significant production, economic, environmental and social benefits. Adoption of leucaena was slow initially due to a range of technical, agronomic and landscape factors. These have now been largely overcome through extensive research, development, producer experience and other advances, resulting in around 130,000 ha of cultivated leucaena being utilized across northern Australia. A range of aspects will need to be addressed if the adoption of leucaena is to be accelerated into the future. These include environmental concerns, especially potential weediness, and a range of technological needs, including soil nutritional requirements, grazing and toxicity management, opportunities for companion fodder systems and conservation options. Advances in technology and the ongoing need for a high-quality, profitable and sustainable perennial forage will ensure the continued adoption of leucaena across northern Australia for the foreseeable future. © 2019, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)

Phosphorus nutrition and management – overcoming constraints to wider adoption

The importance of phosphorus nutrition for cattle grazing northern Australian rangelands has been well documented and demonstrated. Phosphorus is clearly one of the most important nutritional deficiencies, within the limitations of potential metabolizable energy intakes, of grazing cattle in the seasonally dry tropics. Nevertheless it appears that only a small proportion of cattle grazing phosphorus deficient pastures are supplemented or otherwise managed to alleviate phosphorus deficiency. Estimated requirements for dietary phosphorus by various classes of cattle grazing tropical pastures have recently been revised (CSIRO 2007). The development of faecal near infrared spectroscopy (F.NIRS) allows the routine estimation of metabolizable energy and nitrogen concentrations in the diet, and thus the potential productivity, of cattle grazing northern rangelands. The concentration of phosphorus in the diet of grazing cattle can be estimated from the concentration of phosphorus in the faeces, at least in cattle not fed phosphorus supplements. Combining estimates of diet metabolizable energy, nitrogen and phosphorus allows estimation whether current needs of the animal are supplied by the diet. Phosphorus-replete cattle have substantial body reserves of phosphorus which can be mobilized, especially in late pregnancy and lactation, to alleviate a dietary deficiency. However, these body reserves need to be replenished in late lactation or post-lactation if mobilization occurs each year. Diagnosis of subclinical phosphorus deficiency in grazing cattle, and prediction of animal responses to phosphorus supplements is difficult. In growing cattle the concentration of inorganic phosphorus in blood (Pi), in the late wet or early dry season, combined with information on diet metabolizable energy and nitrogen concentrations obtained by F.NIRS, provides the most reliable test. In pregnant or lactating cows measurements of faecal phosphorus concentration and F.NIRS provide the best estimate of whether phosphorus intake meets the current needs of the animal. However, estimates of adequacy of phosphorus supply need to also consider possible mobilization of body phosphorus reserves. Indicative responses to provision of phosphorus supplements by cattle grazing pastures ranging from marginal to acute deficiency are summarized. Economic evaluation of benchmark enterprises where cattle are expected to be phosphorus deficient indicate that phosphorus supplementation is highly cost-effective. Major obstacles to more widespread adoption of phosphorus supplementation appear to be lack of knowledge and appreciation by managers of the phosphorus status of their cattle, lack of appreciation of the cost-effectiveness of a phosphorus supplementation particularly for some classes of cattle, and the practical difficulties in implementing phosphorus supplementation during the wet season

Northern Gulf beef production systems : Preparing for, responding to, and recovering from drought

This report details the analysis of the economic implications of management decisions that can be applied to prepare for, respond to, or recover from drought in the Northern Gulf Natural Resource Management (NRM) region of Queensland. Accompanying reports in this series present results for other regions across Queensland's grazing lands. It is intended that the results of these analyses will support the implementation of resilient grazing, herd and business practices necessary in managing seasonal variability. The property-level, regionally-specific herd and business models which we have developed can be used by consultants, advisors and producers to assess both strategic and tactical management decisions for their own properties. We have applied scenario analysis to examine a range of management strategies and technologies that may contribute to building both more profitable and more drought resilient beef properties in the Northern Gulf region. In doing this, we developed property-level, regionally-specific herd and business models for a representative, constructed beef cattle property which was based on the median herd data from relevant industry surveys and research. The starting base property was 30,000 ha of native pastures on representative land types and was considered to be in ca. B- land condition on average (scale A-D) with a carrying capacity ca. 65% of the safe, long term carrying capacity of these land types when in A condition. The property initially carried ca. 2,500 adult equivalents (AE) with estimated ratio of AE to safe carrying capacity of 1.54 given the B- land condition status. It was assumed that under this sustained stocking rate the land condition would continue to decline at a rate of 0.5% decrease in safe carrying capacity per year over the next 30 years resulting in a decrease in herd performance. The management features of the self-replacing Brahman breeding herd included continuous mating and minimal (inadequate) phosphorus (P) supplementation. The average mortality rate of the base herd was 7.5% and the average weaning rate from all cows mated was 47.4%. The average annual post-weaning weight gain for steers was ca. 86 kg/head. The starting herd size, herd performance and approach to pasture management was assumed to represent the current status of local properties that have largely not adopted a sustainable approach to pasture management. Production systems that can be applied to improve the profitability and resilience of a beef property to drought are generally of a strategic nature. The Breedcow and Dynama herd budgeting software was used to develop integrated herd models and discounted cash flow budgets for each alternative management strategy. The economic and financial effect of implementing each strategy was assessed by comparison to a base production system for the representative property. Property level productivity and profitability was assessed over a 30-year investment period and incorporated the change in profit and risk generated by alternative operating systems, the changes in unpaid labour, herd structure and capital, and included the implementation phase. Management decisions which are considered in response to, or recovery from, drought tend to need consideration of both short term and long term implications and were examined using herd models in conjunction with spreadsheets designed to assess tactical decisions

Infrastructure to Improve Beef Business Outcomes in the Queensland Gulf

There are significant economic and environmental issues impacting on the short and long term viability of family-run breeding enterprises in the Queensland Gulf. Falling cattle prices and increased business costs threaten the social and financial well-being of many beef producers. Set stocking and overgrazing combine to reduce native 3P (productive, palatable and perennial) grass frequency and herd productivity. The Ryan family on Greenhills Station at George-town in the Queensland Gulf embarked on a 5 year water and fencing infrastructure development program aiming to improve pasture utilisation, land condition and long term carrying capacity

Leucaena establishment on frontage country in the Queensland Gulf

Introduction and successful establishment of leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) has the potential to improve annual liveweight gains (LWGs) of grazing cattle in northern Australia, sustainably increase gross margins and mitigate methane production (Harrison et al. 2015). However, leucaena adoption in northern Queensland to date has been low (<2,500 ha established) compared with other regions of the State

Climate Clever Beef : On-farm demonstration of adaptation and mitigation options for climate change in northern Australia

This project engaged with beef producers in five regions of northern Australia to identify management options that improve the performance and resilience of beef businesses. The work was done in the context of increasing the resilience of businesses to current climate variability as well as to projected changes in climate. The project also identified potential synergies and conflicts between improved business performance, climate adaptation practices and greenhouse gas emissions management. Three regions (Qld Gulf, Fitzroy Basin and Victoria River District) evaluated climate adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation options via a benchmarking and options analysis approach with three “focal” properties. Five indicators of performance were evaluated for each property – profitability, productivity, land condition, climate change risk and greenhouse gas emissions. These detailed business analyses were complemented by demonstration sites in each region. Two other regions (Qld Mitchell grasslands and NT Barkly Tablelands) used on-property demonstration sites to showcase promising climate adaptation practices identified in a previous project. The focal property approach provided a systematic process for assessing current business performance as well as a ready means of estimating the impacts of management changes. For example, over a 15 year period, the Qld Gulf focal property improved its pasture condition dramatically by stocking around the long-term carrying capacity and undertaking wet season spelling. This, combined with herd management improvements, increased profitability and productivity, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 15%, and improved greenhouse gas emission efficiency by >100%. The demonstration sites in each region effectively promoted and documented the benefits of key grazing practices for improving resilience to both current climate variability and potential climate change. For example, on a 16,118km² property in the Barkly, a paddock demonstration has documented initial land condition recovery at old bores, and the reduced risk of overgrazing around new bores, through best practice stocking rate management and wet season spelling. Qualitative analyses showed that many of the adaptation practices identified for improving resilience are consistent with existing best practice recommendations aimed at improving productivity and sustainability. Furthermore, these adaptation practices appear to have largely neutral implications for greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, practices and options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions were more likely to create conflicts that leave enterprises more vulnerable to climate change. Examples of the negative consequences of mitigation measures include reduced pasture production associated with increased carbon sequestration in trees (i.e. woody vegetation thickening or regrowth retention) and increased operating costs associated with carbon pricing (if these are not offset with carbon credits). The project demonstration sites and focal property benchmarking process provided a solid base for focussed extension work targeting the drivers of profit, land condition, greenhouse gas emissions intensity and climate adaptation strategies