BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
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1. Land Condition ABCD Framework is a measure of health for grazing land that considers its capacity to produce useful forage, ability to infiltrate water, and risk level for soil erosion. The framework assists landholders to understand and manage the physical, biological and chemical elements of soil. The four cateogries used to identfy land condition are A- Good, B- Fair, C- Poor and D- Very Poor( Karfs, et al., 2009).
2. The land management practice ABCD framework for grazing and cropping lands was developed as part of the Australian Government Paddock to Reef initiative to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef( Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2013). It aims to improve land and water management practices for better water quality by improving soil health, nutrient management, pesticide management, water and irrigation management, and planning and recording. The ABCD category in this instance is the level of attention and sophistication of farm management practices being implemented. A- Cutting Edge, B- Best Practice Management, C- Code of Practice and D- Old Practice.
Figure 11-‘ Current and potential’ land capability
or constraints imposed by the region’ s highly variable and challenging climate. Pasture decline is typically reflected in a loss of productive species, ingress of annual pasture grasses, reduced biodiversity and tree thickening. Research has shown that in a 20 year observation period( 1993-2012) that uncleared woody vegetation is‘ thickening’( increasing in stem density, stem size / basal area and / or canopy cover) on Queensland’ s rural landholdings. It is debated that while the increased woody plant biomass increases carbon storage, it limits the growth of associated pasture and detrimental to rural enterprises( Burrows, 2015). An appropriate fire regime can manipulate pasture composition and modify grazing patterns to the advantage of agricultural production systems. Conversely an inappropriate fire regime can contribute to tree thickening and reduce grazing opportunities( Roth, et al., 2002).
In the Burdekin rangelands, over the past 30 years, there has been a reduction in the use of fire as a land management tool to maintain the quality of native pastures and to reduce fuel loads. This has been attributed to the weather cycles, where years of big wets, which result in large amounts of groundcover, are followed by drought years, creating large fuel loads for wildfires in dry years( Pisani & Shepherd, 2012).
There are a number of information hubs that support landholders to undertake appropriate fire regimes, including:
• the Queensland Government’ s
LAND