Conclusions
Conclusions
Important conclusions of the project include :
• Key grazing management principles emerged and were the actual practices being implemented across project sites , including :
o Increasing the distribution of watering points , in conjunction with fencing out smaller paddocks around each watering point .
o Planned rotation of cattle mobs . Size of mobs and duration of graze in each paddock needs to be based on forage budgeting and pasture “ rest ” ( or recovery ) periods tend to be much longer than a one or two month wet season spell .
o Retaining sufficient ground cover and pasture integrity to allow growth cycles to be triggered , for example , through repeated short-duration grazes .
• There was strong evidence livestock exclusion and planned grazing practices ( rotational , high or ultra high density ), resulted in increased plant biomass , generally , a slow increase in land condition and , at many project sites , an improvement in gully profiles and channel stability , particularly where water was removed from the gullies by mechanical intervention .
• An initial period of livestock exclusion ( at least one wet season , and sometimes an additional 12-month period ) at most sites resulted in marked improvement in plant biomass , cover , vigour and diversity .
• There was little observed or measured benefit of livestock exclusion when compared to planned grazing practices . The option to use planned grazing as a management tool was universally favoured by graziers to livestock exclusion because :
NQ Dry Tropics Stomping out Sediment project manager Rod Kerr ( left ) with Bob Shepherd , DAF ( centre ) and Salisbury Plains grazier Rod Barrett .
P10 — Executive Summary