Stabilisation of gully channels - stock exclusion control paddock gully November 2017 ( left ) and May 2022 ( right )
manure , urine and mulch were seen as critical to re-establishing pastures and remediating degraded areas .
• Irrespective of whether mulching , trampling , or grazing or cattle exclusion were used , there was consensus vegetated patches could in time also recover residual bare patches . The key was the injection of organic matter into the system to enable hostile soil surfaces to support germination . There were specific comments made about focusing on areas that were growing grass , not the areas that weren ' t . Once they started growing something , grazing would come into play to improve them .
• Using cattle trampling to knock down steep gully walls and create better surfaces for germination was generally effective , obviating the need for mechanical flattening of gully walls , which was deemed to be more costly than using electric fencing to temporarily constrain cattle for remediation areas on gully heads .
• Re-establishing biomass on degraded areas or on scalds upstream of gullies was effective in slowing or stopping gully head progression in small gullies . This was often also accompanied with revegetation of gully floors .
• Sites monitored by DAF indicated nutrient loss and nutrient capture , and infiltration indices were stable or showed a slight improvement on one severely degraded site across three to four wet seasons .
• Marsupial pressure ( exacerbated via large areas of dense rubber vine ) at one of the sites had severely impacted land condition across a wide area of that site , including reduced survival of any edible plants on remediation site works .
• The analyses of LiDAR data at black soil paddocks did not appear to show any new erosion initiated as a result of the trials , rather erosion occurred as a continuation of existing gullies .
• LiDAR data analyses suggested grazing management alone was not an effective strategy to mitigate gully erosion . Despite cattle exclusion , at both sites , gully erosion has persisted in the control paddock during the project . This is because erosion processes were not addressed simply by excluding cattle .
• Water diversion bunds upstream of larger gully heads were also accepted as effective , but more costly . It was acknowledged not all graziers would have the necessary machinery or inclination to do earthworks . Consequently , there was a divergence in views as to whether diversion bunds were required when runoff reduction could also
Executive Summary — P13