Access to technical expertise ( particularly the opportunity for one-on-one support ), knowledge and information was identified as a key contributor to success and deemed ‘ game-changing ’ for several participants .
There was a lot of social interaction at the events and the end of project dinner , in Collinsville in May 2022 . Landholders were congratulatory about the project , project deliverers and participants .
Cooperating landholders , were motivated to undertake additional projects and on-ground works as a direct result of their involvement in the Stomping out Sediment project .
Examples include :
• weed management of Beak ’ s paddock at Strathalbyn Station , creating a 260ha paddock for improved grazing management ;
• the management of dense weeds in Dunn ’ s paddock at Strathalbyn Station , a result of demonstrating of the positive impact of marsupial exclusionon erosion processes ; and
• implementation of a major Reef Trust III project at Glenalpine , because it complemented the adjoining Stomping out Sediment project site .
Several graziers are now engaged in other grazing land management and gully remediation projects in the region . This participation can be partly attributed to their involvement in the Stomping out Sediment project .
Strathalbyn and Glenalpine stations also joined a five-year MLA-funded project as a result of the ongoing technical support they received through Dick Richardson , of Grazing Naturally . 5 Mile has undertaken considerable property development and property-wide grazing management changes due to the provision of technical advice from Brian Wehlburg , of Inside Outside Management , and from Mt Pleasant Station grazier Jamie Gordon .
PROJECT SITE FINDINGS
The 16 projects included a wide range of approaches to erosion and gully management . They included investigations of livestock exclusion , improved grazing management practices and livestock impact on the restoration of erosion and gully features , and the implementation of minor and major earthworks projects such as rock chutes , water diversion banks and full remediation of gullies .
A number of project sites focused on productive soils such as the black cracking clay soil sites at Tabletop , Strathalbyn and Sutherland . Weed management activities were also undertaken on black cracking clay soils at the Strathalbyn Dunn ’ s and Beaks ’ paddock project areas .
All other projects were implemented on less productive soil types , often with fertility , structural or chemical constraints , with the more extreme examples being the alluvial gully site at Strathalbyn ( part of a large gully complex with severe , deep erosion and tunnelling features ), and the gully complex at Johnnycake .
All project sites were in D and C land condition and were dominated by Indian couch ( Bothriochloa pertusa ). Monitoring of sites detected slow improvement in plant biomass , ground cover and land condition within the project timeframe ( from one to five wet seasons ) but there was limited change to the dominance of Indian couch .
The Stomping out Sediment project highlighted the value of developing an overall landscape plan for the range of land conditions , erosion and gully issues at each site , as most sites had complex , and sub-catchment related , land management issues . The need for a wide range of tools and techniques to be able to improve the whole landscape , not just the erosion and gully features , was evident at the majority of project sites .
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