Livestock treatments being investigated
The Stomping out Sediment project was investigating whether applied livestock treatments offered erosion management opportunities that were equal to , or better than , stock exclusion , potentially providing another option by graziers .
The project premise was that planned livestock impact at ultra high density ( UHD ) on degraded landscapes , followed by long pasture recovery periods , results in :
• improved pasture composition , increased vegetation biomass , and improved soil health of treated areas , with resultant improvement in rainfall infiltration , less runoff and improved land condition ; and
• improved profile of gullies and reestablishment of suitable vegetation cover on the reprofiled gullies .
At this site , planned livestock impact at ultra high density ( followed by long pasture recovery periods ) on a degraded landscape was investigated .
Implementation activity summary :
• 360m of fencing of the immediate gully footprint to manage grazing .
• Landholder-initiated clearing of minor gully outside of fenced area . Treatment elements
Action
3ha project area fenced around the main gully complex
Activity Ultra high density grazing treatment applied :
• 800 heifers for several hours June 2020 Table 17 : Treatments for Saddleback project site
Monitoring
• Orthophoto and elevation capture via drone , for landscape scale monitoring , and aerial images of the site were flown in May 2018 and January 2022 .
• Two photo points were established for annual photo point monitoring at representative gully heads and were monitored on 25 June 2020 , 13 April 2021 and 24 May 2022 .
• Livestock movement records were reported by the landholder and recorded .
• Annual paddock walks indicated that rubbervine had rapidly expanded on the site .
• Although increased vegetation had established on gully floors and there was good cover in the catchment areas , gully head retreat continued on head cut 2 by approximately 2m .
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