THE DIRT Issue 2 | Page 35

“Apart from initial teething issues, we are really happy with the weed wiper. The immediate bonus has been that we can still use it on windy days, and there’s been a huge decrease in the amount of chemical usage, therefore reducing costs.” Kel Tennent, Cloudbreak Water telemetry: Inkerman and DeSalis Installation of water telemetry on tanks and troughs will provide a reliable source of water to cattle, and reduce cattle impact, especially padding that leads to erosion. Sites were selected based on their proximity to watercourses and their benefits to reducing sediment runoff. Production benefits include improved animal husbandry and water quality. Bovine ultrasound pregnancy scanner: Mt Crompton and Mt Aberdeen LDC recognises the potential water quality outcomes from early pregnancy diagnosis are huge, if landholders actively respond to the information in a timely way. Being able to pregnancy test cows sooner, and with more accuracy, allows landholders to sell off unproductive females closer to the flush of the season. Removal of unproductive females reduces overall stocking rates and therefore keeps more ground cover present later in the dry season benefiting the landscape and the emainder of the herd. Mt Pleasant Learning Hub is trialling low-cost gully intervention along with regenerative agriculture practices to restore landscape function. Eungella landholders are adopting different ways to control giant rats tail grass. 35