Murray groundcover work
From the June 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
Despite the extended dry conditions, many farmers involved in a project in the Murray catchment have preserved groundcover and protected sensitive areas of their property.
The impact of containing and feeding stock in a small area is being measured in the catchment, where a team of specialists recently spent six weeks assessing groundcover in paddocks from Lockhart to Tocumwal and Moulamein to Holbrook.
Stock containment areas are designed to maintain groundcover and protect pastures, waterways and soil by confining stock to smaller parcels of land and hand feeding during drought.
Landholders on 100 properties who received funding to build a containment area took part in baseline assessments and there will be follow-ups on selected sites once conditions improve.
Assessors measured two 100 metre transects in representative paddocks of native and introduced pasture and recorded them for future reference on a global positioning system.
While drought has reduced groundcover in many areas and made a large proportion of grazing land susceptible to erosion, it is anticipated that those with stock containment areas will fair better, according to NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Tania Midgley.
The Murray Catchment Management Authority contracted NSW DPI to do the work.
“We were looking purely at groundcover that would protect the soil from wind and water erosion,” Ms Midgley said.
“The amount of cover in most cases has been surprisingly good, indicating that the removal of grazing animals was timely.
“The landholders have shown a lot of support and interest in getting their stock containment areas off the ground.”
NSW DPI’s Lachlan Rowling said many farmers had looked at the options of stock containment or small sacrifice paddocks or had de-stocked in an attempt to prevent severe overgrazing of crop stubbles and pasture paddocks.
“Several were interested in rotationally grazing and limiting stock access to riparian areas or paddocks dominated by native pastures,” Mr Rowling said.
He said there was widespread agreement amongst landholders that, due to limited irrigation allocations and ongoing drought conditions, groundcover is likely to be low for many years.
Therefore, data collected will provide excellent baseline groundcover information.
Groundcover composition and percentage was determined using categories such as standing or flattened stubble attached to the soil, rocks and stones, heavy leaf litter, sticks and decomposed organic matter, biological soil crusts (mosses, fungi, lichen), and loose straw and dung.
Up to $10,000 per farm business was available for stock containment area infrastructure including fencing, feed troughs, water infrastructure, earthworks, contract labour and miscellaneous items for tree protection.
Contact Elizabeth Madden, Yanco, (02) 6951 2505.
