DAF Enhanced Extension Coordination: Holistic grazing property planning workshop

The Enhanced Extension Coordination in the Great Barrier Reef Project, supported by the Queensland Government, is providing extension staff in the Burdekin region with the skills and tools to undertake holistic grazing property planning.

Burdekin extension staff were trained to deliver planning using the principles of the Ecologically Sustainable Rangelands Management platform, which incorporates a focus on ecological and water quality improvements.

Extension officers learned how to undertake sessions with graziers and how to assist them to compile the information into a meaningful plan. Extension officers from NQ Dry Tropics, Central Highlands Regional Resources Use Planning Cooperative and Dalrymple Landcare Committee took part in the training and rolled out pilot plans with three grazing properties in the Burdekin region.

Positive social outcomes reported as a result of the training included an increase in perceived self-efficacy, highlighted by a participating grazier who commented: “It was great to be in control of the process, and have the technical support sitting at our kitchen table as we went along. It surprised me how quickly we covered a five-year development plan that will increase productivity while looking after our soils and grasslands.”

NQ Dry Tropics Senior Field Officer Linda Anderson said: “It is critically important to have documented plans to deal with degraded paddock areas. We do, however, need to keep the whole-of-business in perspective and align this with individual family goals to ensure the process incorporates the wider picture that graziers are managing.”