Reef Trust Grazing practice change project

The Save our Soils project is a Reef Trust I project with Fitzroy Basin Association and NQ Dry Tropics. It was established with a whole-of-enterprise focus in partnership with landholders to help plan for change and identify their training needs. Funded by the Australian Government and delivered in collaboration with the Queensland Government, the project supported a number of beef producing enterprises to improve production, performance and profitability through improved property management practices in the Fitzroy and Burdekin regions.

Eighteen enterprises attended training courses and activities. All participants indicated that since participating in the program they had made direct changes such as fencing and water infrastructure for grazing management, feed budgeting, soil erosion management, rotational grazing, and pregnancy testing. They also improved their data collection and most had improved their business performance monitoring and planning.

Social outcomes have been reported from this project with 80% of participants providing feedback. The results from feedback at the beginning of the program and a survey at the end, showed that participants’ rating of their land management strategies, soil management strategies and ground cover strategies changed over the course of the program.

Initially, the most important priorities for participants were achieving minimum levels of profit, minimising tax and equalising profit between years—all very risk averse management strategies. By the program’s end, participants reported maximising profit had increased by 61%, production had increased by 32% and a further 20% had increased their regular control of overhead costs, which points to greater confidence and a change in perception.

Watch the video above to hear what motivates graziers and why the love working on the land.