NQ Dry Tropics Senior Grazing Field Officer Linda Anderson (left) with Gregory Springs gaziers Kate and Pete Murphy during a visit to Gregory Springs Station.

Graziers get Reefwise to protect land and businesses

BURDEKIN graziers will be supported to boost productivity and improve water quality flowing to the Great Barrier Reef, as part of the recently-launched Reefwise Grazing of Burdekin Rangelands project.

The two-year project will work with 12 properties to improve landscape function and business performance in a challenging climate, and is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

NQ Dry Tropics’ Senior Grazing Officer Linda Anderson said half of the landholders had taken part in a similar project and would play a key role supporting their peers.

“We’ve found that specialist advice plus peer-to-peer learning is the most effective way to support graziers to confidently make changes within their business, and Reefwise Grazing incorporates both methods,’ Ms Anderson said.

“The project will focus on whole-of-business planning, education and technical support to help graziers adopt new or modified practices that achieve profitable businesses and resilient landscapes.

“Topics include measuring business performance, adopting new grazing systems, assessing ground cover management, and record keeping to make profitable decisions.”

Graziers Kate and Pete Murphy, from Gregory Springs Station in the Upper Burdekin, are looking forward to sharing their existing knowledge and building upon what they have learned.

‘We got so much more out of the first project than we ever thought we would. It’s not until you get stuck into it that you see all the benefits and other opportunities, talking with other graziers, getting advice from specialists and being supported by a dedicated NQ Dry Tropics person,” Mrs Murphy said.

‘You can’t possibly know what you don’t know until you start something like this. We have more confidence in what we do now and we’re looking forward to continuing this with the Reefwise Grazing project.”