Landholders see benefits of mapping technology at workshop

Bowen and Collinsville graziers have taken part in an online mapping application workshop to assist with property management and planning.

The one-day FarmMap4D workshop provided landholders with the knowledge, skills and tools to map, plan, analyse and monitor their property infrastructure, land resources and groundcover.

The workshop was hosted by the NQ Dry Tropics’ Landholders Driving Change project, funded by the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program. The Landholders Driving Project is addressing land and water issues in the Bowen, Broken and Bogie (BBB) catchment.

Landholders Driving Change Project Land Management Support Coordinator Rodger Walker said the web-based tool combines geospatial mapping technologies with time-series ground cover satellite imagery to analyse grazing pressure and land condition, to help land managers to make more informed decisions.

“FarmMap4D allows landholders to produce customised maps of their property, audit on-farm infrastructure, plan grazing regimes and estimate long-term safe carrying capacity,” Mr Walker said.

“This includes being able to plan fences and manage water resources effectively such as being able to calculate how much wire is needed to fence a new paddock or how much pipeline is required to pump water from a new dam to a water trough.

“Graziers can also analyse seasonal trends in groundcover within a paddock or entire property to assess land condition and the impacts of management and investment decisions,” he said.

FarmMap4D was previously known as the Natural Resource Management (NRM) Spatial Hub.  Mr Walker said it was seen as the most relevant mapping product for graziers in the state although understanding and using the tool can take quite a bit of training and time.

“With regular practice the benefits of using the program will come through,” Mr Walker said.

Landholders Driving Change provides extension services and technical support to users of FarmMap4D. Landholders interested in using FarmMap4D who were unable to attend the workshop can contact Rodger Walker on 0408 828 276.

Main photo: Graziers participating at FarmMap4D workshop.