Fencing brigalow patches a ‘win’ for this grazier
Hillalong Station grazier Will Fordyce is acutely aware of the two large patches of Brigalow scrub on his 15,000ha property in the Suttor catchment.
From an ecological perspective. he knows the brigalow communities house unique and beneficial biodiversity. From a business perspective, he wants to manage grazing in and around those scrubs probably more tightly than anywhere else on his property.
“We always graze the brigalow paddocks more lightly,” he said.
“There is a bit of a risk of cattle over-indulging on the leaves,” he said.
(The tannin and oil in acacia leaves can, in excess, cause stasis in the rumen, stalling a beast’s digestive system).
Happily, that sort of management is what’s needed to give those brigalow communities the best chance of thriving.
That means fencing is needed, so he has been very keen to work with NQ Dry Tropics Senior Biodiversity Project Officer Jaymie Rains to complete fencing off the Hillalong brigalow.
Mr Fordyce agreed to fence 3.5kms along the side of the 560ha brigalow scrub in the south-east corner of Hillalong with co-contribution from a grant as part of the two-year NQ Dry Tropics Bolstering the Brigalow project.
“We fenced along the front of the southern brigalow in a previous NQ Dry Tropics project and this completes the job,” he said.
He said the fence also served to roughly bisect a 2000ha paddock, a development in keeping with their overall aims for the property.
“When we came here 18 years ago, there were six main paddocks,” he said.
“Now there are 40-something.”
Every new fence adds to that number and enhances his ability to have mobs of up to 1000 head in smaller paddocks where short grazes with increased density have a greater impact on pasture. Cattle spend only a short time in each paddock meaning most of the property is resting for most of the time.
It’s a principle unchanged in his family for more than 40 years passed down from father (Peter) to son.
Protecting the brigalow — bauhinia brigalow at the northern end of the property and belah brigalow on the southern boundary — with permanent fencing is an environmental “win” from Ms Rains’ perspective.
“Brigalow is the dominant species, but it’s the community of plants that, together, provide habitat for so many species of flora and fauna some of which are vulnerable, threatened, or endangered,” she said.
While grazier and Natural Resource Management Project Officer have approached it with a different purpose, they share a common goal.
Mr Fordyce asked that some baseline BioCondition Assessments be conducted along the edges of the southern brigalow stand, an area of about 180ha, to objectively quantify its ecological value.
“It was cleared more than 30 years ago and does have significant ecological value,” Ms Rains said.
In amongst the brigalow regrowth is valuable forage, in a good season growing waist high, but by the end of winter, representing a significant fire risk if it is not grazed.
Having the data from seven BioCondition reports now will, hopefully, put Hillalong in a good position to take advantage of opportunities when BioCredits are introduced.
It’s the sort of thing Mr Fordyce likes in business — hard data to inform objective business decisions.
In the meantime, he’s happy to see koalas (vulnerable), southern squatter pigeons (vulnerable), Queensland bottle trees, belah and bauhinia tree and countless other plants and animals flourishing.
Across the seven sites assessed, the BioCondition reports listed 24 canopy tree species, 32 different shrubs, 13 species of vines, and nine different forbs and grasses.
While there were some weeds — rubber vine, lantana, parthenium, chaff flower, velvety pear tree and balloon plant — they were well under control and the brigalow community was rated as being in fair condition.
The Bolstering the Brigalow Project is funded by the Australian Government’s Saving Native Species program and delivered by NQ Dry Tropics, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.
