Frontage country benefits from fencing
RIPARIAN fencing project coordinator, Bob
Shepherd, said the project grew from concerns a group of Charters
Towers landholders had with woody weed management along
watercourses and the management of better, more sensitive
frontage country.
“They were keen to investigate
alternatives to herbicide for controlling woody weeds and trial
fire, but were hindered because cattle tended to graze the frontage
heavily leaving limited fuel for burning,” he explained.
He said landholders’ reluctance to
continue controlling weed infestations chemically was two-fold:
costs inhibited large-scale treatments and there were concerns
about using herbicides in close proximity to watercourses.
The project was administered by the Dalrymple
Shire Council, coordinated by the Department of Primary Industries
in Charters Towers and the Dalrymple Landcare Committee, and run in
conjunction with the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater
Research at James Cook University (ACTFR).
Roger Landsberg, northern landholder and
chairman of the project’s management committee, said the
project’s primary positive outcome was improvement in
managing sensitive watercourses and creek flats.
“Graziers can now use controlled grazing
practices to better utilise their frontage country, which
ultimately means better managed country and improved
productivity,” he said. “This also means less nutrient
and soil run-off into watercourses, and downstream less run-off to
the Great Barrier Reef.”
A decision to fence off fragile riparian areas
has proved a catalyst for major management changes for north
Queensland cattle producers Shane and Tracey Meteyard. Toni
Somes writes.
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Outside fenced off areas, land shows the effects
of the dry season coupled with overgrazing
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Good pastures inside the fenced-off riparian
zone - Photos: Toni Somes
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NHT project | Implementing water infrastructure | Alternative watering points |
Controversy: locking up country
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The Meteyards own and operate three grazing properties the base
one being Milray Station, Pentland, about 300 km from Townsville on
the Cape River.
The changes on their property were part of a $1.1million Natural
Heritage Trust project, which saw 1235 km of fencing erected along
vital watercourses in north Queensland. The project involved
fencing off selected creeks and rivers on 60 cattle properties in
the Dalrymple Shire, surrounding Charters Towers, and about 200 km
west of the eastern coast (see box on frontage country at right).
Most properties were located on strategic watercourses or river
catchments, all of which flow into the Great Barrier Reef.
The couple said the NHT riparian fencing projects initiated
significant management changes on their properties prompting them
to undertake $150,000 worth of water developments. This extensive
water development program—replacing river and creek watering
points with polypipe-fed troughs—along with the additional
fencing has allowed the landholders to introduce a more closely
controlled grazing program.
Implementing water infrastructure
While the cost of their in-kind water infrastructure
significantly overshadowed the NHT-funded fencelines, Shane
Meteyard credits the project with prompting the changes on his home
front. "Fencing the riparian zones forced us to reconsider and
redevelop our watering points and in short, it means we completely
changed how we managed the property," Shane said.
The Meteyards initially took advantage of NHT funding for
riparian fencing in 1999 and, in the four years since, have
completed 58 km of fencing themselves along watercourses on Milray
and their other two properties Uralla and Mytonvale. Their focus
was on fencing the Cape River, Betts and Warrigal Creek riparian
zones to reduce the grazing pressure on the favoured, sweeter creek
and riverbank pastures. Using a controlled grazing system and
wet-season spelling, the Meteyards aim to fence off riparian zones
during the wet and introduce stock in closely monitored numbers
when these sensitive areas have significant pasture coverage. In
this way, they aim to reduce erosion and sediment run-off and allow
regeneration of pastures in areas which have been overgrazed for
decades.
"Our motivation has been to improve our riparian zones, decrease
stocking pressure on sensitive areas and work towards a more
controlled approach to grazing," said Shane. "Already we have seen
some regeneration of pastures in these riparian zones, through less
grazing pressure, but it is still very early days for us.
"This is realistically our first year, so what pasture
improvement we did see was limited, because we had such a light
season and then army grubs decimated 75 per cent of the standing
feed.
"Longer term, though, the additional fencing means more
paddocks, we now have more watering points and it will allow us to
really use controlled grazing.
Before riparian areas could be fenced off, alternative watering
points to those established almost a century ago along the river
and creeks, had to be developed.
The initial plan to erect laneways through riparian areas to
existing watering points was altered, and 40 km of polypipe was
laid to take water from the bore at the main homestead to nine
tanks and 16 new troughs. Solar pumps were installed and an
effective and comprehensive watering program developed to
complement fenced-off riparian areas. The increase in the number of
watering points and their strategic location meant the Meteyards
were better able to utilise their country.
While they believe the riparian areas will now prove a valuable
feed resource for selected stock at specific times within the
season, there is another advantage to allowing grass levels along
the watercourses to build up.
"When we have a substantial amount of dry feed in the waterways
we can put a hot fire through and hopefully make an impact on woody
weeds, specifically in our case rubber vine."
Shane is not daunted by comments from within the rural sector
criticising the riparian fencing project as "locking up your best
country" or labelling it a government ploy to control watercourses
and water access.
"I believe it is in my best interest to adopt the best
management practices to manage my most sensitive country: the more
fragile, sweeter river and creek areas.
"It improves the way in which we graze, and if governments see
that we are managing our riparian areas in a sustainable way, they
will be much less likely to insist that cattle are excluded from
grazing along watercourses.
In the long term, the Meteyards’ plan is to continue to
develop their 44,800 ha land area with a focus on controlled
grazing—they currently use a four-paddock rotational
system—and strategic management of sensitive areas.
"Admittedly we’ve got some work to do regenerating areas,
which have been overgrazed by previous generations, but we also
have the benefits of polypipe and an understanding of the impact of
some earlier management practices.
"The hardest part of being a young landholder is not knowing
definitely how doing things differently will impact; or whether new
methods will even work. But knowing all the same, that some things
need to be done differently to how they were done in the past."
