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Regional Priorities
The Australian Government nominated the following priorities for targeted investment in the Programme:
· Sediments and associated nutrients from extensive grazing areas.
· Herbicides delivered from cropping and grazing areas.
· Nutrients delivered from cropping areas.
The dominant land use in the Fitzroy basin today is grazing.
Over 12 million hectares are currently under grazing in the Fitzroy with approximately 3,500 producers. In this region, the largest contributor of sediment entering into the Great Barrier Reef is attributed to grazing activities, with beef production the largest single land use industry.
Progress against Water Quality Targets
Nearly 60 per cent of the total target numbers of pastoralists, over an area of over 2 million hectares, have improved their ground cover monitoring and management practices in areas where run-off from
grazing is contributing significantly to sediment loads and a decline in the quality of water reaching the reef lagoon. Over 16 per cent of the total target number of farmers, made up of dry land grain producers, irrigators and horticulturalists, have adopted land management practices that will improve the quality of water reaching the reef lagoon.
Numbers of land managers engaged
Grants to land managers:
· 50 Cotton growers
· 212 Grains producers
· 480 Graziers
· 46 Horticulturalists.
A total of 788 total grants were awarded to 599 different land managers.
Key pollutants
· Sediments and associated particulate nutrients from extensive grazing areas.
· Herbicides delivered from cropping and grazing areas.
· Nutrients delivered from cropping areas
Regional Funding
Over 2009 to 2013 a total of $30,626,268.00 was provided to the Fitzroy Basin Association.
Load reductions
Modelled load reduction estimates from the Paddock to Reef programme indicate the following load reductions for the Fitzroy region between 2009 and 2013:
· 4 per cent reduction in annual average sediment load.
· 2 per cent reduction in annual average particulate nitrogen load.
· 6 per cent reduction in annual average particulate phosphorus load.
· 5 per cent reduction in annual average PSII pesticide load.
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Key Achievements
The Fitzroy Basin Association supported the establishment of a network of 40 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) in the Fitzroy enabling farmers to move to controlled traffic farming technology. Coverage extends to 99 per cent of the region. This innovative network greatly assisted FBA to enable 16 per cent of the total target number of farmers, made up of dry land grain producers, irrigators and horticulturalists, to adopt land management practices that will improve the quality of water reaching the reef lagoon average sediment load.
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Case study: Grains – Fitzroy Basin
Winners of the Grains Reef Rescue award, David and Adele O’Connor manage Springsure property “Mountain View”, a property that has been in the family for 127 years. Mountain View sits South of the Springsure watershed of the Comet and Nogoa River Catchments and there are several creeks originating in the area. The O’Connors have reduced the amount of nutrients, sediment and chemicals flowing into these creeks and improved their bottom line by introducing a grazing and cropping management regime that rests pastures and improves pasture-cropping practices.
The O’Connors have implemented numerous improvements to their farming operations through the Reef Rescue programme, including conversion to zero till planting and the purchase of equipment such as a hand held weather meter which allows for improved monitoring of pesticide movement.
Significant improvements the O’Connors have noticed include increased feed availability and pasture composition. Reducing tillage in pasture cropping and improving herbicide efficiency has reduced fuel and chemical inputs. Of particular note is the prevalence of the endangered King Bluegrass (Dicanthium queenslandicaum).
The O’Connor’s share what they have trialled and learnt by hosting and attending workshops and field days. They have also completed the Grains BMP programme and have participated in the Emerald pilot group for the Grazing BMP programme.
The key thing that the O’Connors have learnt
through the process of changing their grazing
management is that better management rather
than more land is needed to improve productivity and increase profitability.
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