Sustainable Development of VRD Grazing Lands

Summary

As production costs rise faster than prices received pressure is building to intensify production on extensive northern pastoral beef enterprises. Creating smaller paddocks and installing more waters are expected to improve forage use but limit the incidence of overgrazed patches, offering the potential for a substantial increase in cattle numbers and financial returns. But intensification also presents financial and ecological risks so guidelines for appropriate development are required. Based on the early results from this project utilisation rates of 20-25% appear to be sustainable in terms of land condition and animal production where water points are well distributed. However, the longer term implications for biodiversity are still inconclusive, as are the relative advantages and disadvantages of achieving higher utilisation rates by only increasing the number of water points versus increasing the number of waters and reducing paddock size.