P.PSH.1235 - Spatially Resilient Grazing Systems Measuring and optimising landscape utilisation in rangeland sheep and goats

Summary

This project sought to quantify small ruminant landscape utilisation by GPS tracking numerous animals on properties in Western Queensland.

Objectives

The key objectives of this project were:
1. Deliver a review of the management strategies that have been reported in the literature for influencing the spatial grazing distribution of small ruminants in rangeland landscapes.
2. Deploy GPS tracking devices to collect baseline data on grazing distributions of sheep and goats in typical rangeland landscapes.
3. Develop analytical techniques that explore and explain the relationship between grazing distribution and the feed-base, water and other landscape resources.
4. Explore how variation in weather, particularly thermal stress events might influence grazing distribution and use of key water resources.

Key findings

Key findings included:
• The review of literature highlighted how little information is available around spatial landscape utilisation by small ruminants in comparison to cattle.
• The average daily distance travelled by small ruminants across all sites varied between 5.7km (Rangeland Goats) to 8.1km (Merino Ewes). The maximum distance travelled across all sites ranged from 6.5km (Rangeland Goats) to as much as 20.5km (Merino Ewes).
• The maximum distance to water reported across all sites was approximately 2.5km, however animals where on average more likely to be within 500m–1.2km of water.
• Increasing temperatures had a significant impact on the distance animals were found from water. Not surprisingly as temperatures increased animals were found closer to water, although the effect was only marginal, for every 1°C increase in temperature distance to water decreased by 5–20 metres.
• Producers can gain significant insights into livestock landscape interactions when provided with objective data from GPS tracking technology from their property.

Benefits to industry

It is difficult to extrapolate the findings from this study to make general recommendations across the entire industry. The unique features of each property and animal type that was monitored in this project means that the observations may not necessarily be directly transferable to other properties with different landscape characteristics.

Despite this, some interesting insights have been made and can be used by producers to assess their own operation. The fact that few animals grazed beyond 2.5km from a water source confirms the information currently being provided to the industry. However, given that most animals preferred to be within 500m of a water point suggests that a more intensive distribution of water points should be considered by producers seeking to optimise landscape utilisation. Again, this cannot be made as a general recommendation but will provide producers seeking to develop country with infrastructure some guidance in their thinking.

One of the key benefits to industry is the value of the objective GPS tracking data to producers. For some producers involved it revealed genuinely unknown trends in spatial landscape utilisation. As the project team sat with producers and worked through the results they were often met with exclamations of surprise that certain areas of a paddock where either used or not used by the sheep and goats. Although it is currently not possible for producers to generate this data outside of a research project, there are many commercial technology developers seeking to provide GPS tracking as a day-to-day management tool. The development and economical provision of this service will undoubtedly have a profound effect on enabling producers to gain deep insights into their livestock landscape interactions and subsequently implement management strategies to improve production and efficiency.

MLA action

This project was terminated early as COVID related restrictions meant that key research staff could not travel to Australia from the key collaborating organisation New Mexico State University to undertake the required field observations and run proposed intervention trials.

Future research

Further research into monitoring sheep and goat behaviour under genuine thermal stress events and the evaluation of management interventions that might ameliorate the effects of these climate extremes should be prioritised.