21 February 2007
Scientists from the University of New England are trying to find out whether cattle really do damage soil structure - and reduce crop production - in the cropping belt of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.
On South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, students at the Cleve and Karcultaby schools are soil testing, monitoring and recording the health of vegetation and insect populations and helping to control weeds.
Two ends of the research spectrum if you like, but both being carried out with the support of the national Grain & Graze program, the collaborative partnership between Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Land & Water Australia (LWA).
Grain & Graze National Coordinator, Dr Richard Price, says Grain & Graze is unique in the equal weighting it gives to improved farm productivity as well as environmental and social outcomes.
All the regional and national projects across Australia are carried out with the aim to provide better information about mixed farming systems to mixed farmers themselves.
There are a number of common themes through many of the projects that seem to be attracting the attention of producers, advisors and researchers alike - integrated pest management, soil biodiversity, feedbase management, animal nutrition, grazing cereals, lifestyle, climate risk management.
It's little wonder as each of the projects was designed by local catchment, regional and farmer groups, on the basis of the productivity, economic and environmental benefits they could deliver for mixed farmers and the appropriate balance between them
The research outcomes and products developed as a result of regional and national projects assist mixed farmers to make better management decisions which could increase the productivity and profitability of their enterprises as well as promoting biodiversity.
Dr Price said the University of New England's (UNE's) Grain & Graze project on the McMaster Research Station at Warialda would bring new understanding to the widely held belief that grazing cattle damaged the heavy cropping soils of the northern grains region, with the resulting compaction affecting following crops.
That was why many farmers and agronomists believed stock had no place in modern, no-till, conservation farming systems.
But there had been little or no hard research on the subject and the McMaster Research Station at Warialda is admirably placed to do that work because its farm activities, soil and land use types - cracking clay vertosols, red and shallow brown basalt ridges - were typical of the northern cropping region.
"Participation in Grain & Graze by senior students at the Cleve and Karcultaby schools in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula is a heartening example of the program's relevance to the wider community," Dr Price said.
"Teachers at these two schools, both in rural areas, saw the relevance of Grain & Graze's national Biodiversity project to the Sustainable Futures subject, in which students explore ways in which they can become part of the community effort to find sustainable solutions to environmental problems in their local areas.
"This is the second year in which students at the two schools will be working with their communities and researchers to explore the relationship between on-farm production and biodiversity."
Dr Price said while Grain & Graze had enjoyed strong grassroots support around Australia from day one, it was encouraging even more participation by producers, advisors and researchers with the release of a new Project Guide and an upgrade to make its website more user friendly and more comprehensive.
Anyone who would like a free copy of the Grain & Graze Project Guide which provides a summary of all the regional and national initiatives relevant to mixed farmers, advisors and researchers, should visit www.grainandgraze.com.au and click on "Publications", or phone Gill Stewart, Grain & Graze National Extension Coordinator, on 02 6263 6042.
Besides the usual search capability and background information on research projects, the regional map on the new website allows browsers to click on a chosen region and access information about its research activities, contacts and research results, fact sheets and case studies produced by the Grain & Graze program.
"The Central-West Lachlan region, for example, has farmer case studies available for the clicking, the Mallee region a list of Grain & Graze project results and the Murrumbidgee a fact sheet detailing how farmers have benefited by using Meat and Livestock Australia's Cost of Production Calculator for prime lambs.
If you are interested in more information about the progress of the compaction trials at Warialda, NSW, contact Dr Chris Guppy, University of New England, on 02 6773 3567.
Grain & Graze Regional Coordinators
Avon Region - Linda Leonard - 08 9690 2191
Border Rivers Region - Rachel Charles - 07 4671 7900
Central West/Lachlan Region - Jodie Dean - 02 6895 1015
Corangamite/Glenelg-Hopkins Region - Cam Nicholson - 03 5258 3860
Eyre Peninsula Region - Alison Frischke - 08 8680 6223
Mallee Region - Zubair Shahzad - 03 5021 9103
Maranoa/Balonne Region - Stephen Ginns - 07 4620 8122
Northern Agricultural Region - Philip Barrett-Lennard - 08 9475 0753
Murrumbidgee Regional Coordinator - Katrina Sait - 02 6924 4633
For more information about the Grain & Graze Program contact Richard Price, National Coordinator, on 02 6295 6300 or mobile 0409 624 297; Gillian Stewart on 02 6263 6042; Lynne Sealie on 02 6263 6021, or visit www.grainandgraze.com.au.
