Minimum Standards for Sustainable Grazing

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The Log of Claims (Dec 2008) includes the following statements:-
• Permit only sustainable intermittent grazing under Annual Grazing Agreements……

• .. the proposed legislation should establish enforceable minimum standards for sustainable grazing ..

This paper endeavours to define our meaning and to propose minimum standards.

Definitions:

We have used the phrases “sustainable grazing”, “sustainable intermittent grazing” and “minimum standards” which could be defined as:-
•    sustainable grazing: a regime of domestic livestock grazing that maintains an equilibrium of vegetation diversity over time.
•    sustainable intermittent grazing: a regime of domestic livestock grazing that maintains an historical equilibrium of diversity of native vegetation over time and includes a phase of livestock withdrawal during part of the vegetative growing season with adequate rainfall of one year or of one in every few years.
•    minimum standard: a statement of a condition which must be exceeded. eg: In the context of grazing a minimum standard could be expressed as a pasture yield number.

Grazing Standards:

The literature and corespondents agree two essential elements for a sustainable grazing regime: – there must be condition assessments and a grazing strategy devolved from the assessments. (Henry, D. R., Hall, T. J. et al. 1995; McIntyre, S., McIvor, J. G. et al. 2002; Lunt, I. D., Eldridge, D. J. et al. 2007; Cowley, R. A., Blomfield, C. M. et al. 2008; Hamilton, J. S., Chilcott, C. R. et al. 2008; Spooner, P. G. 2008; Spooner, P. G. and Briggs, S. V. 2008)

A system of assessment and grazing is currently in use and is suitable for adapting to the SRN.

Grazing Land Management

Four of the above references refer to methods for assessment of pasture and the calculation of a sustainable consumption of dry weight of available pasture. (Henry, D. R., Hall, T. J. et al. 1995; McIntyre, S., McIvor, J. G. et al. 2002; Cowley, R. A., Blomfield, C. M. et al. 2008; Hamilton, J. S., Chilcott, C. R. et al. 2008)

These methods are in use in Queensland and elsewhere in northern Australia and from which a
sustainable grazing regime for the short (seasonal) and long term (years to decades) can be determined.
They form the basis of the Meat and Livestock Australia Limited Grazing Land Management workshops
operated by Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. The Stock Routes Coalition
proposes that both the method of assessment and the percentage of safe pasture consumption are
capable of application to the SRN through the Regulations to a Stock Routes Act.

Compliance will involve removal of no more than 10-30% of standing (ungrazed) biomass depending on
the rainfall zone, and intermittent (at least every 2 - 4 years) ‘wet season spelling’ of the vegetation to
allow replenishment of root energy stores and hence persistence and regeneration of perennial grasses
and forbs. Such a grazing regime should also enhance the protection of vegetation in different levels of
the canopy, not only grasses and trees.

The Grazing Land Management Workshop should be a basic training requirement for SRN rangers and
the operators of Annual Grazing Agreements. The course is likely to be capable of adaptation for
assessing regulated standards.

Application to the SRN:

The SRN will have two different grazing situations where the application and enforcement of standards will need to be somewhat different.

1. Travelling stock:
The onus would be on the shire SRN officer who may not issue a permit unless the minimum vegetation
standard is assessed and found to be exceeded. The issued permit should contain conditions of
movement that ensure the stock do not deplete the feed resource below the minimum standard.

2. Annual Grazing Agreement:
The onus should be on the AGA applicant to make an assessment (and provide the detail) and to present
a Management Plan for the AGA period showing how the grazing will be managed so as to exceed or
meet the minimum standard. The section of SRN that is subject to AGA is subject to official assessment at
any time and subject to forfeit if the Management Plan and or the terms of the AGA are not being met.

References:

Cowley, R. A., C. M. Blomfield, et al. (2008). "Current levels of utilisation of pasture on extensive cattle properties in northern Australia." 2.
Hamilton, J. S., C. R. Chilcott, et al. (2008). "Contemporary livestock carrying capacities for pastoral properties in Northern Australia: a methodology for integrating objective data on pasture growth and condition." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48 (2008): 735-740.
Henry, D. R., T. J. Hall, et al. (1995). Pasture Plants of Southern Inland Queensland., Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Lunt, I. D., D. J. Eldridge, et al. (2007). "A framework to predict the effects of livestock grazing and grazing exclusion on conservation values in natural ecosystems in Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 55: 401-415.
McIntyre, S., J. G. McIvor, et al. (2002). Managing & Conserving Grassy Woodlands, CSIRO Publishing.
Spooner, P. G. (2008). personal communication to G. Rogers.
Spooner, P. G. and S. V. Briggs (2008). "Woodlands on farms in southern New South Wales: A longer-term assessment of vegetation changes after fencing." Ecological Management & Restoration 9(1): 33-41.

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