Queensland the Smart State PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region A guide for developing productive and sustainable pasture-fed grazing systems PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region A guide for developing productive and sustainable pasture-fed grazing systems Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries ii PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region Many people have provided and Many photos contained in this book assisted with information contained in were sourced from Tropical Forages: this book. Thanks to the many Mackay an interactive selection tool (Cook, Whitsunday property owners, graziers B.G., Pengelly, B.C., Brown, S.D., and managers who have worked with Donnelly, J.L., Eagles, D.A., Franco, DPI&F over the past decades to trial, M.A., Hanson, J., Mullen, B.F., understand and develop successful Partridge, I.J., Peters, M. and Schultze- pasture technologies for productive Kraft, R. 2005. Tropical Forages: an and sustainable pasture-fed grazing interactive selection tool, [CD-ROM], systems. CSIRO, DPI&F (Qld), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia). Thanks to Mick Quirk, Science Leader (Sustainable Grazing Systems) Additional photos have been provided within DPI&F Animal Science, for by Terry Hilder, Caroline Sandral, Paul his support and encouragement with Wieck, and Christine Peterson. this project. I gratefully acknowledge Acknowledgements the financial support provided by the Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management Group (MWNRMG). Thanks to Kelly Flower and Vivienne Dwyer (MWNRM Group Inc.), Tanya Radke and Lee Cross (DPI&F) for their assistance in organising the agreement between DPI&F and MWNRM Group Inc. Special thanks to those people who have given of their time to review and comment on early and progressive drafts; in particular John Hopkinson, John Hughes, Kendrick Cox, Ross Dodt, Terry Hilder, Caroline Sandral, Bill Schulke (DPI&F) and Nigel Onley (Consultant). Terry Hilder has greatly assisted with sourcing data and generating tables and graphs for Chapters 1 and 2 and sourcing photos for Chapters 4 and 5. Formatting and publishing of this book was coordinated by the DPI&F, Central Region Communications & Information team. PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region iii For today’s landholders, running a conserving the natural resource successful grazing enterprise requires (Gomez et al. 1996). a broad range of knowledge, skills and The aim of Pastures: Mackay/ experience. Gone are the days when Whitsunday region - A guide for the main requirement for running developing productive and sustainable some cows or horses was to have pasture-fed grazing systems is to access to land (any land), put a fence provide information and knowledge on Foreword around it and provide water. Although, sown and native pasture systems in a even now some in the community form readily accessible to the Mackay believe this approach is acceptable Whitsunday region’s grazing sector. when running a few horses. Pastures has been compiled and In the words of Marlborough published by the Department of landholder/grazier Peter Emmery, ‘the Primary Industries and Fisheries, most cost-efficient way to reduce through the Sustainable Grazing age of turnoff is to improve (animal) Systems program within the Animal nutrition through improved pastures’ Sciences Group. Its contents draw and ‘the most economically efficient on a wide range of new and existing way to increase (breeder herd) fertility, information sources (see Chapter 10, providing phosphorus nutrition is References and Resources). adequate, is pasture improvement’ (Emmery 1997). Funding to print Pastures was provided by the Mackay Whitsunday Natural The three top priorities for sown Resource Management (MWNRM) pastures in the tropics and subtropics, Group. Pastures will be a useful tool as presented by Walker et al. 1997, are to assist implementation and delivery • Collating all available information of the MWNRM Group’s Sustainable on pasture cultivars and sown Landscapes (incentive) Program. pasture development and Information in this book will management into a readily progressively be updated and accessible form and extending made more locally relevant and it through pro-active extension applicable through landholder/grazier activities feedback, following participation • Integrating sown pastures into in the on-ground grazing land feeding systems and whole property management activities demonstrated development and implemented at Grazing Land • Monitoring the health and condition Management (GLM) and Stocktake of sown pastures to determine rate workshops and field days. and cause of decline. ‘It is not enough to know – One must A farming (or grazing) system is said also apply. It is not enough to wish to be sustainable at the farm level if – One must also act’ (Goethe). it satisfies the farm (property/grazing) Harry Bishop manager’s needs (over time) while iv PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region 1 Overview of Mackay Whitsunday region ________________________________________ 1 • Location • Climate • The natural environment • Natural resource assets • Who is the MWNRM group? Contents 2 Profile of Mackay Whitsunday beef industry ________________________________ 4 • Special features and brief beef industry statistics 3 Pasture-fed beef production options ____________________________________________7 • Native grass pastures • Native grass oversown with legumes • Sown (improved) grass pastures • Sown grass/legume pastures • High nitrogen input grass pastures • Special purpose pastures 4 Mackay Whitsunday land types ________________________________________________ 16 • Alluvial flats and plains • Coastal eucalypt forest and woodlands • Coastal rainforests • Coastal tea tree plains • Coastal wetlands • Eucalypt hills and ranges • Marine plains and tidal flats • Poplar gum dominant eucalypt woodlands • Wet highland rainforests 5 Sown pasture species information (grasses and legumes) _____________26 • Grasses – Most planted grasses – Alternative grasses – Possible weedy/problem grasses – Water grasses • Legumes – Most planted legumes – Alternative legumes – Temperate cool-season legumes – Short term ‘ley’ legumes – Browse shrub (leucaena) – Possible problem legumes PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region v 6 Selecting sown pasture grasses, legumes and mixtures ______________64 • Pasture type choices • Importance of legumes • Ideal pasture species to plant • Brief history of tropical pastures in MW region 7 Establishing and managing sown pasture systems ____________________ 68 • Planning • Establishing sown pastures • Pasture planting methods • Best time of year to plant • Fertilising sown pastures • Grazing management 8 Special purpose pastures _________________________________________________________ 75 • Irrigation • High N on grass • Hay • Short term pasture leys • Ground covers • Tolerance to: salinity-cold-shade-waterlogging-grazing • Leucaena grazing systems on coast • Pastures for horses 9 Weeds and legislation ______________________________________________________________ 86 • Legislation • MW Regional Pest Management Group • More information sources • Weeds table listing State declared class 10 References and resources ________________________________________________________ 88 11 Appendixes _____________________________________________________________________________ 90 1 Native pasture communities of MW region (pre-development) 2 List of sown pasture species available for MW region 3 History and role of sown pasture grazing systems in MW region 4 Producer demonstration sites using high N pasture-fed grazing systems 5 Code of Practice for the sustainable use of leucaena/grass pasture systems 6 Risk of ‘big head’ in horses grazing tropical grasses vi PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region Location The Mackay Whitsunday (MW) catchment/region 1 occupies a narrow coastal strip on the central coast of WHITSUNDAY Queensland extending from Whitsunday south of Bowen, Proserpine, Rivers Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday (WRICMA) Islands in the north to Sarina and Carmilla in the south, a distance of approximately BOWEN 300 kilometres. It is about CITY OF MACKAY 80 kilometres wide near Mackay and extends from the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea coast in the east to the Eungella Tableland headwaters of the Pioneer Pioneer River in the west. The (PICMA) catchment encompasses an area of SARINA 940,000 ha. For statistical purposes the Mackay Whitsunday Natural NEBO Resource Management (MWNRM) Region consists of the four shires Serina Landcare of Whitsunday, Mackay, Sarina and (SLICMA) Mirani. However the actual Mackay Whitsunday catchment boundary BROADSOUND excludes bits of Mirani and Sarina shires and includes bits of Broadsound Figure 1: Boundary and location map of and Bowen shires. The MW region Mackay Whitsunday region has a population of about 113,000 people, with most living in the larger urban centres of Mackay, Sarina and Overview of Mackay Whitsunday region Whitsunday Overview Mackay of Proserpine. Approximately 70 percent of the region’s population resides in Mackay. Figure 1 presents a boundary and location map. PASTURES: Mackay Whitsunday region 1 Climate The region’s climate is humid and of December and March. Table 1 tropical with hot wet summers and presents mean monthly rainfall data cool dry winters. Annual rainfall for six sites in the region plus Tully varies significantly, from more than and Rockhampton. Figure 2 graphs 2000 mm in elevated sections of the monthly rainfall to show and compare coastal ranges down to 1000 mm per potential seasonal forage growth year in other inland areas. January is cycle