Delivering continuous improvement of the farming resource Dukes Plain, QLD DUKES PLAIN hane and Shan Joyce have been involved Sin farm landscape regeneration for 37 Farm Facts years. They believe that mixing their own and 30 km south of Theodore, other peoples’ experiences has helped them Southern QLD Brigalow Belt in their successes and in achieving their vision Enterprise: Cattle for the landscape at Dukes Plain. Certified organic beef cattle breeding, Shane and Shan Joyce came to Dukes Plain in 1982 from backgrounding and fattening a background in organic farming. Over the years they Property Size: adopted new management practices: ceasing the use of 7900 hectares, 3000 hectares farmable fire, retaining timber and valuing regrowth, prioritising pasture diversity and native pastures, and employing low Average Annual Rainfall: 700 mm production costs and inputs. In 1993 a radical change was Elevation: 300 m made to the grazing system on Dukes Plain, moving from continuous grazing in seven paddocks to a cell grazing Motivation for Change system across almost 100 paddocks. Focus moved from the production bottom line to a measure of kilograms of 666Inputs and maintenance costs exceeding beef produced per hectare of available pasture. Production production returns increases were experienced within two years of adopting planned grazing management. Innovations 666Comprehensively monitored and measured In addition to cell grazing, outcomes were further enhanced by the later application of organic and biodynamic methods. time-controlled cell grazing 666Soil improvement using biodynamic methods By persisting through obstacles and impediments to change, the Joyce’s have experienced improvement in 666All organic management the natural resource with healthier soils, more diverse 666Innovations commenced: 1993 pastures, more trees, fewer weeds, improved water quality and water use efficiency, as well as increased carrying Key Results capacity, easier animal management and reduced labour requirements. They have been able to maintain or increase 66630% productivity increase with gross margins production through periods when many properties have between $64-$113 per hectare had to reduce stock numbers. 666Higher yields on revegetated brigalow paddocks Observation, monitoring, and recording data has allowed than cleared paddocks the Joyces more informed decision making, benefiting 666Increased water availability due to increased both landscape and business health. Approximately 800 rainfall infiltration and reduced losses to hectares of crop land has been returned to perennial evaporation pasture at a zero dollar cost and gross margin per hectare is now between $64 and $113 on land types varying from eucalypt forest to brigalow scrub. Contact Shane & Shan Joyce: [email protected] 48 CASE STUDY 1 Dukes Plain by what they had come into, they began experimenting with elements of various farming management systems Dukes Plain is a 7900 hectare sub-tropical property of ranging from fully conventional to what, at the time, which 3000 hectares is used as grazing land for beef were considered extreme alternatives. They read about cattle. This country was formerly dominated by brigalow advantages of various alternative agricultural models (Acacia harpophylla) scrubs and semi-evergreen vine from around the globe. They constantly questioned their thicket, which are both endangered ecosystems, and small farming practices and the resultant impacts on the land and areas of eucalypt forest. production. In this process they focused on differentiating between symptoms and causes in the indicators that they The remaining 4900 hectares is sandstone escarpment observed. of virgin native vegetation comprising eucalypts, spinifex, acacias, grass trees and numerous other shrubs, forbs, This process of observation and review continued over the and grasses. This area is a significant wildlife corridor next ten years until Shane and Shan had gained a body linking Isla Gorge and Precipice National Parks. of skills and knowledge that enabled them to begin to measure the results of their management practices. Traditional management of Dukes Plain had seen continuous grazing over its seven paddocks, with water provided through open dams with constant stock access. Embracing Change The brigalow and other vegetation had been cleared from Change was evolutionary on Dukes Plain, but became the landscape as a result of government lease conditions in inevitable when a cost benefit analysis demonstrated that the newly opened 156,000 square kilometre Fitzroy River input and maintenance costs from their current farming Basin in central Queensland in the 1950s and 1960s. The practices were far exceeding returns from production. clear and burn practices reflected the tree management techniques of the era. Regular fires were also used to The reality of the inevitable outcome of this situation control timber regrowth. firmly committed Shane and Shan to a complete change of production management. They realised that the landscape Shane Joyce points out that, as a consequence of the was out of balance and it needed to be returned to balance prevailing farming practices, the landscape was in steady to achieve long term economic production. They were decline from the beginning of the brigalow scheme. convinced that, once the balance was returned, they could Pastures were degrading through loss of soil structure increase cattle carrying capacity, using the same area of and fertility and species variety had reduced. This was land, without detriment to the landscape. combined with a reliance on external inputs with rising costs all at the same time as commodity prices were falling. Self education played a big part in deciding what changes to make to production operations. For the Joyces this Shane and Shan took over operation of the property in included reading, observation and experimentation with 1982 after coming from a background of permaculture both alternative and conventional systems. Shane and and organic farming on the Sunshine Coast. Not daunted Shan spent eight years learning about and working with Soils For Life Case Study 1: Dukes Plain QLD 49 permaculture techniques. Knowledge was furthered Currently, Shane and Shan are being approached by through attending workshops, courses and field days, and resource companies seeking to purchase environmental engaging with leading edge consultants. They eventually offsets. These organisations have been attracted to the completed the Grazing for Profit course which, among farm by the high levels of regrowth on the previously cleared other outcomes, provided the tools and guides to enable endangered brigalow and semi-evergreen vine thicket land measurement of production success. types. Shane and Shan see the potential for possible future sale of soil carbon credits. However they note, “This is Changing the grazing system on Dukes Plain was the major a complex issue that requires further investigation and single change to overall production. The introduction of clarification to ensure appropriate recognition of the land, cell grazing for their cattle focused on high stock density the landscape and agricultural production”. for minimum grazing time to allow pasture maximum time to recover. This has lead to significant improvements in landscape health and production outputs, as detailed Impediments to Change below, as well as substantial reductions to inputs required. Shane cites a broad range of challenges that he has As Shane says, “The ‘cow tractor’ is now the most used encountered in the process of changing their property piece of farming equipment”. management, “The first and most obvious challenge was A one-off capital investment in fencing and water overcoming prior learning ranging from my schooling days distribution was necessary to establish the cell grazing – the broadly ingrained views that Australian soils are system. An extensive network of single wire electric fences, old, barren, degraded and can’t produce topsoil – to the sub-divide the property into what are now 97 paddocks of generally accepted use of low management techniques”. around 20-40 hectares each. A water reticulation system Shane points out that this long accepted approach is seen services all paddocks, gravity fed through polythene pipes as the easier path, but over time it inevitably degrades from two ‘turkey’s nests’ – dams constructed at high points the land, leading to ever falling production. “From that of the property which can have water pumped into them outcome it is only a short step to the general acceptance as required. of external interventions such as fertiliser dependency, re- Continual monitoring and adjustment has been an seeding and drought feeding regimes, all of which also essential part of the Joyce’s strategy. Receiving peer input eventually contribute to degradation of the system.” through exposing the property and management to public Even with newly acquired information and the benefits of scrutiny by hosting field days has also been an important formal study and research, the Joyces found that it was element of implementation. Close working relationships challenging to put the theoretical principles into practice have also been established with conservation groups and in a manageable form. This was exacerbated by a lack of Queensland National Parks officers. peers to share ideas with or successful models to ‘copy’ from. General scepticism of new or different ideas was, and is, commonly encountered. Both Shane and Shan say that