The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 5. Land and pasture development practices
G. Bortolussi A D E , J. G. McIvor B , J. J. Hodgkinson B , S. G. Coffey C and C. R. Holmes AA CSIRO Livestock Industries, PO Box 5545, Rockhampton MC, Qld 4702, Australia.
B CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.
C CSIRO Livestock Industries, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.
D Present address: NRM Programs & Operations Group, NRM Support Division, Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, GPO Box 2834, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: greg.bortolussi@bigpond.com
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(9) 1121-1129 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04013
Submitted: 15 April 2004 Accepted: 23 June 2004 Published: 10 October 2005
Abstract
The land and pasture development practices of 375 northern Australian beef properties in 8 regions were surveyed during 1996–97. These properties represented a broad cross-section of the beef industry in terms of geographical location, enterprise and herd size, and ownership structures.
Both tree clearing and killing were more common in Queensland than in the Northern Territory or northern Western Australia. In all regions where trees were poisoned, native pasture was more widely used than sowing introduced grass and/or legume species. In contrast, tree clearing was most often accompanied by sowing pastures (either an introduced grass only or introduced grass and legume species together), rather than using native pastures. Central coastal Queensland had the highest use of poisoning trees for pasture development. Tree clearing and using native pasture was most important in central Queensland regions and the Maranoa South West. Sowing introduced pasture species under live trees was more commonly practiced in northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia than in other regions.
A considerable number of introduced grass and legume species were sown by producers. Most of the sown species were grasses. Many of the sown grass and legume species were spreading naturally. Buffel grass was spreading in all areas with < 1000 mm average annual rainfall, but most sown species were spreading only in wetter regions. Stylosanthes spp. were the most commonly spreading legume species in regions with > 500 mm average annual rainfall.
The results are discussed in relation to contemporary natural resource management issues and how this may affect land and pasture development activities in the future.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this work was provided by the CSIRO Tropical Agri-Exports Multi-Divisional Project. We thank J. Stewart, chairman NABRC, for his support of the work; the numerous staff in Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and Western Australia Department of Agriculture for their assistance in organising the survey and providing valuable local information; D. Reid for his statistical advice; and R. M. Jones and C. K. McDonald for their advice concerning this paper.
Ash AJ, McIvor JG
(1998) Forage quality and feed intake responses of cattle to improved pastures, tree killing and stocking rate in open eucalypt woodlands of north-eastern Australia. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 131, 211–219.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bortolussi G,
McIvor JG,
Hodgkinson JJ,
Coffey SG, Holmes CR
(2005b) The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 1. Regional enterprise activity and structure. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1057–1073.
Bortolussi G,
McIvor JG,
Hodgkinson JJ,
Coffey SG, Holmes CR
(2005c) The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 2. Breeding herd performance and management. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1075–1091.
Bortolussi G,
McIvor JG,
Hodgkinson JJ,
Coffey SG, Holmes CR
(2005d) The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 3. Annual liveweight gains from pasture. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1093–1108.
Bortolussi G,
McIvor JG,
Hodgkinson JJ,
Coffey SG, Holmes CR
(2005e) The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 4. Condition and management of natural resources. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1109–1120.
Burrows WH
(1991) Sustaining productive pastures in the tropics. 11. An ecological perspective. Tropical Grasslands 25, 153–158.
Burrows WH
(2002) Seeing the wood(land) through the trees — an individual perspective of Queensland woodland studies (1965–2005). Tropical Grasslands 36, 202–217.
Burt RL, Williams WT
(1975) Plant introduction and the Stylosanthes story. Australian Meat Research Committee Reviews 25, 1–26.
Childs J
(2002) Where to for tropical pasture improvement — silver bullet, weed or …… Tropical Grasslands 36, 199–201.
Clements RJ
(1996) Pastures for prosperity. 3. The future for new tropical pasture plants. Tropical Grasslands 30, 31–46.
Coates DB,
Miller CP,
Hendricksen RE, Jones RJ
(1997) Stability and productivity of Stylosanthes pastures in Australia. II. Animal production from Stylosanthes pastures. Tropical Grasslands 31, 494–502.
Collins A
(1996) Pastures for prosperity — seeds forum 4. The future for the seed industry — a seed users viewpoint. Tropical Grasslands 30, 384–385.
Fairfax RJ, Fensham RJ
(2000) The effect of exotic pasture development on floristic diversity in central Queensland, Australia. Biological Conservation 94, 11–21.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fensham RJ
(1996) Land clearance and conservation of inland dry rainforest in north Queensland, Australia. Biological Conservation 75, 289–298.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gardener CJ
(1980) Diet selection and liveweight performance of steers on Stylosanthes hamata-native grass pastures. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 31, 379–392.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gardener CJ,
McIvor JG, Williams J
(1990) Dry tropical rangelands: solving one problem and creating another. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 16, 279–286.
Gillard P
(1979) Improvement of native pasture with Townsville stylo in the dry tropics of sub-coastal northern Queensland. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 19, 325–336.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gramshaw D, Walker B
(1988) Sown pasture development in Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 114, 93–102.
Grice AC, McIntyre S
(1995) Speargrass (Heteropogon contortus) in Australia: dynamics of species and community. Rangelands Journal 17, 3–25.
Henry BK,
Danaher T,
McKeon GM, Burrows WH
(2002) A review of the potential role of greenhouse gas abatement in native vegetation management in Queensland’s rangelands. Rangeland Journal 24, 112–132.
Humphries SE,
Groves RH, Mitchell DS
(1991) Plant invasions: The incidence of environmental weeds in Australia. Kowari 2, 1–134.
James CD,
Landsberg J, Morton SR
(1999) Provision of watering points in the Australian arid zone: a review of effects on biota. Journal of Arid Environments 41, 87–121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lonsdale WM
(1994) Inviting trouble: introduced pasture species in northern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 19, 345–354.
Low T
(1997) Tropical pasture plants as weeds. Tropical Grasslands 31, 337–343.
McCown RL
(1980) The climatic potential for beef cattle production in tropical Australia: Part I Simulating the annual cycle of liveweight change. Agricultural Systems 6, 303–317.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McCown RL
(1981) The climatic potential for beef cattle production in tropical Australia: Part III Variation in the commencement, cessation and duration of the green season. Agricultural Systems 7, 163–178.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McIvor JG, McIntyre S
(1997) Responsible use of exotic tropical pasture cultivars — an ecological framework. Tropical Grasslands 31, 332–336.
Miller CP, Stockwell TGH
(1991) Sustaining productive pastures in the tropics 4. Augmenting native pasture with legumes. Tropical Grasslands 25, 98–103.
Miller CP,
Rains JP,
Shaw KA, Middleton CH
(1997) Commercial development of Styolosanthes pastures in northern Australia. II Stylosanthes in the northern Australian beef industry. Tropical Grasslands 31, 509–514.
Noble AD,
Cannon M, Muller D
(1997) Evidence of accelerated soil acidification under Stylosanthes-dominated pastures. Australian Journal of Soil Research 35, 1309–1322.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Norman NJT
(1974) Beef production from tropical pastures: Part 1. Australian Meat Research Committee Reviews 16, 1–23.
Rolfe J,
Blamey R, Bennett J
(2000) Valuing the preservation of rangelands: tree clearing in the desert uplands region of Queensland. Rangelands Journal 22, 205–219.
Romero A, Siebert BD
(1980) Seasonal variations of nitrogen and digestible energy intake of cattle on tropical pasture. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 31, 393–400.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Scanlan JC
(2002) Some aspects of tree-grass relationships in Queensland’s grazing lands. Rangelands Journal 24, 56–82.
Scanlan JC, Burrows WH
(1990) Woody overstorey impact on herbaceous understorey in Eucalyptus spp. communities in central Queensland. Australian Journal of Ecology 15, 191–198.
Walker B
(1991) Sustaining tropical pastures — summative address. Tropical Grasslands 25, 219–223.
Walker B, Weston EJ
(1990) Pasture development in Queensland — a success story. Tropical Grasslands 24, 257–268.
Walker B,
Baker J,
Becker M,
Brunckhorst R,
Heatley D,
Simms J,
Skerman DS, Walsh S
(1997) Sown pasture priorities for the subtropical and tropical beef industry. Tropical Grasslands 31, 266–272.
Walker J,
Robertson JA,
Penridge LK, Sharpe PJH
(1986) Herbage response to tree thinning in a Eucalyptus crebra woodland. Australian Journal of Ecology 11, 135–140.
Wilson BA,
Neldner VJ, Accad A
(2002) The extent and status of remnant vegetation in Queensland and its implications for statewide vegetation management and legislation. Rangelands Journal 24, 6–35.
Winks L
(1984) Cattle growth in the dry tropics of Australia. Australian Meat Research Committee Reviews 45, 1–43.
