Grains Best Management Practices (BMP) program is helping farmers get the best out of their equipment, for more efficiently produced grains and great environmental gains.
Grain growers like Carmel and Kevin O’Keeffe who own and run Wallalee, a 3925 hectare mixed grazing and grains enterprise near Emerald are discovering they can vastly improve the performance of their spray equipment, resulting in less time spent in the field, less wasted chemicals and reduced run-off into local waterways.
David and Adele O’Connor of Springsure property “Mountain View” have been awarded the Reef Rescue award in the grain category for their outstanding work through the program.
Mountain View has been in the family for 127 years and sits South of the Springsure watershed of the Comet and Nogoa River Catchments with several creeks originating in the area. The O’Connor’s have reduced the amount of nutrients, sediment and chemicals flowing into these creeks and improved their bottom line by introducing a grazing and cropping management regime that rests pastures and improves pasture-cropping practices.
Social media is helping to harness the ancient oral history of indigenous people for contemporary audiences.
A series of short videos showcasing indigenous knowledge of country and ecology in central Queensland are now available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/fitzroybasin.
Farmers in the Fitzroy Basin, the largest catchment draining to the Great Barrier Reef, have been working to construct fences and watering points to keep cattle away from streams and creeks.
Central Queensland’s leading natural resource management group, Fitzroy Basin Association Inc. (FBA) CEO Paul Birch said these measures reduce the erosion of creek beds and improves the quality of water that flows from our basin to the reef.
“In the past year FBA has worked with farmers, landholders and community groups to fence over 400 kilometres of streams and creeks,” Mr Birch said.
Trudy and Lachlan Mace’s property near Stanage Bay in central Queensland encompasses more than ten thousand hectares of magnificent marine plains, estuarine wetland and freshwater creeks.
Fencing erected this year on Toorilla Station is giving greater protection to 11 freshwater creeks, which supply 285 ha of wetland, from the effects of erosion from cattle grazing on the property.
Making cattle eat the right grass in the right place is a lot like forcing a child to eat their vegetables – it’s difficult. When cattle find a more desirable grass species in a level, shady spot, they stick around.
This was the problem that faced Phil and Deborah Reid, the owners of Limestone, a cattle property located at the base of the Peak Downs Ranges near Emerald, with spectacular Open Downs and Mountain Coolibah Woodland country. Continue Reading…
Rainy weather in CQ in the last few years has been a boon for local wetlands, and the fish, birds and other wildlife that rely on them. One local grower is helping protect local natural beauty by reducing run-off from his property.
The Coleman family farm produces a range of foods that appear on the menu for most families including sweet potatoes, sweet corn, zucchini, pumpkins as well as melons. A wetland located downhill from the farm situated on the Fitzroy flood plain at Gracemere, west of Rockhampton, is being protected from stormwater run-off thanks to Reef Rescue funding. Continue Reading…
While land around Capella in the Fitzroy Basin provides perfect conditions to grow grains, farming is a challenging career path.
Local man Andy Hawken is proving it is never too late to start – after living in the area for over 20 years he recently acquired a share-farming block and began his journey to become a farmer.
New to the grains industry his neighbours suggested he contact Central Highlands Regional Resources Use Planning Co-operative (CHRRUP), a sub region of Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA).
As a result he joined FBA’s innovative training program designed to assist grain growers to adopt best management practices, Grains BMP. Continue Reading…
Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) is working in partnership with companies and groups to monitor the health of waterways in the Fitzoy Basin and make water quality information available to the public. Other members of the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health include the Queensland Government, local mining companies, Central Queensland University and regional councils.
A first for the Fitzroy Basin and following the successful model established through the South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Partnership, the Fitzroy partnership represents a huge step forward in improving public understanding of water quality issues and confidence in the transparency of water quality monitoring efforts. Continue Reading…
Imagine yourself crawling through a dark, shrubby tunnel. Suddenly you spot a Black Breasted Button Quail! This is what faced kids visiting the Fitzroy Basin Association Inc. (FBA) display at Ecofest in Gladstone this year.
FBA’s Boyne Calliope Sub Region ran the activity to help young people in the Gladstone region understand the relationship between ecosystems and animals.
Boyne Calliope Sub Region field officer Vicki Dart said the display featured a tunnel with the walls lined with images of dry rainforest. “Stuck onto the walls of the tunnel were laminated images of different critters like birds, frogs, snakes and lizards that rely on dry rainforests for food and shelter,” Ms Dart said. Continue Reading…
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