Increasing agricultural production through better pastures, reducing stock pressure on creeks and riparian zones, and managing water and soils were some of the topics presented to landholders last month during a series of workshops in the Logan and Albert catchments.

The workshops taught how to restore productive pasture.

Better pastures

The workshops were delivered over three days at Mount Alford, Beaudesert, and Canungra in the Scenic Rim local government area, which is home to many of Healthy Land & Water’s waterway and landscape health projects.

Participants learned about restoring productive pasture grasses to their paddocks through species recognition, changing management practices to

encourage better growth, and calculate optimum stocking levels to maintain healthy grass cover, among other things.

“The takeaway message was not to exclude stock from watering or grazing within creeks and riparian zones altogether but rather to utilise this area of the farm sparingly to preserve plant cover,

reduce soil compaction and development of cow paths, all of which limit the risk of slow erosion of creek banks,” said Ross Bigwood, Rural Team Manager for Healthy Land & Water.

In total, 52 people attended the workshops, which were made possible through support from the Scenic Rim Regional Council. ​