Sustainable agriculture

Sustainable management vital

Given the relative area of land managed by farmers, they play a central role in the conservation and management of other natural values, including the regions waterways and rich biodiversity.

Farmers of the region are faced with many challenges in maintaining viable enterprises, including climate extremes, cost of production, profit margins, and market uncertainty. These challenges can place pressure on already stretched land and water resources.

How agricultural land in South East Queensland is managed influences the health of waterways, including the regions creeks, rivers, estuaries and coasts. In some cases, poor agricultural land management continues to threaten water security and waterway health.

The uptake of sustainable agricultural practice in the region can enhance the long-term viability of farm enterprises, supporting regional communities, and in many cases can have positive outcomes for waterways and catchments.

What is sustainable agriculture?

A sustainable agricultural practice is one that is economically viable and enhances the environmental quality and the resource base on which agriculture depends, such as the soils, water, plants as well as pollinators such as insects.

Practices are specific to different types of agriculture such as horticulture, grazing, or market gardens. These practices may be broadly known and shared between generations of farmers while others are new innovations in response to emerging and ongoing challenges.

Implementation of sustainable agricultural practice requires vision, persistence, innovation, and often up-front and ongoing expenses. Many organizations and individuals contribute to sustainable agriculture practice uptake across the region, including industry groups, government, and local communities. The Agricultural Industry, Government and Natural Resource Management organisations are actively investing to support farmers to manage land sustainably. These investments often take the form of best management practice improvement programs or capacity-building extension activities.

• Landholder engagement and capacity building activities.
• Assisting landholders through knowledge exchange and training.
• Best management practice improvement programs.
• On-ground behavior change programs to assist landholders to identify and implement improved practices to enhance enterprise sustainability and profitability.

Here's a snapshot of just some of the action over the past 5 years. These numbers will grow as more groups from across the region contribute their data.