Native pastures can be productive

February 23, 2009
By: Mark Kesby, Projects Officer, LPLM

There has been a long held belief that native pastures can’t be productive and should be replaced by “improved” pastures. However, this not necessarily true – the situation is much more complicated than that.

When the first explorers came over the range they found a diverse range of species in our pastures – both grasses and forbs (including legumes). The explorer and botanist, Alan Cunningham, crossed over Pandora Pass and descended onto the Plains on 2nd May 1825. In his diary he named 14 forbs and eight grasses.

Today, most native pastures are dominated by one or two hardy but unpalatable grasses and annual broadleaf weeds. Why? For almost two hundred years we have flogged those pastures with sheep, rabbits and cattle and when it stopped raining we grazed the pastures right into the ground. The result was that only the hardiest and least palatable species survived. Hence we have paddocks totally dominated by Plains Grass, Wire Grass or Spear Grass. These species did not dominate the landscape 200 years ago – it is management (or mismanagement) that made them dominant.

In many cases, the pastures that we are left with are very unproductive. The question is what to do about it. Converting to an “improved” pasture may not be an option because of the Native Vegetation Act. If in doubt, contact your local CMA office in the first instance. Even where it is legal to do so, there are significant issues that need to be considered. It is costly ($200 to $300 per hectare), will need ongoing inputs to maintain it, requires good grazing management and is prone to die out when the next drought hits. This means that you need to do your sums carefully to ensure that this is a profitable and affordable option for you.

Adding fertiliser and a legume combined with better grazing management is an option in some cases. There have been many trials in the North West that have clearly shown that this can greatly increase production and is very profitable. Again there are some potential problems with this course of action. Technically, it may contravene the Native Veg Act. More importantly, as the phosphorous level of the soil increases some native species will disappear out of the system (especially native herbs and legumes). Thirdly, unless the pasture is managed well (especially in dry times) it can become dominated by annual grasses and broadleaf weeds.

The third option is to adopt good rotational grazing systems with long rest periods in an attempt to get the more palatable natives that have been lost from the system to return. It is surprising how many of the species are still there lurking in our pastures waiting for the opportunity to take off again.

“Tallawang”, west of Willow Tree, owned and run by Craig Carter, is a good example of what can be achieved. His pastures are at various points along the process of recovery from being badly degraded. Those areas that were never cultivated now contain a wide range of perennial grasses, legumes and herbs. Ex cropping and lucerne country is further back but improving rapidly.

There will be a field day on the property on Friday 6th of March beginning at 9AM. Des Lang will speak on what native plants we have lost and what we can do to get them back. Judy Earl will speak on the value and roll of natives in our grazing systems. Craig will explain how he has turned the property around and show us the results.

I’ve got to say that the results are very impressive. What he is doing may not be the solution for your situation but certainly clearly demonstrates one option and what can be achieved. Oh, and I’ll give you a scone for morning tea and cook you a sausage for lunch!! Contact our office on 6741 8375 for directions and catering purposes.