Help available to tackle degraded land
THE Grazing Resilience and Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) program aims to support graziers to improve poor and degraded land by delivering one-on-one support by developing tailored land management plans and identifying actions that will lead to better conditions.
By participating in the GRASS program, graziers can access a range of resources and identify actions that lead to improved condition and productivity for poor or degraded land on their properties.
Participating in the program will also help graziers identify measures that will prevent severely degraded areas from further degrading.
The program has a range of financial incentives to assist landholders to undertake infrastructure improvements such as:
- fencing;
- water troughs; and
- erosion works.
The program also supports landholders to better understand the:
- requirements of the reef protection regulations; and
- the associated minimum standards for grazing in catchments that flow into the Great Barrier Reef.
The program is funded through the Queensland Government Reef Water Quality Program and is delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Burnett Mary Regional Group, Fitzroy Basin Association and NQ Dry Tropics.
Extension officers from these groups provide support and information to graziers in each region.
Contact Cherry Emerick (ph: 0456 015 772) for information about the LDC-sponsored LCAT workshop to be conducted at the Mt Pleasant Learning Hub on 26 February.
Are you a former Grazing BMP accredited producer?
This information is relevant to you.
As a Grazing BMP accredited producer NQ Dry Tropics is offering you priority access to the Queensland Government’s new Grazing Resilience and Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) program.
The Queensland Government will recognise graziers who achieved accreditation under the former Grazing BMP.
Producers that had a current Grazing BMP accreditation in June 2019 will be eligible to be considered as a low compliance risk for five years from 1 December 2019 if they wish to register under that recognition.
You can register for this recognition without participating in the GRASS program by contacting your local DAF or NQ Dry Tropics Grazing officer.
Although participation in the GRASS program is voluntary, and accredited graziers are being recognised as a low compliance risk, this does not absolve you from your regulatory obligations.
We encourage you to take advantage of this priority access opportunity, available exclusively to accredited producers until 28 February 2019.
Participating landholders will be considered a low priority for compliance visits for the duration of their involvement in this program.
Or not…
From the end of February, the program will be accessible to all graziers in the Burdekin, Fitzroy and Burnett-Mary regions who have some land in a poor or degraded condition.
The program provides graziers one-on-one extension support and tailored land management plans to address land in poor or degraded condition (defined as areas of groundcover under 50 per cent).
It includes some financial incentives, up to $15,000 per property, to help producers implement actions identified through the land management plan.
It also supports graziers to understand the requirements of the new reef protection regulations and the associated minimum standards for grazing in catchments that flow into the Great Barrier Reef.
For more information contact Mick Shannon on 0456 554 710 or Sam Skeat on 0439 661 961.