Good chance to see landscape rehydration at work on Worona

• Landscape Rehydration field trip
• Postponed – date to be confirmed
• Worona Station, near Charters Towers
• Leave Bowen 7am
• For more information: Adrienne Hall  m: 0428 158 859

In response to considerable landholder interest, NQ Dry Tropics has become increasingly involved with the concept of landscape rehydration. 

Grazier Chris Le Feuvre, of Worona, is one of these landholders.

He has rehabilitated his property using landscape rehydration techniques to slow water down and hold it in the landscape for longer – to improve drought resilience.

This approach involves improving rainwater retention on the land, while building soil carbon to re-establish the natural function of the landscape.

The anticipated outcomes of this process are a longer growing season, and more areas of green plant material – each of which can be expected to directly improve livestock production in the Dry Tropics rangelands. 

Additionally, the process also makes a valuable contribution to carbon sequestration.

Given that Dry Tropics landholders plan for a non-growing season of up to 270 days, and feed quality declines rapidly during this period, it is reasonable to expect that any increase in green plant availability will boost landholders’ ability to increase beef cattle production.

It should also assist them to reduce direct costs such as supplementation, thereby improving the profitability and economic sustainability of their grazing enterprise. 

Through the landscape rehydration approach, NQ Dry Tropics has also worked on aspects of repair and intervention; such as implementing improved grazing management, and direct intervention in eroded floodplains. 

The interventions and improved practices being implemented by graziers partnering with NQ Dry Tropics — which include landscape rehydration initiatives — aim to reverse this decline.