Successful Research with Local Farmers to Improve Native Grasslands

Abstract

Athree-year project, the Impact of Grazing Management on Native Grasses of Non-Arable Pastures in the Mid-North of South Australia, was initiated by the farmer-led organisation Mid-North Grasslands Working Group. The project objectives were determined at a meeting of all stakeholders, and included demonstration that appropriate grazing management could allow native pastures to be grazed for production and result in improved conservation of native grasslands. Subsequent discussions with the farmers who managed the seven demonstration sites established to achieve this objective highlighted that their key objective was to increase production and, more importantly, profitability. The emergence of this previously undisclosed project objective resulted in the project consultants assigning grassland productivity as the focus and native perenniality as an incidental, but equal value, objective. Four elements were used in the conduct of the project: local and credible farmers committed to the project goals, capital support to facilitate change, technical expertise, and on-ground demonstration.