Southern Flinders pastoralists to prosper with climate-ready plan

News article |

Southern Flinders growers looking to tackle climate change and build more resilience into their farm business can now apply to join a unique property management program facilitated by the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board.

The individualised program can revolutionise pastoral operations by cultivating a better understanding of a landscape’s dynamics, including how it functions and how to sustainably mix its production elements with resource and nature conservation.

A key outcome is the development of an Ecologically Sustainable Rangelands Management (ESRM) plan, which considers land systems and condition, grazing management, fencing, water and stock handling infrastructure, weed and pest control, the climate, biodiversity and fire management.

The process begins with a kitchen-table discussion about the grower’s property goals, followed by a landscape mapping exercise that charts elements such as landscape formations and existing vegetation and soil condition.

Two innovative farming families based near Orroroo are already working closely with a specialist property planning facilitator to develop an ESRM plan for their operations.

Both family-owned and run farms that have endured a long-standing drought, the families are keen to add to their farming and landscape management expertise to ensure business longevity.

Southern Flinders pastoralists to prosper with climate-ready plan
Pastoralists Tim and Christy Luckraft with their four children on their property near Orroroo. The family has begun the development of an Ecologically Sustainable Rangelands Management plan, as part of the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board’s Living Flinders program, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

“Over the past several years our district has been severely affected by drought and this has resulted in us looking to explore ways we can make our farming enterprise more sustainable long term on reduced annual rainfall,” said Christy Luckraft, who farms with her husband Tim and their four children. “We are looking forward to developing a property management plan that will improve our grazing management practices and guide us in regenerating our landscape with native pasture species that are more drought tolerant.”

The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, as part of the Living Flinders program, is now seeking land owners or managers within the Southern Flinders to submit an expression of interest. Applicants with properties greater than 5000ha and with more than 50% of their total income derived from pastoral grazing are encouraged.

Full details and an Expression of Interest form are available on the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board’s website: www.landscape.sa.gov.au/ny/projects/living-flinders Submissions close on 30 July, 2021 at 5pm. For more information contact Jessie White, Landscape Project Officer, via jessie.white@sa.gov.au or phone 0429 151 138.

This project is supported by the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

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