Grazing research in the arid zone
The effects of wind direction, wind speed, temperature and water placement on grazing patterns in paddocks is the focus of a research project by Charles Darwin University student Samantha Connor, which is supported by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).
Her research builds on the understanding of livestock behaviour in low rainfall regions, while trialing technology and devices in the pastoral zone. An SA Arid Lands (SAAL) Landscape Board Grassroots Grant contributed funds in 2024/25 to trial the technology to support the research.
Sam’s interest in the topic came from observing that sheep preferentially grazed specific areas, corners and fence lines of paddocks in the pastoral zone. This grazing behaviour was influencing land condition and pasture growth in these patches. Understanding how sheep graze can influence management decisions when installing new water points or fencing to create even grazing distribution in a paddock, in turn reducing patches of over-grazing.
In its initial stages, the research project involved fitting GPS tags to track 100 merino ewes at North Well over four weeks. The Moovement tags are solar powered and were fitted to the sheep on specially designed collars to allow the tag to stay on the back of the neck. These tags transmit hourly information to a LoRa WAN base station in the paddock, which is uploaded to a cloud-based information storage system. A weather station in the same paddock records environmental conditions during the four-week period.
Sam’s work complements virtual fencing trials also being run in the region with SARDI researchers. SARDI is undertaking a range of research projects in the SA Arid Lands region and SAAL’s Sustainable Agriculture Team is supporting the implementation of the research.
This research has been funded by the South Australian Sheep Industry Fund and the Future Drought Fund’s Long-term Trials Program.
