Grazing at 'The Gardens'
Grazing at 'The Gardens'
Gwymac Inc partnered with the Inverell Community Gardens to provide hands on practical training to local High School Agricultural students on the importance of ground cover and strategic grazing to improve soil organic carbon and pasture biomass.
Showing the Difference -
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The issue
The Inverell Community Gardens have been operating in Inverell for 5 years and partner with Macintyre High School Agricultural Students to run their sheep on the rear portion of the site. The Gardens plan on becoming an educational hub for sustainable agriculture and wanted to showcase strategic grazing and provide hands on practical training to students as well as the wider community on the importance of ground cover. The 1.5 ha of land was only fenced as one paddock so overgrazed and under grazed areas in the paddock were starting to appear as the sheep were set stocked.
The solution
The area was subdivided into 4 paddocks across .8 ha with the use of electric fencing and the provision of watering points and the sheep were rotationally grazed within the 4 paddocks. The remaining .7 ha was retained as a single paddock and set stocked. There were slight delays within the project which resulted in pasture assessments being conducted over a 10 month period (12 months + was the original target). The Gardens held a field day on the demonstration site in March 2017 with students from the 3 local High Schools and community members attending.
The impact
The Inverell Community Gardens are situated on a highly visible site at the corner of Swanbrook Road and Evans Street. This project has resulted in an accessible, small demonstration site of sustainable grazing management practices permanently set up for community members, school groups and others to visit, observe and learn from. One of the NT LLS agronomists and a passionate local small holding grazier assisted with the project and spoke at the Field Day. The school students were most appreciative of having access to such high quality speakers.
Key facts
- The benefits of rest periods resulting in an increase in pasture health and productivity
- The benefits of rotational grazing practices on animal health productivity
- Involving local High School students in the Inverell Community Gardens