Environment - the engine room

Healthy grazing lands don’t just support sustainable livestock production, but also underpin a healthy ecosystem. You may have heard the term ‘natural capital’.   

Natural capital describes:

• the on-farm resources on which the production system directly depends (soils and pastures)
• the farm’s natural resources, such as native vegetation, riparian zones and waterways (protection and restoration as appropriate)
• practices that minimise impacts from the grazing business on the off-farm environment
• knowledge and awareness of the key environmental issues for their property, catchment and region and how to manage these within a productive and profitable grazing business
• an ability to understand and manage the interactions between climate, water, soils, nutrients, trees and biodiversity in grazing systems.

Successful grazing businesses incorporate management of natural capital into their core operation, by doing some or all of the following:

• maintaining a high proportion of perennial grasses (native or introduced) in their pastures
• developing targets or plans that encourage environmental management as an integral part of their grazing business such as fencing and actively managing riparian zones and remnant vegetation
• increasing biodiversity on their property using native species where possible
• engaging with Landcare or other environmental groups.

On-farm environmental management can have co-benefits for livestock such as:

• trees that provide shade and shelter
• pollination by desirable insect species
• biological pest and weed control
• reduced erosion and soil moisture retention provided by groundcover
• carbon sequestration.