soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM

The good animal husbandryman can read the "early warning
signals" in his native pastures. He recognises the
symptoms of changes in the types of grass, before bare
areas appear and he adjusts his stocking rate to
encourage the better perennial grasses.
ers should be adjusted annually at the end of
the growing season (April-May) on the basis of available
feed for the coming winter.
As a general rule, managers should spell paddocks to
allow the better grasses to seed every 3-5 years.
This requires a property plan with sufficient paddocks
and waters to rotate animals as required.
Paddocks should be planned to fence different types of
country into separate paddocks so that each type can be
stocked and spelled according to its needs.
Where country has been damaged by over-use and where- a
hard scalded soil surface has developed, mechanical
ripping or banking may be needed to regain a protective
grass cover.
Today there is a need to recognise and accept the real
capability of our land and to stock it within that
natural limit. We are responsible to our nation for
maintaining our land's productive potential.
By forming local groups (soil conservation/landcare/
property management) we can discuss our problems,
identify solutions, set up trials and demonstrations and
assist others to bring the land under permanent systems.
Landholder committees assisted by specialists and
supported by external funding are the key to sound land
management and rural prosperity.