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Is pasture cropping an option for the inland Burnett?

Pasture cropping is a land management technique of sowing crops into living, perennial pastures and is a practice that has worked successfully in Southern Australia for the last decade.  But will it work in the subtropics?  This is a question an inland Burnett grazier hopes to answer this winter when he trials this technique on his Monogorilby property. 

Under the Better Catchments program, an initiative of the Burnett Mary Regional Group funded by the Australian Governments Caring for our Country, Monogorilby grazier, Scott Laidler, is converting a Shearer Trashworker and airseeder into a pasture cropping planter.  He will use this modified planter to plant a winter cereal crop into a buffel dominated creek flat on his property 'Karingal'. 

Mr Laidler's creek flat is well and truly frosted by May every year with no pasture growth throughout the winter leaving the paddock fallow for many months of the year.  The soil in the paddock is good quality and was cultivated many years ago, however the buffel stand is very productive in the growing season and Mr Laidler does not want it removed. 

The theory to this process is the planting of oats or barley directly into the living, yet dormant buffel pasture to maintain ground cover during the winter months as well as maintaining biological soil activity and produce winter feed.  A drawback to this process in the subtropics is the potential lack of winter rainfall to produce a winter crop. 

Mr Laidler is also planning to trial the application of additional nutrients and undersowing a medic species at planting.  Soil tests have been taken and the nutrients will be applied accordingly. 

A field day for interested persons will be organised by the Burnett Catchment Care Association (BCCA) and will be held on 'Karingal' in August 2010 to demonstrate the results of this innovative approach to farming.  Anyone interested in this project can telephone the Association on (07) 4166 3898.