The Paddock Challenge: comparing business as usual with recommended stocking rates

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

6-2025

Conference Title

XII International Rangeland Congress 2025: Working Together for our Global Rangelands Future

Place of Publication

Adelaide

ISBN

978-0-646-72121-7

Keywords

stocking rate, carrying capacity, rangeland management, research adoption

Disciplines

Agricultural Economics | Beef Science | Environmental Monitoring | Natural Resources and Conservation

Abstract

Cattle producers love a challenge. Will getting their stocking rates right provide production stability and allow for land condition improvement on a commercial property in Central Australia? The Paddock Challenge is a component of the Rain Ready Rangelands Project funded by the Australian Government Future Drought Fund, with the philosophy that learning through doing is the key to adoption. It aims to work with commercial producers to adopt, demonstrate and test the learnings from the Quality Graze project under their unique circumstances, and to use data to drive stocking rate and development decisions. Two pastoral stations, 400km southwest and 300km northwest of Alice Springs, Australia (Fig. 1), are collaborating with the Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to test the Quality Graze recommendations and compare their grazing management to a 'Challenge' paddock where a strategy adapted from Quality Graze is being applied. Comparisons and benchmarking are at the whole pad dock or water-point scale, depending on station infrastructure. The first year of the challenge involved working with producers to explore their current management, collecting baseline data on pastures, animal performance, landscape use, nutrition, and health. Station data were used to inform bioeconomic modelling of the economic impacts of different stocking and management strategies. The project collaborated with producers to develop strategies aimed at enhancing the rain responsiveness of their landscapes, thereby reducing the impact of climate variability on land condition and animal production and build the climate resilience of their businesses.

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