Latest news with #Muttaburra
ABC News
07-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Western Queensland grazier turns to cropping to prepare for next drought
Instead of grazing cattle and sheep quietly moving through the Mitchell grass plains of Boyd Webb's outback station, a harvester is reaping what he has sown. His property at Muttaburra sits in the geographical centre of Queensland and the heart of its grazing country, but for the past four seasons it has also been home to a cropping experiment. Growing grain without irrigation, he plans to bury the sorghum being cut as insurance for the next time the rain stops and his pasture dies. But far from an outlier, he is part of a growing push to grow crops in the bush. Mr Webb has sown more than 280 hectares of dry land sorghum between his cattle and sheep paddocks that he will use to feed his animals in the next dry. Spat into the back of a truck, the cut sorghum is moved to a deep pit that can store up to 3,000 tonnes of feed for years. Stored this way, the green plant material ferments and becomes silage, a kind of "pickled pasture" that preserves the nutrients. The silage will allow Mr Webb to keep feeding stock long after the grass stops growing. "We're not [going to be] pushed into a corner and have to sell [stock] because we've run out of feed or it hasn't rained," he said. He plans to expand his crop to more than 600 hectares next year, increasing the amount of feed he can store on the property. Eventually, he wants to have 20,000 tonnes of silage sorghum in storage. "There'll be droughts here every few years, so the fact that we can grow in a good season and put it away for a dry season is going to be worth a lot," he said. While recent years have been a much-needed reprieve from the decade-long millennium drought, Mr Webb said those dry times still weighed heavily on the minds of producers. Growing the sorghum allowed him to diversify and offered stability to his business in a part of the country where turbulent weather was common. Growing dry land crops that rely on rain for moisture might seem risky in country known for its dry times, but Mr Webb said the rain in good seasons was enough to store moisture in the soil and plants. "It may be that you don't plant a crop every year, maybe [you do it] every second year. "Basically, you keep letting it rain, store the moisture, and then once you've got enough moisture there to grow your crop, you can grow it." Mr Webb is not alone in experimenting with growing his own feed. In the Northern Territory some of the biggest names in cattle have applied for permits to clear country for cropping, including Gina Rinehart's Helen Springs Station and Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC). At a recent Farm to Feed forum in Katherine, Andrew Cochrane, who previously managed CPC's Isis Downs station in western Queensland but now runs Newcastle Waters, shared their approach. He said while some feed and supplements were still brought in, having access to their own feed had benefits, especially for younger cattle. "That weaning process … it's a very integral time and a big stress period on those animals," Mr Cochrane said. "You can smooth that out and keep them on a rising growth plane, we're turning those cattle off much sooner than in previous years. "It's a two-fold benefit — it's not just those weaners doing well and gaining weight, it's the cow's body condition [as well]." Tony Hayne is a vet, cattle producer and cotton grower at Douglas Station. He planted silage hay this year and used cottonseed to supplement during the dry season, when protein was hard to source in the Top End. "It takes a lot of pressure off through the dry and it's a by-product of the cotton," he said. In the four years since Mr Webb started experimenting, he has grown oats for hay and two sorghum crops before this latest crop. He said "farmer error" had forced a steep learning curve with every new crop he planted. "It's a whole new world," he said. "Probably the biggest limiting factor is how quickly we can absorb it, understand it and implement it … to an outsider there's a lot to learn. To get started, Mr Webb purchased second-hand machinery and equipment, and while that initial outlay could be expensive, he said older equipment did the job. "When I started, all our farming equipment was basically less than what you'd buy a buggy for," he said. "It doesn't have to be expensive because we're not trying to grow a cereal crop. "I think that's where farming is going to end up out here. It won't be for growing cereals, it'll be for supporting the livestock industry."
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Locusts devour feed on outback Queensland cattle properties in unseasonal swarms
Millions of locusts are stripping outback cattle stations of grass, feasting on the benefits of a good wet season at a time of year when they should be dormant. Graziers in western Queensland say they are losing the battle against swarms of young migratory insects as they move on from the Alpha and Clermont areas, where they devoured huge swathes of stock feed. As the insects make their way further north, producers around Aramac and Muttaburra now fear for the pastures they rely on to get their animals through the winter months. At Aviemore Station, between Muttaburra and Aramac, swarms of the native species have been eating through paddocks for more than two weeks. Katie Rabnott and her husband Glen do not know how much feed will be left for their cattle when the swarm moves on. "We're seeing millions [of insects]," Mrs Rabnott said. "The paddocks had responded to the March rainfall, and to lose it all to the locusts is a huge concern to us. "We are so unsure about control or spraying as it's a district plague and not just Aviemore that's been [affected]." Locusts are endemic to Queensland, and the adults are capable of flying hundreds of kilometres. Young locusts are often mistaken for grasshoppers, but their tendency to swarm in large groups is what sets them apart. Aerial spraying is the most common way to control populations or mitigate against plagues, but the treatment is only effective if used when the insects are young to prevent further breeding. According to the Queensland government, landholders are responsible for controlling locusts. However, the government will assist with Australian plague locusts, migratory locusts and spur-throated locusts. Where populations have the potential to cause significant damage to interstate agricultural industries, the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC) plays a role in managing numbers. Australia's Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer and Commissioner of the APLC, Bertie Hennecke, said locust populations usually dropped during winter months. However, Dr Hennecke said because of the large body of feed across the central west, numbers had instead risen this year. "It's not unusual to have [the population increase] when vegetation is around … it really depends how we move forward in terms of how that can play out." Dr Hennecke said if it kept raining in winter, it would only take about 40 millimetres for the population to continue to grow. "If we have continuous rainfall happening, we will probably have to start some treatment at the end of winter and early autumn," he said. If there was less rainfall, Mr Hennecke said the population would start to "die down" as soil moisture decreased. While Katie Rabnott has been dealing with the swarms for weeks now, Geoff Seccombe from Kenya Station, west of Muttaburra, is just starting to see swarms arrive. "We've had a magnificent season here and we're trying to capitalise on it, but if they come through, they'll wipe our grass out. "I'm a bit concerned about the reports to the east … they've done a fair bit of damage." Mr Seccombe said the lack of support or response from the Queensland government had been disappointing. "It's concerning they're not out here helping us because this is where their food comes from." In response to Mr Seccombe's comments, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries said landholders needed to formally report swarms to Biosecurity Queensland "The department is urging all landholders to take proactive measures against locusts and enact their general biosecurity obligation to mitigate the risk of plagues, following increased locust activity," the spokesperson said. In May, Biosecurity Queensland hosted a meeting with the Locust Oversight Group (LOG) in response to the increased activity, providing information on the current situation and response escalation.
ABC News
22-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Camels help eradicate costly weed
Andy Park: Dozens of giant creatures with stomachs of steel have been called in to dine on an out-of-control weed in outback Queensland. The camels were brought in to eat the prickly acacia, an invasive plant costing farmers millions of dollars every year in lost production. The first stage of the trial was so successful, more farmers across Australia are hungry to join. Abbey Halter has the story. Abbey Halter: They're not your usual pest control team. But if camels are good at anything, it's eating. A thorny weed called prickly acacia has been plaguing farmland in outback Queensland since the early 1900s. Cattle unintentionally spread the weed when feeding, so experts brought in camels to try and eradicate their costly prickly problem. Geoff Penton is an expert in weed management who helped organise the study. Geoff Penton: The main impact the camels have had is stopping the plants or reducing the plants from setting seed and spreading. Abbey Halter: 30 camels were brought onto a 40,000 hectare property in the outback town of Muttaburra in western Queensland as part of the four-year trial. Geoff Penton: Their predominant diet becomes prickly acacia. About 30% of the plants have been knocked down but not destroyed. So what we've observed so far is that they don't kill prickly acacia plants through their foraging, but they reduce their impact, they stop them from setting as much seed, not entirely, but predominantly stop it from setting seed. Abbey Halter: Paul Keegan has been a camelier for 40 years at his property near Mount Isa in northwest Queensland. He donated some of his camels for the trial. Paul Keegan: When the prickly acacia are flowering, they absolutely hammer the flowers so there's no seeds. It takes a little bit of training but you've got a couple of caged camels, quiet ones that can lead the way, well it doesn't take a hell of a lot of brains to work it out, you know. They do the job but you've got to work with them. The company selling the herbicides are making a fortune out of it and it'll keep on going unless you implement something to take the flower and seed out. So they're going around spraying and treating trees that the camels can take care of. Abbey Halter: David Batt is a sheep and cattle farmer in Queensland's central west. He's not involved in the trial but has been using camels to help control the prickly trees for decades. David Batt: They are effective, there's no doubt, they won't get rid of the prickly bushes, you know, they can't do, oh well they would have yet enough of them, but they will slow it down to a certain extent. The trouble is they only attack the trees when it's really dry, you know, towards the end of light years or droughts, that's when they really hammer them. Otherwise they're eating all the good stuff on the ground that your other livestock are eating, so they're just directly competing with them. Abbey Halter: The trial's organiser, Geoff Penton, says one camel for every thousand prickly acacia plants was an ideal ratio and if left uncontrolled it's estimated within five years the weed could dominate more than 470,000 square kilometres of land across Queensland and into the Northern Territory. The second stage of the trial is now underway and Geoff Penton hopes more landowners will develop an appetite for the strategy. Andy Park: Abbey Halter and friends with that report
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Camels help eradicate invasive prickly acacia in outback Queensland trial
Dozens of giant creatures with stomachs of steel have proved a powerful enemy to one of the most invasive plants in the Queensland outback. Over four years, camels have been introduced to prime grazing paddocks to eat a thorny weed called prickly acacia. The invasive plant, introduced to Queensland in the early 1900s, is estimated to cost landholders $27.5 million yearly in lost production. The acacia's prolific spread means eradication is no longer considered an option. The trial began in Muttaburra in Western Queensland, and the results are in — the humped mammals have beaten, and eaten, the weed. More than 30 camels have been dining on a 40,000-hectare property as part of the trial, and while they failed to kill the plant, they did keep it at bay. Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ) operations manager Geoff Penton said the trial proved how effective the camels could be in slowing the weed's spread. "It's an effective method." Unlike cattle or sheep, when a camel eats the prickly acacia's flowers, the seeds do not pass through into their faeces. It means the weed's spread is stopped in its tracks. Mr Penton said one camel for every 1,000 prickly acacia plants was an ideal ratio. "We found that grass makes up roughly only a third of their diet, so they predominantly will eat the prickly acacia," he said. According to DCQ, prickly acacia is one of Australia's worst weeds, and under good conditions can produce more than 170,000 seeds per tree in a year, completely taking over landscapes. Left uncontrolled, it is estimated that within five years, the weed could dominate 95 per cent of Mitchell Grass Downs, which spans more than 470,000 square kilometres across Queensland and into the Northern Territory. Mr Penton said the second stage of the DCQ trial was underway, evaluating the camel's impact during seasonal changes, and more landholders wanted to join the program. Paul Keegan has been a cameleer for 40 years at his property near Mount Isa in North West Queensland. Mr Keegan supplied some of his 300 camels to the DCQ trial and said the results were exactly what he expected. "Unless you implement something to take the flower and seed out, landholders are going to keep going around spraying and spraying [herbicides]," he said. Camels have had a bad reputation in some parts of rural Australia, with feral populations stealing feed, destroying fences and drinking water meant for cattle. But Mr Keegan said if landholders wanted to get on top of prickly acacia, they should swap out herbicides for the herbivores. "Inside the fence at the trial site there was no [prickly acacia] grass thanks to the camels, and outside the fence the grass is up around your knees," he said. For 25 years, camels have eaten prickly acacia across David Batt's 80,000-hectare cattle and sheep station, west of Winton. Mr Batt said he could not quantify how much money he had saved on herbicides by using camels, but it would be substantial. "It's well worth it," he said. While camels may "get a bit of a bad rap" as pests in Australia, Mr Batt said he had no problem with them mingling with his stock.
