Get reliable rangeland science

Pathways less travelled to forage legume practice change
Author
Hopkins, KC
Buck, SR
Publisher
XII International Rangeland Congress
Publication Year
2025
Body

Land condition decline, pasture rundown and dieback are significant issues for beef businesses in central Queensland. Perennial pasture legumes play a role in preventing and remediating these conditions, leading to improved beef production and business profitability. Adoption of perennial legume pastures by beef producers in central Queensland is low; however, there is renewed interest in legume plantings since they have been promoted as an option for greenhouse gas reduction. An extension strategy was developed to use carbon-focused peer-to-peer learning workshops to generate interest in one-on-one support to introduce perennial pasture legumes. Workshops were delivered in three locations in central Queensland in 2023 and were designed with a mixture of group learning activities and presentations. The workshop delivery team included a carbon scientist, carbon project advisor and an experienced extension pasture specialist. Feedback collected from the workshops indicated that 10% of producer respondents intended to make a change on-property involving legume pastures on 3,387 ha. 41% of producer attendees participated in one-on-one action plan support on-property after the workshop, where a total of 16 actions plans for 2,297 ha were documented on 10 properties. In the 11 mo after the initial workshops, producers who participated in the action plan process reported 561 ha of practice change. This change was considered to be incremental towards legume planting and included practices such as soil and seed testing, timber clearing and cultivation. Despite the documented practice changes, the one-on-one support method was labour intensive. Ongoing engagement with producers is continuing into the legume-planting season, such that more data can be collected on practice change. Overall, the strategy of using carbon-focussed events to garner interest in perennial legumes and producer practice change was successful and will be repeated.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Additional Information
This paper is part of the larger XII International Rangelands Congress Proceedings. Page Numbers: 2078-2083. Theme: Hosted session / Developing and maintaining productive and profitable pastures in the tropics and subtropics of Queensland, Australia
ISSN
978-0-646-72121-7
Conference Name
International Rangeland Congress
Collection
International Rangelands Congress
Keywords
extension
sown pasture
pasture legumes
practice change