Get reliable science

Inadequate knowledge of carrying capacity is a major factor inhibiting sustainable resource use and development within the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. To address this issue, the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines, with support from the Tropical Savannas CRC, has developed a Territory wide project to provide objective information on pasture productivity of important land types. The project combines the methodology of Swiftsynd, an abbreviated version of the methods used in the GUNSYNpD project (McKeon et al 1988) and the calibration of the GRASP pasture growth model (Littleboy and McKeon 1997).

In the future, pastoralists from these regions will be able to apply these pasture growth models with the confidence that they have been calibrated using data from their specific regions and land systems. The models will then allow properties to better estimate their potential carrying capacities for better economic and environmental outcomes.