Abstract
This project investigated the potential for pastoral intensification in the Victoria River District
(VRD) of the NT to increase the profitability of the northern beef industry in the face of rising
costs. The results suggested that intensification can increase a property’s profitability without
adverse effects on land condition or biodiversity in the short term. The keys to this are the use of
sustainable pasture utilisation rates and appropriate development of paddocks and water points.
Grazing management based on set pasture utilisation appeared to be the most profitable grazing
system. The use of advanced technologies such as telemetry to manage water points can offer
improvements in efficiency and cost savings. About half the properties in the VRD have the
potential for intensification because they currently operate with pasture utilisation rates below the
recommended 20%. Intensification of these properties could see an increase in cattle numbers in the
VRD of about 154,000 AE, generating an additional annual gross margin of about $17m. The
project identified a series of guidelines for the sustainable development of properties and also a
number of recommendations for the protection of biodiversity under pastoral intensification.
Full-text publications from the Australian Rangelands Society (ARS) Biennial Conference Proceedings (1997-), Rangeland Journal (ARS/CSIRO; 1976-), plus videos and other resources about the rangelands of Australia.