In the semi-arid rangelands of southern Australia livestock producers must balance livestock production with landscape function to achieve business resilience. Under highly variable climatic conditions, their approach to grazing management is a key element in achieving production and landscape targets. At the same time, the socio-economic environment is difficult as they typically live on very large, isolated properties subject to a highly variable climate and financial volatility. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six producers, three operating in a 'well-functioning ' landscape and three in a 'recovering ' landscape, to provide a detailed description of their approach to grazing management and explore the perceived production, biophysical and personal benefits derived from their grazing practices. Producers in a well-functioning landscape focussed on animal and plant performance, prioritising the management of productive/palatable forage species, implementing extended rest periods for regeneration while managing stock numbers conservatively. In a recovering landscape, producers primarily focussed on improving landscape function with enterprise type and animal production adjusted to support regeneration. These producers place emphasis on the seedling growth of valued species, encourage the growth and expansion of perennial species and adjusting livestock number to match carrying capacity as the country improves. A key personal benefit is a sense of accomplishment from 'care' of country demonstrated by producer 'attentiveness, responsiveness, and adaptation' in their grazing management practices. In addition, producers often expressed an emotional connection with country: "my mental health is very attuned to the health of the land " and "I really want to heal the land". Our work reveals a positive feedback loop between environmental stewardship and personal well-being.
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