Balancing business with biodiversity

In nature, everything is about balance. In Central Queensland, brigalow forests thrive on highly productive land – land that has been developed for beef production. PhD student Brodie Crouch is investigating how local beef production can flourish while simultaneously rebuilding, maintaining and growing local biodiversity.

Throughout his research, Brodie has visited beef operations throughout the brigalow region, surveying on-farm biodiversity levels. When managed correctly, these fertile soils provide an opportunity to support both beef production and the recovery of threatened species.

“I’m looking at management strategies producers can use on their properties to enhance biodiversity outcomes without taking a toll on their production,” Brodie said.

According to Brodie, there are two key reasons to protect biodiversity. The first is its intrinsic value – species that have evolved over millions of years should be preserved for for generations to come.

“The second is the value proposition of what biodiversity means for business and sustainable production,” he said.

“Often biodiversity underpins resilience in the grazing system. The relationships between all the different organisms help to maintain the ecosystem where cattle are grazing.”

Measuring impact

Now in the second year of his three-and-a-half-year project, Brodie is monitoring cattle behaviour and performance in different environments. His research focuses on tree cover on farms and how cattle can perform in biodiversity-friendly operations.

“The main impact we’re investigating is the effect of brigalow shade lines and tree strips on cattle productivity.

“Heat stress has become a big factor for a lot of Queensland producers so we’re looking at how shade lines and shelter belts affect grazing behaviour in the paddock, especially regarding pasture utilisation and landscape preference.”

Using GPS collars, Brodie is tracking cattle movement and comparing behaviours in paddocks with minimal tree cover against those where more than 30% of the forest has been retained as shelter belts.

“We’re aiming to weigh up these benefits of brigalow tree cover against some of the costs.”

Creating mutual benefits

Through his research, Brodie hopes to identify practical strategies that allow producers to retain as much regrowth as possible while simultaneously improving business outcomes.

“Ideally, these management strategies will be actionable for producers within the brigalow region, allowing them look at their paddocks and find strategic ways to retain regrowth to enhance biodiversity and production outcomes,” he said.

Recognising that not all species within a livestock enterprise are beneficial or require protection, Brodie’s surveys focus on identifying the presence of threatened or declining species that depend on brigalow forests.

“The producers I’m working with have loved having the data collected of all the birds on their properties. People have really shown an interest and want to engage with it.”

“There really are wonderful examples of brigalow-dependent biodiversity existing alongside beef production”.

For Brodie, the research is about more than keeping the region productive.

“Research is showing that reductions in yield in one region risks exporting environmental impacts elsewhere. Whilst reductions in yield may be necessary in some cases to protect our most threatened biodiversity, we want to minimise the risk lost productivity can create elsewhere.

“Beyond improvements to farm business profitability, this is another reason we are looking at strategies to enhance biodiversity alongside production.”