Convictions lead to environmental stand

Hugo Spooner first realised the value of lower stocking rates after he culled cattle numbers for the 1986 drought. In the years following, his pastures improved significantly resulting in a 15 per cent increase in the fertility of his herd as well as a shorter production period.

More than 20 years later, Hugo takes a holistic approach to managing his farm, Avocet, south of Emerald and has also set aside 1150 hectares as a Nature Refuge.

After establishing a colony of the endangered Flashjack (Bridle nailtail wallaby) in the Nature Refuge, and despite undertaking a number of other environmentally sound projects, Hugo is now fighting mining developments and government red tape.

Key points

• Hugo elected to have a 1150-hectare area of his property declared a Nature Refuge in 1999

• Starting with a colony of 16 the Nature Refuge now boasts a population of at least 164 endangered Flashjacks.

• Hugo wants to see stewardship programs established, with financial incentives to manage properties in environmentally conscious ways and to recognise soil's ability to sequester carbon

A holistic philosophy

Queensland farmer Hugo Spooner is used to the challenges that come with standing up for his holistic approach to livestock production and the environment.

He's been setting aside areas for native vegetation regeneration and fauna habitat since the 1980s - well before the emphasis of environmental protection had become popular in agricultural circles.

But he never expected his commitment to the environment would involve opposing his state government and the possibility of removing government control of a Nature Refuge on his property.

Hugo admits he has come a long way since he first skipped the "boring detail" of Allan Savory's book, Holistic Resource Management, an experience, which led to him reading only the sections on cell grazing.

A few years later, he re-read the book and realised how much he had missed. "There were chapters on lifestyle, politics, human nature, time management and much more, all reinforcing the message that no one aspect of life operated independently of the other," says Hugo.

It's an approach he now takes in the day-to-day management of his property, on which he runs about 1000 composite cattle. A carefully selected breed mixture of 25% Brahman, Limousin, Poll Hereford and Senepol is retained through the use of artificial insemination.

"It's a composite breed designed to maximize hybrid vigour and cover all bases in terms of carcass quality, adaptability to a tropical climate, performance and fertility."

Family foundations

Crucial also to Hugo's approach to farming is his personal history: his family emigrated from Africa in the 1950s, buying the farm he now runs, "Avocet" south of Emerald in 1957.

"It's the old thing of trying to do your bit, because my father started that when he was alive.

"I think when you're brought up with that, you want your environment to be rich. And then there's the question of the planet in general - if we don't manage properly we're going to create problems of sustainability."

Reducing the herd

It wasn't until the 1986 drought, however, that Hugo's holistic approach really began to emerge.

In the previous drought of 1982, the family were able to keep their cattle alive with an innovative feeding strategy, based on feeding cattle molasses with a high concentration of urea. Although this saved the herd - stimulating the metabolism of the cattle to an extent that they ate all available roughage -it left the ground bare and consequently degraded the paddocks.

With the start of the 1986, Hugo realised another year of this feeding strategy would be catastrophic for the property.

Instead, he made the tough decision to reduce his cattle herd and his likely income by one-third, with the intention of rebuilding numbers when conditions improved.

After generous rain early the next year, however, Hugo noticed the improved state of his pastures and decided to maintain the drop in numbers for an extended period.

Later, he made a startling discovery: this drop had actually improved his productivity by two percent.

"Due to the increased health of the soil, increased ground cover and infiltration and consequent pasture productivity, the fertility of the herd had increased by 15%, from 76% to 91%, and the turn off period of our store steers and heifers had been shortened by 10 months. This more than offset the effect of the reduced herd," says Hugo.

Hugo, however, is adamant that he did not suddenly become a "green" convert. Rather: "it was a fairly simple matter of basic science and common sense."

Nature Refuge and Flashjacks

After the death of Hugo's father in 1996, Hugo set out to follow up his father's wish that a particular part of the property never be cleared.

He began investigating setting up a Nature Refuge on the area, so that future owners of Avocet would also be bound to this.

On 3 June 1999, a joint agreement between Hugo and the Queensland Government created the Avocet Nature Refuge on an 1150-hectare area of the property. The agreement allows for sustainability cattle production under strict conditions - monitoring pasture and controlling weeds - on the Refuge.

Around this time, a representative of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in Rockhampton approached Hugo about the possibility of re-introducing the endangered Flashjack - otherwise known as the Bridled nail-tailed wallaby - onto private land.

After much preparation, the Service released the first 16 Flashjacks at the end of 2001. Subsequent releases brought their numbers up to 164, with Hugo estimating there are now close to 200 through breeding.

Conservation through hunting

Concern for the Flashjack population on Avocet has led Hugo to a rather unusual strategy for conservation: hunting.

"The survival of the Flashjack is probably more to do with predator control than habitat."

Initially working with the group, "Hunting and Conservation", a branch of Sporting Shooters, Hugo allowed shooters on to his property to dispose of wild cats and foxes, both of whom are efficient predators of the Flashjack. They also undertook control of of dingos and wild pigs.

In recent years, the Bridled Nail Tail Wallaby Trust has been established, with the purpose of continuing to ensure the survival of the endangered Flashjack.

Hugo says that now when predator control takes place on his property, he has agreements with three neighbours that this is done on their land also.

Improving water quality

Water quality is a focus for Hugo, who has fenced off both sides of the eight kilometres of Sandhurst creek that flows through his property.

"My goal is to have the water exiting Avocet as healthy as that entering the property or, even better, having water leave in a healthier state than it arrived", said Hugo.

Hugo has also made an agreement with the Fitzroy Basin Association that cattle only access the area in the months when waterholes are dry.

This means that cattle concentrate on the grassed areas away from the creek, preventing them from fouling the water and damaging creek banks.

He has also set up water monitoring sites on the property and more recently, installed an automatic water collection system on the main water way.

Challenges

While Hugo is just as committed as ever to environmental work on his property, the Queensland Government's decision to allow coal mining on Nature Refuges has led him to consider revoking the agreement.

"Exploratory work has already started on Avocet and even yesterday we had a geo-scientist checking groundwater supplies here - we know it's all related to mining".

Hugo says if he does revoke the agreement, ending the area's status as a Nature Refuge, he would continue to manage it in exactly the same way. It is his concern for the Flashjacks' future and the good environmental improvements seen in the Nature Refuge that is driving him.

Future

He does hope to see priorities change, however. "In Queensland some National Parks are poorly managed - well managed private land should be a priority".

"Anything we do on the property in future will either be with other landholders or non-government organisations".

Hugo wants to see stewardship programs established, with financial incentives to manage properties in environmentally conscious ways and to recognise the soil's ability to sequester carbon.

In the short term, however, he sees serious challenges. "It's in a state of limbo at the moment. Because of the lure of our mineral resources , the State government is no longer prioritising the retention of productive farmland or the environment".

Regardless, Hugo plans to continue his environmental efforts on Avocet. "I've always had the thought that I'm happy to sacrifice potential income - or some of it - for a sustainable environment".