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Protecting and improving Australia's natural environment is an essential part of being a livestock farmer and vital for the long term sustainability of the industry and the land.
Farmers recognise the need to protect, manage and enhance existing biodiversity. Farmers are also working to restore areas affected by inappropriate farming practices of the past.
Livestock farming aims to maintain biodiversity on farms including rich diversities of bird, plants and active soil organisms, whilst protecting against weed infestations and feral animals.
Effective land use
In contrast to farming practices around the world, sheep and cattle in Australia are reared predominantly on extensive rangelands and semi-arid areas. Because of geological, topographic and climatic factors, these regions are not suited to intensive forms of agriculture, such as crop production.
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- Less than 8%* of Australian land is suitable for crop production.
- Red meat is the most efficient use of the land for producing highly nutritious protein for Australia.
*Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009) 4267.0 Land Management and Farming in Australia
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In areas that are suited to mixed farming, livestock grazing and grain crop production are complementary, maximising productivity and improving soil health.
As global suppliers of red meat, it is essential for producers to use environmentally sustainable production practices that consider all aspects of natural resource management. Healthy, productive and diverse ecosystems are important to the viability and sustainability of Australian livestock production.
How farmers are managing the land
Australia's red meat industry continually strives to use its natural resources in a sustainable way to improve both the condition of the environment as well as the performance of individual businesses.
Meat & Livestock Australia is investing in two key initiatives to help producers manage their natural resources and improve environmental sustainability:
Environmental stewardship
There are many actions taken by landholders that deserve recognition under an industry based environmental stewardship system. A variety of environmental programs have been implemented previously in Australia by the states, regional bodies, and producer groups but it would be useful to have an industry wide environmental stewardship program.
An accreditation scheme is being trialed that can be implemented voluntarily by farmers with either self assessment or independent auditing. The indicators will demonstrate best practices including grazing land management, property plans, grazing management systems, vegetation mapping, identification, management & protection of conservation areas, land condition assessment, across a range of land types and regulatory requirements.
Grain & Graze
Grain & Graze is a research program that directly involved producers in local trials to test new farming practices. Trials were held on more than 100 sites across Australia. Results were fed back into other research projects and on farm tools and have lead to improvements in biodiversity across many properties.