The Grazing Fundamentals and Spinifex Pastures Workshop was held in Newman, WA in late October.
Thirteen participants representing four pastoral businesses operating across seven pastoral leases, travelled some major distances to participate.
The event was the FIRST Grazing Fundamentals workshop delivered in the Pilbara and incorporated an additional day to talk about spinifex pastures and their management, recognising the importance of spinifex as the dominant pasture type across large areas of the region and the need for locally relevant information.
Sharing historical knowledge and research with todays findings
To localise the workshop content, Andrew Craig presented the findings of his Master's research on the post-fire regeneration of soft spinifex (Triodia pungens) communities in the Newman area, providing locally relevant management information. This was complemented by the presentation of historical research undertaken by Hank Suijdendorp on Abydos Station in the 1950s, which examined the interaction between fire and grazing in spinifex pastures and remains highly relevant to pastoral management in the Pilbara.
Participant feedback indicated a high level of satisfaction and strong relevance to their grazing enterprises.
Northern Hub funding was critical to the success of the workshop, as participant fees alone would not have covered delivery costs.
Overall, the project increased participants' knowledge and capacity to make informed grazing and land management decisions across the Pilbara rangelands. The workshop successfully achieved its primary objective of delivering locally relevant grazing management training to pastoral managers in the Pilbara.
Matt Fletcher - Range Assist | Delivered project