New resources available for managing soil erosion

Soil erosion has several negative impacts on the productivity and management of pastoral land. Some of these include reducing the amount of pasture that grows, changing the composition of pastures, woody weed increases, undermining fences and other infrastructure, and increased wear and tear on vehicles.

Two publications on managing erosion have recently been released. The concepts and management options described in these are highly relevant for NT cattle producers.

The first, published by the Burnett Mary Regional Group in Queensland, is an excellent manual on how to prevent, manage and rehabilitate gully erosion. It contains clear descriptions and photos and includes on-ground case studies from several properties.

The second publication ‘Managing Outback Roads’ aims to reduce the environmental impacts of erosion, the money spent on road maintenance and wear and tear on vehicles. The manual has been developed by the South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resource Management Board, Cape York Natural Resource Management, Western Local Land Services, Rangelands Natural Resource Management and Territory Natural Resource Management (TNRM). Several of the authors have considerable experience in the NT and will be well-known to many readers. The book covers planning for the prevention of problems, how to build and repair roads and how to rehabilitate or close old roads that are no longer serviceable.

Download the gully erosion manual from the Burnett Mary Region Group website.

Download the Managing Outback Roads publication from the South Australian Natural Resources website.