Mahogany Farm Cattle Combat Forest Fires

AUSTRALIA – Australia’s largest African mahogany plantation is being grazed by cattle to minimize forest fires.
calendar icon 24 November 2014
clock icon 1 minute read

African Mahogany Australia graze around 600 cattle across their 32,000 hectares and have seen weed and fire control improve, reports ABC.

Cattle eat the fire-hazardous Gamba grass weed, reducing costs from chemical applications, said district forester Justin Stone.

"There's a lot of grass that grows during the wet season and we're using cattle to manage that,” he added.

“Weeds such as Gamba grass are so thick, that we use the cattle to get in and knock that down, which gives us better access and the cattle have worked really well in that regard.”

The company played down the income steam from the cattle, although considers using ‘shad-tolerant’ fodder crops to provide better cattle feed.

Mr Stone said: “We're at the very early stages of perhaps getting a shade-tolerant fodder under there, which could stimulate a higher-valued agistment, so we could end up with a high-value tree and a high-value agistment.

"You'd have a high protein yield for your cattle, timber coming off and it's just a good way to use your land.

"If you've got area you need to use it properly, use it to its maximum potential without abusing it."

 

TheCattleSite News Desk

© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.