CASE STUDY :

One of six Producer

Demonstration Sites in the BBB

NQ Dry Tropics partnered with Meat and Livestock Australia to develop a Producer Demonstration Site to accelerate the adoption of cooperative , integrated weed management in the BBB catchment .

Project timeframe : May 2020 — February 2023

This Producer Demonstration Site aimed to showcase a cooperative and integrated approach to identify best-practice management of the highest economic priority weeds in the Bowen , Broken and Bogie River catchments ( BBB ).

The integrated priority weed management group , centred around Collinsville and Bowen , conducted weed management trials on six grazing properties .

The group implemented a suite of options , including best-practice application of biological , mechanical , and chemical controls .

Priority weeds included lantana ( Lantana camara ), rubbervine ( Cryptostegia grandiflora ), prickly acacia ( Vachellia nilotica ), belly ache bush ( Jatropha gossypifolia ), and chinee apple ( Ziziphus mauritiana ).

The properties measured and compared relative costs of previous control and maintenance measures with the new practices ; the areas of weeds treated and the comparative success rates for the new practices ; and the number of new cooperative actions with neighbours and other land managers .

A bulldozer was used with some success to clear regrowth of mimosa on Sonoma Station .

A series of field events and extension activities were held throughout the three-year project to showcase results .

The events attracted participants from grazing properties , local government , Natural Resource Management ( NRM ) groups , industry and the general community .