Environmental 'Health Check' for woolgrowers

Woolgrowers in South-East Queensland can now perform an on-line ‘health check’ of their natural resources using a new internet-based environmental management toolkit designed to compare the ecological status of wool properties.

Woolgrowers from the Traprock Wool Association (TWA) have worked with researchers to develop the new resource, which aims to capitalise on the significant economic, ecological and social research undertaken in the region over the last two years.

The information will help woolgrowers to collectively or individually monitor their farm’s environmental performance, recording aspects of environmental management such as pasture and habitat condition and compare their property against regional benchmarks with the intention of better informing regional catchment planning processes and improving the on-farm environment.

The aim of the toolkit is to highlight trends - especially where land condition improves as a result of changes in management - and improve woolgrower capacity to assess land use and link production to integrated farm management.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Hon Sussan Ley MP, officially launched the toolkit today at the ‘Terrica’ woolshed in the Traprock district, with Land & Water Australia Chair Ms Bobbie Brazil guest speaker at the launch.

Ms Ley also presented woolgrowers from TWA who had been involved in the development of the environmental management toolkit with their 2006 reports, which are an outcome of the Traprock Information Management System (TIMS), an existing and voluntary quality assurance system.

Land, Water & Wool, a partnership between Australian Wool Innovation Limited and Land & Water Australia, funded the development of the toolkit, which saw TWA work with researchers from the University of Southern Queensland and land use planners from the Queensland Murray Darling Committee.

Project leader Geoff Cockfield said the toolkit allows for a new set of land planning and management tools to be applied to wool enterprises to ensure more sustainable production.

'Traprock Wool Association is encouraging woolgrowers to consider grazing management practices that result in sustained or increased on-farm production while also achieving improved natural resource condition,' he said. 'The economics of changed management practices, notably increasing rotation rates, were also discussed highlighting local woolgrower experiences and case studies during the day.

'The Land, Water & Wool Sustainable Wool Production project has been run in conjunction with the TIMS process as well as sub-catchment planning processes to further link monitoring of productivity and biodiversity for profitable and ecologically-sustainable wool production.'

The environmental management toolkit can be found [here](http://landwaterwool.gov.au/index.php?q=node/120)

For further information please contact:

[Geoff Cockfield](geoff.cockfield@usq.edu.au), Tel. 0419 661 378
[Kim Mitchell](kim@curriecom.com.au ), Currie Communications, Tel. 0407 830 373