Towards a landscape systems-based forage assessment tool for the Kimberly region of Western Australia

Abstract

The Kimberly region of Western Australia is predominantly used for cattle production and the pastures are subjected to arid and high-rainfall conditions delineated by 'dry' and 'wet' seasons. Typical of this region, Liveringa Station, of 280,000 Ha is characterised by a number of land systems which, owing to variations in soil type and pasture composition sustain varying levels of stocking rates, ranging from 1.4 - 10.5 head/square km. A key challenge faced by livestock managers is to assess forage available at the end of the wet season in order to retain optimal stock numbers (generally cows with calves at foot) through the ensuing dry season. However during the wet season, limited accessibility precludes a detailed ground assessment of the forage resource. The aim of this project is to design and develop a satellite image-based pasture resource assessment tool, based on Pastures from Space®, that works within individual land systems. The initial calibration activities will involve site selection, based on production-relevant land system units, forage biomass sampling, ground cover and remnant vegetation assessment and field radiometry. Livestock tracking collars will also be deployed into key paddocks allowing a preliminary assessment of livestock-landscape interactions in each of the key land systems. This paper will outline the scope and experimental design of this project.