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SCHOOLS PROPERTY PLANNING COMPETITIONField Day “Rosedale” Currabubula, 2014

Aims for field dayAt the end of today you should have: become familiar with the property “Rosedale” learnt more from relevant instructors about soil and

salinity management, riparian management, vegetation management and cultural heritage

accessed expertise that helped you to understand all aspects of the property planning process

WorkstationsYour school group will move around three work stations.Your teacher will be given your group letter, please record your group letter in the space above.

Please keep to time. When you finish a workstation (even if a bit early) move promptly to your next site.

Sessions Time Site 1 Ag-Prod

Site 2 Riparian

Site 3 Biodiversity

Session 1 9:20am – 10:35 Group A Group B Group CSession 2 10:35 – 11:35 Group C Group A Group BGo to next site for Morning tea(Food is waiting for you there)

11:35 – 11:50 Group B Group C Group A

Session 3 11:50 – 12:50 Group B Group C Group ALunch 1:00 to 1:30Close 1:45pm

Enjoy the day!

You should use the information from today to determine how best to manage this farm and include this in your property plan.

You will hear a lot of information today but to keep it simple: Concentrate on looking for any problems that will affect how you may manage this farm.

Name: _____________________________ School ___________________________

Group Letter ________________________

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Site 1: Agricultural ProductionToday we will look at a soil pit and conduct a few simple tests. This will help you to get an understanding of how good or poor the soil is and how to manage it. You will also have the opportunity to look at another soil pit on a different part of the property. This will allow you to compare soils and understand how they can change across the farm and why we may have to manage these areas differently.

We are also going to learn how to measure groundcover. That is, how much of the soil is covered by living and dead plants or rocks and how much is bare ground. This is important as too much bare ground can cause problems such as wind and water erosion.

The next step will be to have a look at what may be the best land use for this area and the types of crops or pastures options that will best suit this land use.

Test Result or comments Interpretation

Depth of:

Do we have enough soil?

A Horizon: cmYes / NoB Horizon: cmYes / NoC Horizon: cmYes / No:

-A horizon: the topsoil.

-B horizon: the subsoil.

-C Horizon: Parent soil material/ weathered rock.

Soil colour:

Is this a good soil colour?

A Horizon.Colour:Yes / NoB Horizon.Colour:Yes / No

Dark colours: near surface indicates high organic matter (OM) therefore more fertile.Reds & oranges: good drainage and low leaching. Generally fertile.Dull yellow & mottles: Seasonal water logging.Pale colours and whites: Low OM & poor fertility. Water logging.

Texture- Ribbon testIs this soil texture good or poor?

A Horizon.Texture class:

B Horizon.Texture class:

The proportions of sand, silt and clay particles in the soil determine soil texture. For example: medium clay or sandy loam. Generally, the more clay the soil has the more fertile it is.

-pHIs this soil acid or neutral or alkaline?

A Horizon:

B Horizon:

Soil pH is a measure of soil acidity or alkalinity. The pH of a soil can affect plant growth significantly.

Rooting depthCan the plant roots get into the soil?Are there many roots visible?

Root depth: cmYes / No

Yes / No

This is a measure of how far down roots can penetrate into the soil. The deeper the roots can penetrate into the soil the more water and nutrients the plants can have access to.

1. After looking at the soil pit results did you find any problems with this soil?

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__________________________________________________________________________________

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2. Do you think this is a good soil or a poor soil?

__________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Pastures and Ground CoverBy using the quadrant provided, assess the productivity and sustainability of the pasture. Table 3 will help you with filling out your results and the field guide on the following page will show you how to assess your results.

Table 2: Quadrat results

Indicators Quadrat 1 Quadrat 2 Quadrat 3

Ground Cover

Litter

Soil Surface

Proportion of green

Proportion of productive species

Proportion of Legume

Suitability for animal production

Results (see field guide on page

5)

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Table 3: Indicators of pasture production and sustainability (Meat and Livestock Australia)

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3. Is the productivity and sustainability of the pasture low, medium or high? ____________________

Optional:

3a. Use the Namoi CMA Groundcover app to calculate the percentage groundcover at this site. What was your result? __________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the optimal groundcover percentage for pastures? _________________________________

Land use and Production

5. What is the land capability class of this area? ________________________________________

6. What improvements need to be made to increase the productivity and sustainability of the land?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

7. What are the limitations for this area? i.e. weeds, low productivity, limited livestock shelter, limited winter feed.__________________________________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________________________

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8. List management strategies that could be implemented to improve the land capability in terms of production, ground cover and species diversity. i.e. rotational grazing, fodder cropping, fertilising/resting pastures etc.__________________________________________________________________________________

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9. Do your answers above assist the landholder in achieving their goals (listed in Section 2 of the manual)? Does your proposed plan for this area: (Circle your answer)

Increase property value for sale in the future? Yes / No

How?______________________________________________________________________

Increase productivity of the cattle enterprise? Yes / No

How?______________________________________________________________________

Improve pasture quality and quantity (including having a mix of types of pastures and provision of seasonal shortages)? Yes / No

How?______________________________________________________________________

Encouraging water to stay longer in the creek with better waterholes? Yes / No

How?______________________________________________________________________

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Site 2: Riparian1. Name the Creek at Rosedale __________________________________

2. Name the Catchment __________________________________

3. Name the Basin __________________________________

4. List some of the reasons why rivers and creeks are important to us

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. Why is water quality important? __________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

There are many ways to evaluate riverine condition. Today we will evaluate two measures of water Quality and the Structural condition of the river zone.

Salinity: Salinity is a measure of the amount of salts in a substance.

6. What are the natural and manmade factors that might influence the salinity of a water body?

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

7. Are any of those factors operational at this site?

_________________________________________________________________________________

8. Is there any physical evidence of salinity issues at this site?

_________________________________________________________________________________

9. What was the result of your test?

_________________________________________________________________________________

Turbidity: Turbidity measures light penetration through water, how turbid water is determines its clarity.

10. What substances affect water clarity?

_________________________________________________________________________________

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11. What is the source of these substances?

Substance Source

___________________________ ____________________________

12. Why is water clarity important for biological processes in the river ecosystem?

__________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

13. What was your result? ___________________ NTU

14. Use the Habitat Survey Guide below to evaluate the condition of the riparian zone.

HABITAT SURVEY FIELD GUIDEEXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR VERY POOR

BANK VEGETATION(10)

Mainly undisturbed native vegetation

(8) (6) (4) (2)Introduced ground cover or bare ground. Occasional trees. Also includes sites with concrete lined

canals.VERGE VEGETATION

(10)Mainly undisturbed native vegetation on both sides of

the stream. Verge more than 30m wide.

(8) (6) (4) (2)Bare cover or introduced grass

cover such as pasture land.

IN-STREAM COVER(10)

Abundant cover, frequent snags, logs or boulders with

extensiveareas of in-stream aquatic

vegetation andoverhanging bank.

(8) (6) (4) (2)No cover. No snags, boulders

submerged or overhanging vegetation. No undercut banks. Site may have rock or concrete

lining.

BANK EROSION AND STABILITY(5)

Stable: No erosion/sedimentation on

evidence. No undercutting of banks, usually gentle

bank slopes, lower banks covered with root mat

grasses, reeds or shrubs.

(4) (3) (2) (1)Extensive or almost continuous

erosion. Over 50% of banks have some form of erosion. Very

unstable with little vegetation cover.

RIFFLES, POOLS AND BENDS(5)

Wide variety of habitats. Riffles and pools present of

varying depths.Bends present.

(4) (3) (2) (1)Uniform habitat.

Straight stream, minimal riffle or pools, uniform depth. eg

channelled stream or irrigation

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canal.RECORDING YOUR RESULT

Circle your stream’s rating on the Stream Habitat Record Sheet as you assess each factor (bank vegetation, verge vegetation etc) of your stream’s habitat and add up the score form each factor to obtain a total score.INTERPRETING YOUR RESULT

Assess your streams habitat rating score using the following table:

Score Rating Stream Habitat AssessmentExcellent 36-40 Site in natural or virtually natural condition:

Excellent habitat condition.Good 29-35 Some alteration from natural state:

Good habitat conditions.Fair 20-28 Significant alterations from the natural state but still offering

moderate habitat.Poor 12-19 Significant alterations from the natural state, often reduced habitat

value:May have erosion or sedimentation problems.

Very Poor 8-11 Very degraded, often with severe erosion or sedimentation problems.

15. What condition is your riparian area in?_______________________________________________

16. How could the riparian area be improved?

List the issues here Recommendations

17. What are the benefits of access of traditional land owners to the riparian area? ________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

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Site 3: BiodiversityAt this site we will be looking at a range of issues including biodiversity, soils, biosecurity and emergency response planning.

1. List the characteristics of the soil that you can see at this site. This should include: depth of topsoil to bedrock, rockiness, texture, plant root depth and colour. Take note of the differences from the other soil pit that you have already seen or are about to see.___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

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2. What is the Land Capability Class of this area? ___________________________________________

3. How is it currently being utilised? _____________________________________________________

4. What are the limitations for this area? __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

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5. List the names of trees, shrubs and grasses present in this area. Are they mainly native or introduced? __________________________________________________________________________________

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6. What value is remnant native vegetation to the catchment? ________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

This site contains a large area of remnant native vegetation. Let’s look at what value this vegetation has and how it can be managed and improved.

6. Use the Bush Health Checklist to evaluate the condition of this area.

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Bushland Health Check

Answer each question with a tick in the Yes or No column Yes No

Part 1 – Trees and shrubs

a) Trees are mainly healthy with little or no signs of dieback

b) Native shrubs and bushes are present in the understorey (i.e. under the

trees)

c) Young trees are present

d) Old trees with hollows are present

Part 2 – Grasses and Groundcover

e) There are more than 10 different types of native grasses and herbs present

f) Between the grass tussocks the ground is covered with a litter of dry grass,

bark, leaves, and twigs

g) Logs, rocks and fallen timber have been left

Part 3 – Weeds and Pests

h) There are very few weeds (non-native species) present on the area

i) The area is free of feral animals like rabbits, foxes and cats

j) The bushland is never or only rarely grazed by domestic stock (sheep and

cattle)

Part 4 – Landscape Setting

k) The patch of bushland is more or less circular or rectangular in shape

rather than long and narrow

l) The area is connected to other areas of native vegetation by one or more

bush corridors e.g. roadside or creek vegetation

TOTAL

Add up the ticks in the yes column to see how this patch of bushland is rated.

YES SCORED RATING (circle one) 8-12 Healthy 6-8 Fair 0-5 Unhealthy

7. How would you manage this area of vegetation to improve its health and condition?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

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8. What environmental or economic/production benefits do you think that the property owner would get from having healthy vegetation on their property?

__________________________________________________________________________________

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9. How does this affect your plan?

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10. What is “farm biosecurity” and what practices can the property owner implement to protect their business?___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

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11. What are the types of threats/emergencies that could impact on this property and where can you find information to develop a plan for each threat? List what actions could be included in each plan.

Threat/emergency

Source of information

Types of actions to include in the plan

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