A Verterra Project Snapshot – Grazing Land Management Project
Posted on November 21st, 2023
The People Behind the Project
Productive, profitable and sustainable land was the name of the game for father and son Mark and Nathan Warnock when they signed up to work with Verterra as part of the Fitzroy Water Quality Project (FWQP), funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) in August 2021.
Their 3,500ha property Calliweera is located approximately 40km northwest of Rockhampton in the Fitzroy River catchment. The property, adjacent to the Fitzroy River, was experiencing high amounts of sediment run-off and had a history of below-average ground cover.
In consultation with Mark and Nathan, Verterra undertook a detailed assessment across the property and
consequently developed a whole of property Grazing Land Management (GLM) plan, that aimed to reduce 2,600 tonnes of sediment run-off from the property each year.
Verterra Project Lead Andrew Yates has been impressed with Mark and Nathan’s perseverance and the
improvements they have made to date.
“We’ve been blown away by Mark and Nathan’s dedication. They have made considerable progress and installed infrastructure such as fences, water points, tanks and underground poly pipes recommended in their GLM plan, including adding in woah-boys for erosion prevention.”
“The focus of the GLM plan aligns with their vision to improve land condition on Calliweera. The project has shown that the hard work has been worth it as they are already seeing benefits such as improved pasture, higher productivity, improved soil structure, soil compaction relief, reduced erosion and an increase in soil nutrition,”
Andrew said.
While continuing to make positive changes at Calliweera, Mark and Nathan are also participating in a soil carbon farming project and arranging Environmental Plantings through the Land Restoration Fund (LRF). When an opportunity arises to work with such forward-thinking, dedicated landholders the results are always spectacular.
The Fitzroy Water Quality Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with support from Fitzroy Basin Association, Greening Australia, Verterra and Catchment Solutions.
