How Upskilling is Helping Land Managers Protect the Reef

Posted on April 14th, 2025

Improving the quality of pastures and maintaining ground cover is of vital importance to central Queensland land managers Sarah and Daniel Cooper, who have the Calliope River at their doorstep.

Sarah and Daniel manage an 8,000ha property, Mount Alma Station, at Mount Alma, between Calliope and Biloela. They moved in April 2022 with their three daughters Scarlett, Eva and Josie. Originally from the Northern Territory, the couple manage and run 1,500 head of cattle on the property, as well as another 400 head at a property they manage at Banana called Bonlea as farm managers for the landowner.

Sarah and Daniel have started to install infrastructure on the property, which boasts the beginning of the Calliope River. The river flows into the Pacific Ocean just north of Gladstone, which houses the world’s largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef.

Sarah said weed management and erosion control was something they wanted to get on top of, which will reduce the risk of sediment reaching the Great Barrier Reef through improving water infiltration on the property.

Excess sediment in the ocean negatively impacts the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. It causes algae to grow faster which clouds and darkens the water and smothers coral, affecting its reproductive and growth capabilities.

“We will be fencing off creeks to combat erosion, sediment runoff and control grazing pressure in these areas,” Sarah said.

“We want to see the Reef protected at all costs.”

Sarah and Daniel knew fencing and weed control was their starting point for the property, but they wanted to improve their skills and learn more about their local area from other farmers and like-minded people.

When FBA visited the property in 2023 and brought up the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Northern Breeding Business (NB2) program, the couple immediately showed interest and jumped at the opportunity.

Through the NB2 program, Sarah and Daniel are part of a peer-to-peer producer group with four other northern beef businesses. The program provides them the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about new research and technologies while setting directions for their business.

“It’s great to meet other producers and gain that knowledge,” Sarah said.

FBA is a facilitator of the NB2 program. Starting in April 2024, the group has just completed the first 12 months of the program.

FBA Land Management Officer Sophie Wilkins, who is the facilitator for Sarah and Daniel’s group, said in the first year of the program, the five businesses have come together to attended training for business and pasture analysis, collected and submitted data for review and come together to discuss the results and bounce ideas off each other as to how each business can improve.

“It’s exciting to have another 18 months left in the program to see what producers implement from their learnings so far,” she said.

“The sustainability of our industry is in connecting people with each other to share learnings, opportunities and have people to hold you accountable for goals you commit to.

“It is about seeing what other people are doing in the space and getting different ideas on how you can improve your business.”

As part of the program, Sarah and Daniel hosted a pasture training day at the property in September 2024 with Dionne Walsh from RANGE IQ.

“All the producers were upskilled in how to do land condition assessments and pasture budgeting,” Sophie said.

“We went through three different methods of pasture budgeting, so the producers could see how the methods measured up against each other and decide the best one for them to implement on their property.

“Pasture budgeting is a tool used to determine how much feed you have available for the rest of the year until the break of the next season. This allows you to make informed decisions on safe stocking rates for the rest of the year to ensure pasture is left in a rain-ready state.

“Understanding what data to collect and how to use that information to inform management decisions is key to creating resilient environments and businesses.”

Pasture budgeting was completely new to Sarah and Daniel, but an invaluable tool they will utilise moving forward.

“Now we have the tools to allow us to calculate how many days our cattle have left in a paddock,” Sarah said.

Through the program, the group has also participated in a business workshop with Bush Agribusiness and most recently the MLA NB2 Draft in Rockhampton in March which discussed strategic business planning, provided networking opportunities with businesses across Northern Australia and included a tour to the JBS Abattoir providing key insights into the Beef Supply Chain.

Moving forward with the program, Sarah and Daniel are hoping to learn how to better manage country, so it doesn’t drop to a poor land condition.

“Nobody wants to see that,” Sarah said.

“We want to learn what we can do to stop that from happening and keep the land in a good condition and keep the cattle well fed and healthy.”