Secrets unlocked after 26-year Mitchell grass study

摘要

Mitchell grass is a native perennial pasture that dominates 328,000 square kilometres of inland Queensland. It is also a significant pasture on the Barkly Tableland, NT, north-eastern South Australia, and in northern New South Wales. It is significantfor the pastoral livestock industries as it provides a nutritious, bulk feed year-round. Graziers had long known of its importance but there were many unanswered questions about its response to the seasons and capacity to withstand various grazing pressures. In 1984, a group of scientists from the Department of Primary Industries (now DEEDI), including Dr David Orr, began a long term Mitchell grass trial at Toorak Research Station near Julia Creek, Qld. This study followed on from some similar work already under way in south-west Queensland at Charleville, but was the first of its kind in the north.