Understanding land condition
Meat & Livestock Australia April 15, 2024
Classifying land condition
Land condition is the capacity of land to respond to rain and produce useful pasture. Land condition can be classified into four broad categories: A, B, C and D condition.
Image source: Future Beef
Good or A condition has all the following features:
- Good coverage of perennial grasses dominated by those species considered to be 3P grasses for that land type; little bare ground (less than 30% in most years).
- Few weeds and no significant infestations.
- Good soil condition: no erosion, good surface condition.
- 100% of potential long-term carrying capacity.
Fair or B condition has at least one or more of the following features, but otherwise is similar to A condition:
- Some decline of 3P grasses; increase in other species (less favoured grasses, weeds) and/or bare ground (more than 30% but less than 50% in most years).
- Some decline in soil condition; some signs of previous erosion and current signs of erosion risk.
- 75% long-term carrying capacity.
Poor or C condition has one or more of the following features, but otherwise is similar to B condition:
- General decline of 3P grasses; large amounts of annuals, less favoured species and/or bare ground (greater than 50% in most years).
- Obvious signs of past erosion and/or current susceptibility to erosion is high.
- 45% long-term carrying capacity.
Very poor or D condition has one or more of the following features:
- General lack of any perennial grasses or forbs.
- Severe erosion or scalding, resulting in hostile environment for plant growth.
- Less than 25% of long-term carrying capacity. Often no long-term ability to carry stock.
Rolling ball model
Based on an image from Future Beef
The rolling ball model, depicted above, illustrates the relationship between each land condition state and the capacity of that land to grow grass and carry stock. It also depicts the relative difficulty of recovering degraded land to an improved land condition state.
If land is degraded to D condition, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to recover to an improved condition. It not only requires a long period of time to rest and a change in grazing management but may also require a large input of external resources (e.g. mechanical, chemical). This is a very costly exercise which is likely to impact on long-term business profitability.
Long-term vs short-term carrying capacity
Image source: Future Beef
Carrying capacity relates to the number of stock that can be sustainably carried in a paddock or on a property over a defined period of time without negatively impacting on land condition.
- Long-term carrying capacity (LTCC) is the average number of animals a paddock or property can be expected to support over the long term (>10 years).
- Short-term carrying capacity (STCC) is the average number of animals a paddock or property can be expected to support over the short term (weekly, monthly, yearly). This takes into account seasonal fluctuations in rainfall, pasture growth and availability.
Forage budgeting allows you to measure your short-term carrying capacity by taking into account the actual forage supply and forage demand at various points in time. It allows stock numbers to be refined based on pasture availability.