Module 5: Protect your farm's natural assets - The Toolbox

Overview

Healthy, resilient natural assets including soil, water and vegetation underpin livestock production, increase the capital value and profitability of your enterprise, and add immeasurably to the comfort, satisfaction and temperament of all who live or work there. A beautiful, well-managed property can be a source of pride for its owners and an inspiration for neighbours and visitors.

Many sheep producers are showing how compatible boosting farm profit is with better management of the farm’s natural resources. A well-managed property can help store organic carbon in grasses, shrubs, trees and soil, to offset carbon released as the greenhouse gas, methane, by ruminants like sheep.

Learning outcomes

On completing this module, you should be able to:

set a collective long-term vision, create and document a strategic whole-farm plan for a grazing operation that supports health and resilient natural assets
prepare a comprehensive natural asset inventory on which to build an effective plan
devise and implement an action plan
measure, manage and monitor progress against the whole-farm plan.