Impacts of regenerative agriculture on drought resilience, soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions

Project details

Status: Current

The project

The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture is leading a project that will highlight the impacts of regenerative agriculture in Tasmania.  Some of the questions being examined as part of a farm trial in northern Tasmania are whether regenerative sheep grazing systems can improve drought resilience and what are the long-term implications of regenerative agriculture for farm business profits.

TIA is conducting a long-term sheep grazing trial at Evandale in Northern Tasmania to examine the implications of regenerative grazing on pasture growth and recovery, soil carbon, greenhouse gas emissions and long-term profitability.

TIA Professor Matthew Harrison says the project aims to develop farming systems that increase the capacity of farmers to prepare for and respond to drought, extreme weather events and long-term climate change.

The trial

The trial is testing whether cell grazing improves drought resilience through improvements to pasture recovery and overall productivity.  The trial is also looking at profitability and whether regenerative practises improve pasture production, impact soil carbon, and impact greenhouse gas emissions.

The trial is comparing cell grazing, which is high intensity grazing for a short period, to conventional methods where animals are kept in the paddock and the pasture doesn't get time to recover.

The overall aim is to investigate whether a farming system can be developed to improve drought resilience over the long-term.

The project is also examining how cell grazing will impact labour requirements and whether its practical and feasible to move sheep more regularly.