Catchment information

Catchment name
Rangelands

Map of catchment area

• The Rangelands covers approximately 1.85 million square kilometres, which represents 90 percent of West Australia.
• The Rangelands has five distinct sub-regions: the Kimberley, Pilbara, Gascoyne-Murchison, Goldfields-Nullarbor and the Ord Catchment.
• The Ord River is situated in the east Kimberley region of Western Australia and extends into north-western Northern Territory.
• In some parts the Ord catchment extends eastwards into the Northern Territory. The 588 kilometre long Ord River is the second largest river in WA with a catchment area of 53,500 square kilometres.
  

Horticulture industry in region

• The region comprises mainly pastoral and mining interests and to a lesser extent cropping interests.
• The Ord has an abundance of cucurbit (melon/ pumpkin type) crops, which supply Australia in the winter months. Mangoes, papaya and citrus are small in area and quantity, but increasing with great potential for export.
• There are in excess of 100 producers in the area, with operations ranging from 1 hectare to 1000 ha. Other crops include mangoes and vegetables (in particular pumpkins).
• Chickpeas are also grown in the tropical Ord River.
  

Incentives for region
None identified in region

Case study of horticulture in Rangelands

• Delivery of Good Management Practices to the Horticulture Industry within the Ord River Catchment
  

Project author

• David McKerrell – Executive Office, Kimberly Primary Industries Association
  

Objectives of project

• To identify gaps in the Ord Land and Water Management Plan as they relate to affects on individual farmers
• To identify how individual farmers can better contribute to meeting NRM targets.
• To develop Good Management Practices guidelines for growers.
• To use the Good Management Practices guidelines to help TAFE develop courses to promote their adoption.

Methodology

• Gaps identified in the Ord Land and Water Management Plan were identified and targeted as Management Action Targets (MAT’s) in both the Kimberley NRM Plan and the Rangelands NRM Strategy.
• Targeted levels of Best Management Practice for all individual farms discharging tail water had been identified with the primary objective of retaining all chemical and nutrient residues on farm.
• Working with industry, KPIA subsequently developed “Good Agricultural Practice” (GAP) Guidelines for farmers to use.

Key findings

• Good Agricultural Practice Guidelines provide farmers with tools that will allow them to comply with improving the quality of tail water exiting their farms.
• Farmers can undertake their own risk management by participating in accredited training in the use of chemicals as laid out in the GAP Guidelines.
• The isolation of the Kimberley creates problems in providing appropriate training in chemical and nutrient management to farmers.
• Farmers work from sunup (5am) to sundown (5pm) seven days per week across the dry season, so training programs must take place during the wet season. It is difficult to get farmers to focus on NRM unless it is impacting on their business or market access
• All crops in the Kimberley with the exception of sugarcane have limited production periods that does not favour full time on farm employment. This has a detrimental effect on staff training in things like chemical handling and use.
• Another gap identified the lack of biosecurity guidelines. Guidelines were developed for the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) farmers. This plan underpins the area freedom from fruitfly status of the ORIA thus providing valuable access to markets both domestically and internationally, and is backed by a comprehensive trapping grid that is continually monitored.
• Local farmers are supportive of biosecurity planning.
• With the Kimberley region in the front line for incoming biosecurity threats, farmers are well aware of the need for effective biosecurity planning.
• Farmers covering all commodity areas were involved in workshops to develop both the OrdGuard Plan and the Farm Biosecurity Guidelines.
• Biosecurity awareness and monitoring that have come as a result of biosecurity planning has played a major part in eliminating Mediterranean and Queensland Fruitfly incursions as well as Thrips Palmii incursions.
• The total production area only covers around 12,000 hectares which favours the tight trapping grid requirements to maintain area freedom status.
• The severe climatic conditions experienced through the wet season prevent most pests and diseases from taking hold.
• Local Government have recognised that the threat to biosecurity does not come from the agricultural sector and it is unjust that they alone should be paying to maintain area freedom and eradicate incursions. To this end they have struck a generic rate across all properties in the Shire to fund biosecurity.
• The monetary cost required from industry to fund their share of both the monitoring and eradication programs is not well supported by a large percentage of growers.
• Farmers support for biosecurity is based more on the need to maintain area freedom for market access than the actual threat posed and damage done in the event of an actual incursion.
• The isolation of the Kimberley creates problems in providing appropriate training in chemical and nutrient management to farmers.

Recommendations

• Farmers work long hours seven days per week across the dry season, so training programs must take place during the wet season. It is difficult to get farmers to focus on NRM unless it is impacting on their business or market access.
• All crops in the Kimberley (with the exception of sugarcane) have limited production periods that do not favour full time on-farm employment. This has a detrimental effect on staff training in things like chemical handling and use.
• There are a number of small fruit orchards situated on the banks of the Ord River that have been purchased as lifestyle blocks rather than farming enterprises and some of these pose a serious risk to the genuine farmers due to lack of orchard maintenance and dropping fruit being left to rot on the ground.
• Because the town of Kununurra is centrally located in the irrigation area, biosecurity breaches impact severely on farms that are situated within the proclaimed area.