Grazing

This social monitoring data presents the opinions of graziers engaged in practice change projects to reduce sediment being lost to local waterways.

During 2021 and 2022, many graziers engaged in practice change projects, with over 213 responses to before and after surveys about their practice change journey from 5 grazing practice change projects. Hear about what was achieved by graziers in some of those projects in these landholder stories.

Prior to completing the survey, the grazier is asked to select if they are changing their pasture, streambank or gully management. Most graziers selected ‘changing my pasture management’ which could include a range of different practices and systems, all helping to reduce the risk of soil being lost in run-off to local waterways (e.g., improving ground cover, having off-stream watering points, matching stocking rate to carrying capacity, wet season spelling, etc). The quantity of data varies across the practices and in some cases was below the threshold, so data were aggregated.

Attitudes

Holding positive or negative views on doing something can influence whether we will do it. This data tells us how positive or negative graziers’ views are of practice change.

Graziers responded to the statement "I think this farming practice is a positive thing to do on my farm.”

Before

92 graziers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

After

121 graziers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

Confidence

Our view of how easy something is for us to do can influence whether we do it. This data tells us how easy or difficult graziers think a practice may be to use on farms.

Graziers responded to the statement “I feel that this farming practice is easy to do on my farm.”

Before

92 graziers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

After

121 graziers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

Motivations

Identifying the benefits that attract graziers to practice change helps us understand what is important to them. Different motivations are not inherently ‘bad’ or ‘good’. Changes in the most common motivations over time may reflect broader industry changes.

Graziers selected up to three of their main motivations for making a practice change.

Before

92 graziers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

After

121 graziers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

Barriers

The more obstacles that people think might get in the way of being able to do something, the less willing they may be to do it. This data tells us about what can make practice change more difficult for graziers and helps us identify opportunities to remove those obstacles. Graziers selected up to three of their main barriers to making a practice change.

Before

92 graziers answered this question at the start of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)

After

121 graziers answered this question at the end of their project in relation to their specific practice (e.g. changing my pasture management, etc.)