BMP welcomed by top Aussie graziers

MORE than 2000 Queensland cattle producers managing more than 28 million hectares of land have now adopted the Grazing Best Management Practices (BMP) program to boost their budget bottom line and showcase their environmental credentials.

AgForce general president Grant Maudsley revealed the statistics along with a new video featuring Queensland cattle producers Philip and Lachlan Hughes describing how Grazing BMP had benefited their paddock to plate beef business.

“Grazing BMP is a health check for your business. It allows primary producers to benchmark themselves against the best industry standards using the best available science,” Mr Maudsley said.

“The program is designed to assist producers to improve their long-term productivity, profitability and sustainability in the areas of grazing land management, soil health, animal health and welfare, animal production, and people and business.

“It’s good for your land, it’s good for your business, and it’s good for the environment.”

Mr Maudsley said his own property near Mitchell had recently become Grazing BMP accredited, which had particularly helped him with drought planning and workplace health and safety record keeping.

“Too often how we farm is being dictated by others, when we would much rather use a voluntary system that works for us with Grazing BMP allowing us to do just that,” he said.

“Grazing BMP is particularly worthwhile for cattle producers living near Great Barrier Reef catchments as it is a way of demonstrating how we are playing our part in improving water quality for the Reef.

“With many graziers already operating at best practice, Grazing BMP provides them an opportunity to show this to the world and to be proud of their commitment to sustainability.

“It is fantastic to see industry leaders like the Hughes family getting behind Grazing BMP.”