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Dairying Better ‘n Better for the Reef (DBnBR) is the dairy industry’s Reef Rescue program, funded through the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country Initiative. DBnBR is an expansion of the DBnB program specially designed to assist farmers within Great Barrier Reef catchments (GBR) to identify, develop and implement best practice natural resource management and environmental management practices on farm, to enhance the long term sustainability of the farm enterprise and reduce risks to water quality flowing to the GBR. The Queensland dairy industry has successfully adapted the DBnB program to Reef Rescue requirements through a prioritisation process to identify and target the highest water quality risks through the utilisation of the farm management system’s tools such as the DairySAT risk assessment tool, Soil and Nutrient Management planning module and priority water quality grants for high water quality risks. To date, the QDO (on behalf of the Queensland Dairy NRM program, which is a partnership between QDO and Subtropical Dairy Program) have actively supported reef catchment Regional NRM groups (Terrain NRM in the Wet Tropics and BMRG in the Burnett Mary) in the successful delivery of Years 1 and 2 of the five year Reef Rescue program to the dairy industry in these 2 regions.
Year 1 (Transitional Year 2008-2009):
The transitional year saw the formation of 5 Dairying Better ‘n Better groups across the reef catchments, with a combined farmer membership of 53 dairy producers. These producers embarked on a program that encompassed risk assessment, prioritising, capacity building activities, and action planning. A key component of the program was the provision of Soil and Nutrient Management Grants to support the professional development of 29 farm specific Soil and Nutrient Management Plans as well as funding support for on-ground action through 13 Water Quality Grants. Actions that target improved practices to reduce nutrient, pesticide and sediment run-off from approximately 3000 hectares of agricultural land have been funded in the first year.
Year 2 (2009-2010):
The Dairy Reef Rescue program received a significantly smaller allocation of investment compared to the original investment proposal. This was due to the Australian Government’s Multi Criteria Analysis process deeming the dairy industry to be a comparatively low risk to water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. As a result of this assessment, the second year of the Reef Rescue program was modified and focussed on the delivery of soil and nutrient management planning grants.
Delivery projects with Terrain NRM and BMRG for 2009-2010, resulted in the professional development of 25 Soil and Nutrient Management Plans that provide recommendations for the adoption of land management practices with improved water quality outcomes over 4333 hectares of dairy land. These activities were fortified by a comprehensive communication and awareness raising program within these priority reef areas.
Year 3 (2010-2011):
The first two years of the DBnBR program have provided an assessment and planning platform from which future years can build. In this way, the focus of future years will be on water quality grants to address priority actions identified through risk assessment and the soil and nutrient management planning process. Year 3 will see the implementation of water quality projects on approximately 20 dairy properties in the priority reef catchments of the Wet Tropics and Burnett Mary regions.
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