Healthy Beef Burnett project homes in on quality

The Healthy Beef Burnett project, run by the South Burnett Grazing Network with support from the Australian Department of Agriculture and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, is now into its second month.

The program, which will run for a year on a trial basis, aims to get producers monitoring their paddocks more closely in four key areas- animal health and welfare, water supply, feed including pasture quality and pests.

Project coordinator Chris Corsbie said about a dozen South Burnett producers were taking part in the trial, which aims to make quality assurance easy.

"By monitoring these four areas, we hope that people can find simple ways to improve their operation on daily basis," he said.

"If you drive into a paddock to do something else, like fixing a fence, the idea is to have the notebook in the vehicle and take a note of these areas and see how they're tracking.

"There are hundreds of programs out there but we think if you can look at having these four things monitored it's a practical way of doing something simple.

Mr Corsbie, who runs Droughtmaster cattle across two blocks at Maidenwell and Durong, said he had found within his own operation that since the start of the program he was more mindful of checking certain watering points.

"Just having these things in the back of your head can help you spot problems quicker," he said.

"It's also a good way of knowing when a problem may have occurred if you're taking note of all these things."