{"id":8643,"date":"2024-05-29T00:42:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T00:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/tully-johnstone-reef-water-quality-program-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T01:53:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T01:53:13","slug":"practical-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/practical-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical Data Key to Influencing Change"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/project_slider_mip.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]REEF WATER QUALITY: PRACTICAL DATA KEY TO INFLUENCING CHANGE\u00a0<\/span><\/span>[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]TULLY AND JOHNSTONE WATER QUALITY PROGRAM WRAPS UP[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]29 May 2024[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1716947055275{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Ongoing water, soil and leaf monitoring data is helping to improve production and reduce fertiliser runoff from farms in the Tully-Innisfail region.<\/p>\n

Farmers have been working with scientists as part of the $10.7 million Tully-Johnstone Water Quality Program for the last three years, and the data from waterways and crops is influencing changes in land management resulting in further reductions in dissolved inorganic nitrogen flowing into waterways and, ultimately, out to the Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s Charles Hammond said scientific data that was readily available to landholders, including local-scale water monitoring, was providing landholders with information to make informed farm management decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been more than five years of local-scale water quality monitoring in this region now, and plenty of communication with landholders about results, leading to solutions that are devised together, with wins for farmers and the environment,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t effectively manage what you don\u2019t measure. Over the last 15 years of reef water quality programs, we\u2019ve learnt that by giving growers the practical information they are seeking they can make more informed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tully-Johnstone Water Quality Program is funded by the partnership between the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Australian Government\u2019s Reef Trust, and is integrated with a Queensland Government-funded water quality monitoring project. The program, which is managed by Terrain NRM, has taken several approaches to further reduce nitrogen runoff in the region. With a strong focus on water quality monitoring, CSIRO and James Cook University\u2019s TropWater have expanded an existing program to include more paddock and sub-catchment-scale data.<\/p>\n

In other areas, Liquaforce has developed an online platform for farm, soil, and production data to help farmers with long-term performance monitoring, and Innisfail Canegrowers has been leading the Cassowary Coast Reef Smart Farming Project.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1716946973082{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1716947046119{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]In this project, extension officers are working with cane and banana farmers to improve productivity and optimise nitrogen use efficiency through improved nutrient planning that identifies opportunities to increase nutrient uptake in plants.<\/p>\n

Mr Hammond said the Tully-Innisfail region was a focus for reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen runoff because of its combination of rainfall, topography and land use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tully and Johnstone River catchments have high rainfall, steep mountains and short sharp rivers. They also have intensive agriculture on the coastal plain.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said ongoing monitoring was important in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past 5 to 6 years we\u2019ve answered many of the questions that farmers had about runoff by providing them with practical, timely and locally relevant water sampling so they can link farm practices to what\u2019s running off their paddock. While this program is ending, it\u2019s important that we continue to build long-term data sets for priority areas so we can continue to link land management, new practices and even new crops, to water quality.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1639622150605{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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