PEOPLE, SHEEP AND NATURE CONSERVATION
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PEOPLE, SHEEP AND NATURE CONSERVATION The Tasmanian Experience
Editors: Jamie Kirkpatrick and Kerry Bridle
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© Jamie Kirkpatrick and Kerry Bridle 2007 All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO PUBLISHING for all permission requests. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry People, sheep and nature conservation: the Tasmanian experience. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 9780643093720. 1. Environmental protection – Tasmania. 2. Sheep industry – Environmental aspects – Tasmania. 3. Sheep industry – Tasmania. I. Kirkpatrick, J. B. (James Barrie). II. Bridle, Kerry Lynn. III. CSIRO. 333.731609946 Published by CSIRO PUBLISHING 150 Oxford Street (PO Box 1139) Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia Telephone: Local call: Fax: Email: Web site:
+61 3 9662 7666 1300 788 000 (Australia only) +61 3 9662 7555
[email protected] www.publish.csiro.com
Front cover photo by Diana Cameron Back cover photo by Jamie Kirkpatrick Set in 11/14 Adobe Minion and ITC Stone Sans Edited by Anne Findlay Cover and text design by James Kelly Typeset by Desktop Concepts Pty Ltd, Melbourne Printed in Australia by BPA Print Group
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Contents
Preface
ix
J.B. Kirkpatrick and K.L. Bridle
Chapter 1 History
1
J.B. Kirkpatrick Summary
1
Introduction
1
The grazing lands in gathering and hunting times
2
The first sheep and their people
3
Sheep and the Black War
9
Early environmental impacts of sheep
10
Two-legged dogs
11
Yeomen graziers
11
Firing the landscape
15
Rabbits, scab and other pestilences
21
Breeding for environment, purpose and fashion
27
Transhumance
32
Technology
36
Markets
39
Climate
41
Conclusions
42
Chapter 2 Managing the run country for production
45
J.B. Kirkpatrick, K.L. Bridle and P. Leith
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Summary
45
Introduction
45
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Contents
Runs, native pasture and bush
Sources of information
50
51
The microeconomics of run country
51
Economic uses of run country
53
Managing the run country for profit The enterprise classification
55 55
Grazing regimes Introduction Influence of environment on pasture management Set stocking Rotational systems Cell grazing Mixed systems Spelling Type of stock Stocking rates Fire management Increasing productivity through inputs Disease management Wild animal management Weed management Conclusions Notes
Chapter 3 Conserving on the run country
56 56 59 60 61 64 68 68 69 70 71 75 80 83 90 97 97
99
J.B. Kirkpatrick, K.L. Bridle, J. Edwards and J. Vercoe Summary
99
Introduction
9