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Turning creek weeds into compost in the Lower BurdekinWebsite/ReportProject leadPartnershipsIndustriesAgriculture
ActivitiesOn-ground work
Case study type(none)
Funding sourceEvolution Mining
Funding amount$200,000
In-kind contribution$120,000
Start date1 July 2017
End date30 December 2018
Summary
Freshwater wetlands in North Queensland's Lower Burdekin region provide critical wildlife habitat. Invasive weeds in the area, if left unmanaged, choke these wetlands and reduce water quality to the Great Barrier Reef.
The project is focused on a major weed infestation at Kalamia Creek, near Ayr. The aim is not only to remove the weeds, but also to turn them into a compost to improve soil health and boost local agriculture. To compost the weeds a permit to transport declared plant material was obtained from Biosecurity Queensland. To reduce the impact of spreading declared weeds and pathogens, the approved permit required the project team to comply with Australian Standards using best practice composting techniques. The project team was required to:
BenefitsProduce a beneficial bi-product of weed control activities. The project has the potential to reduce nutrient run-off from agricultural sites.
The end-goal is to turn the compost into a marketable product to help recover some weed control costs. LessonThere has been three minor challenges. Firstly, pieces of metal (e.g. old rubbish dumped in the area) were being found in the initial pile of the compost which was causing damage to the farmers compost turner. To minimise the impact, the project team bought the farmer a metal detector. The farmer now sweeps the metal detector over the windrows before each turn. If a signal is received, he manually digs into the pile and locates the object. Secondly, the grazier whose property is used to stack the weed material had concerns about potential loss of productive ground and grass cover due to the weed piles and machinery tracks. Access to this property is critical to the success of the project so the project team and the grazier discussed the issues and identified solutions. The outcome was that NQ Dry Tropics provided fencing materials so the grazier could expand his grazing area into a previously unused area.
Thirdly, there is more plant material on the banks than can fit into the composting area. The two possible solutions for this is to either leave it insitu and load it when space becomes available or adapt the composting methods from the current aerobic composting technique to anaerobic. To do this, the project team has been discussing options with a “no turn” composting expert. This solution, if successful, may result in the reduction in loading time, labour and expenses. Reference ID(none)
Last updated: 2 July 2019 This page should be cited as: Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2019) Turning creek weeds into compost in the Lower Burdekin, WetlandInfo website, accessed 30 August 2024. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/resources/tools/wetland-project/turning-creek-weeds-into-compost-in-the-lower-burdekin-c100/ |