Centenary Land Management and Conservation Award State Award winners Anne and Charlie Phillott ‘Carisbrooke’ Winton In 1990 the United Graziers’ Association of Queensland conducted a Land Management and Conservation Award in conjunction with its Centenary. Six regional winner awards were made in the first round of judging. After further judging, Anne and Charlie Phillott were awarded the state wide winner prize and have been nominated as Queensland’s primary producer entrant in Land Care Australia Ltd’s National Landcare Awards. The award was judged on the criteria of *Land use for sustainable production, *Management techniques for land and livestock, *Property planning for management and long term development, and *Wildlife habitat management and retention.
‘Carisbrooke’ The property Originally part of the large Bladensberg Station, the property was excised in 1936, and Phillotts came to the property in 1960. ‘Carisbrooke’ is approximately 20 000 ha (50 000 ac) in size. Approximately 8 000 ha (20 000 ac) is highly productive Mitchell grass downs and gidgee ridges, 4 000 ha (10 000 ac) is productive channel country, 3 000 ha (8 000 ac) is tableland or ‘jump up’ spinifex country and the remainder is gidgee ridges and water courses below the tableland. Property vegetation and soils vary. Charlie concentrates his grazing enterprise on the better pastures of the open largely treeless Mitchell grass downs. While the downs are mostly native Mitchell grass pastures with associated herbage, buffel grass has been successfully introduced into some watercourses. Ridges feature scattered gidgee while a variety of eucalypts including coolibah grow along the watercourses. The channel country is now largely buffel grass pasture which colonised the water courses initially and then spread. In common with the downs, gidgee dominates the ridges and the eucalypts including coolibah are found in the waterways. A variety of vegetation, including spinifex grass in association with mulga, lancewood, a number of wattles, eucalypts and beefwood, is found on the decomposed sandstone tableland. The tableland areas are left largely undisturbed and therefore act as a drought reserve and wildlife habitat. This aspect is used to advantage in a limited on-farm tourist enterprise that capitalises on the scenery of the area. The property has an annual average rainfall of 300 mm (12 inches) traditionally falling mostly in summer. Recently the pattern has become variable with greater winter rainfall. Grazing production ‘Carisbrooke’ produces predominantly wool although some cattle are run. An average of 6 000 sheep are carried on ‘Carisbrooke’. They are all merinos of Boonoke blood producing medium quality wool. Ewes are normally joined to lamb in February - March, sheep are shorn in early August and lambs are weaned at shearing. As a result of the keyline water control scheme used on the property, available water and plentiful feed assist early lambing. Lambs are then better able to withstand any dry conditions that might occur in August September. A Santa Gertrudis breeding herd of 400-500 head was run but due to the drought years 1981-1985 the herd was sold. Since then cattle have been periodically agisted on the property as pasture permits. While pasture species have been introduced on the property, production relies primarily on the native grass species. Converted in 2014 to a document by Geoffrey Booth for Keyline Archive. www.youtube.com/channel/UCUPgPJZAlkxt207sxcdp4DQ/about Content, layout & fonts are almost verbatim from the pamphlet of the United Graziers’ Association of Queensland 1990. P A Yeomans-Keyline at Carisbrooke (25 min) 1990 www.youtube.com/watch?v=W72y_us2Sbg