This project uses advanced tools to map and assess grazing land conditions in Queensland, helping to improve land management and reduce sediment loss.
About the project
This project maps the condition of grazing land in the Burdekin, Fitzroy, and Burnett Mary Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions.
By looking at the condition of land used for grazing, we can better:
- prioritise and evaluate on-ground investments in land improvements
- understand and evaluate its carrying capacities and potential for sediment loss.
Until recently, land conditions have proven difficult to map.
This project addresses the challenge of mapping land conditions by using leading-edge technology to generate broadscale land-condition mapping and distribute it to stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments for better production and sustainability.
What we do
We’re collecting more than 2,000 land condition assessments across the Fitzroy, Burnett Mary and Burdekin NRM regions using the Land Condition Assessment Tool (LCAT) app.
These assessments will train a neural network machine learning model that will annually map grazing land conditions across the catchments.
In addition, the project will:
- upgrade the VegMachine website
- develop a digital pasture plant identification tool to support Queensland LCAT users
- evaluate the progressive iterations of the land condition mapping through field testing, hands-on reviews by experienced graziers and field staff, and statistical analysis.
The project has accumulated more than 700 LCAT assessments and produced the first iteration of land condition mapping in 2022–2023.
We will produce updated land condition maps of the target regions on an annual basis.
More information
- Watch helpful videos on better beef production
- View more tools for land condition mapping
Last updated: 22 May 2026