{"id":869621,"date":"2026-08-27T00:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869621\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:12:30","slug":"farming-changes-linked-to-improved-water-quality-across-great-barrier-reef-catchments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869621\/","title":{"rendered":"Farming changes linked to improved water quality across Great Barrier Reef catchments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two separate studies claim to show a connection between improved water quality in Great Barrier Reef catchments and farmers changing the way they fertilise their crops.<\/p>\n

Researchers also believe healthier water flowing to the reef could improve its ability to recover from the growing impacts of climate change, including coral bleaching.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with scientists from CSIRO and James Cook University (JCU), two research papers have been produced using data that spans decades.<\/p>\n

One study found water quality had improved across multiple river catchments, while the other documented significant reductions in the use of synthetic fertiliser, particularly in sugarcane-growing areas.<\/p>\n

\"aerial<\/p>\n

Sediment from agricultural runoff has had a detrimental impact on parts of the Great Barrier Reef. (Supplied: TropWATER JCU)<\/p>\n

Aaron Davis from TropWATER JCU said there was a clear link between the two studies.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been able to document those substantial fertiliser reductions that they’ve undertaken over the last 30-odd years,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re also now able to tie that into improvements in water quality with real data and significant downward declines in dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations at the end of catchment with real data.”\"Three<\/p>\n

Aaron Davis has been working with farmers to reduce their synthetic fertiliser use without losing productivity. (ABC Far North: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Studies explained<\/p>\n

Stephen Lewis from TropWATER JCU said the fertiliser study drew upon 100 years of data.<\/p>\n

“The fertiliser records we compiled [show] the amount of synthetic nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser application for all river catchments across the entire Great Barrier Reef catchment area,” he said.<\/p>\n

“What that showed was there was a marked reduction by up to 25 to 50 per cent reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser application across the vast majority of basins for the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, and this occurred over the past one to two decades.”<\/p>\n

CSIRO researcher Rebecca Bartley, who worked on the water-quality study, said it was the largest and most comprehensive analysis of its kind undertaken across Great Barrier Reef catchments.<\/p>\n

For that study, nearly 40 years of water-quality data was analysed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Stephen Lewis and Rebecca Bartley say the study has shown improvements in water quality. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

“We evaluated water quality at nine sites. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it actually represents an area the same size as New Zealand, so a really big catchment area,” Dr Bartley said.<\/p>\n

“At those nine sites, 75 per cent of them showed improvements in water quality over about a 40-year record.”<\/p>\n

She said the sites that did not show improvements were generally in smaller catchments.<\/p>\n

She said the results were positive, with landholders playing a significant role in water-quality outcomes, which would ultimately aid the reef.<\/p>\n

\"green<\/p>\n

The sugar cane industry says it tries to mitigate its impact on the Great Barrier Reef. (ABC Far North: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

“It’s well established that climate change and repeat coral-bleaching events are the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef at the moment,” Dr Bartley said.<\/p>\n

“But it’s really, really important that we have good water quality getting out to the reef during those events as it’s been shown that corals will recover more quickly from bleaching and coral disease and the seagrasses will recover if water quality is in good condition.<\/p>\n

“That’s why this news is so encouraging.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Improved water quality should help the reef recover faster during climate change events. (Supplied: Zohar Ouzana)<\/p>\n

The Great Barrier Reef Park Marine Authority (GBPRMPA) was not involved in the study, but its Marine Monitoring Program was one of the key data sources analysed.<\/p>\n

GBRMPA chief scientist Roger Beeden welcomed the study’s findings, which he said highlighted the importance of long-term monitoring.<\/p>\n

“The challenge with anything to do with conservation is it takes a long time to get really clear outcomes and these are complex systems,” Dr Beeden said.<\/p>\n

“One of things [the study] did was disentangle the long-term trends from what happens with episodic events like floods.<\/p>\n

“That’s really useful to be able to see through the noise and it also indicated that you get these periods of recovery.”<\/p>\n

The findings come as Australia prepares to report to UNESCO in 2028 on progress under its Reef 2050 water-quality plan, with trends in nutrient pollution forming part of the assessment.<\/p>\n

\"creek<\/p>\n

Of the monitored catchments, 75 per cent showed an improvement in water quality.\u00a0 (ABC Far North: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Practices in sugarcane farming<\/p>\n

Sugarcane farmers have been changing when and how they apply fertiliser to reduce the amount of nutrients washing into waterways.<\/p>\n

Cane farmer Neil Maitland, from near Cairns, said timing was critical, particularly ahead of the region’s heavy summer rain.<\/p>\n

“We found \u2026 that you need to put the fertiliser on as early as you can after about the middle of September to try to miss that first flush,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Neil Maitland is reducing the amount of synthetic fertiliser he uses on his crops. (ABC Far North: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Mr Maitland has also been using sunn hemp<\/a> and other cover crops to naturally add nitrogen back into the soil, reducing his reliance on synthetic fertiliser.<\/p>\n

He said reducing fertiliser use had environmental benefits while also cutting farm-input costs without decreasing yields.<\/p>\n

“With these high nitrogen and high fertiliser prices, the saving is unbelievable, and still not losing any productivity,” he said.\"close<\/p>\n

Neil Maitland is using cover crops to add naturally add nitrogen back into his soil.\u00a0 (ABC Far North: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Nearby canegrower John Ferrando has adopted similar practices and said protecting the condition of the land was central to the future of farming.<\/p>\n

“Farmers have always invested in their soils,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We wouldn’t be fourth-generation farmers if we were [ruining] the soil. So, [our] legacy is to leave the farm in a better condition, pass it on to the next generation.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two separate studies claim to show a connection between improved water quality in Great Barrier Reef catchments and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,6076,75,263493,1044,34100,128,350603,81156,74798],"class_list":["post-869621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-csiro","tag-environment","tag-fertiliser","tag-great-barrier-reef","tag-james-cook-university","tag-science","tag-sugar-cane","tag-tropwater","tag-water-quality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}