Montevideo is a family property, owned and managed by 4th generation graziers Peter and Simone Lawrie, with their son, Ty. The property is situated in an area of the Fitzroy catchment that has a high sediment delivery ratio to the Great Barrier Reef and has experienced historic challenges retaining ground cover compared to the regional average.
Verterra partnered with the Lawrie’s to restore eroded gullies under a four-year project with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to reduce sediment flow to the Reef. However, the erosion was also leading to challenges retaining biomass, which negatively impacted productivity of the grazing operation.
By taking a whole-of-property approach, Verterra identified ways to reduce erosion while also improving grazing productivity, and in the process, Montevideo became a foundation project for the development of DROVER.
“Verterra has helped us move generations forward, more than we could ever do on our own. It’s put our land management progress forward 10 years. We look at country differently now. We’ve learnt the importance of not using cookie-cutter methods, and to fully investigate land condition before applying blanket solutions. It’s something all properties should invest in to save time, money, and effort.”
Simone Lawrie
