Properties with high productive potential are of particular value for agricultural use, but low current productivity does not mean that further subdivision is necessarily appropriate.
On the contrary, larger holdings are required to allow the sustainable productive use of the typically moderate to low productivity grazing lands that dominant in the region. Optimal use of low productivity pastures is also more likely, where properties comprise an appropriate mix of low, moderate and highly productive grazing (or cropping) lands.
The total holding need not comprise a single parcel of land in the same locality or even region. Grazing properties also commonly include both leasehold and purchased land. The chance to combine sufficiently large areas of land and to retain an appropriate resource balance, however, decrease as lot sizes become smaller and the emphasis on residential use increases. Problems include; increased operating costs and increased difficulty in shifting stock from one property to another, increased property prices and rates, reduced interest in productive agricultural land use and increased risk of land use conflict.
Low current productivity may also be improved by appropriate soil and pasture management. When farmland prices are high, the most cost effective means to increase returns is to improve soil fertility. However, the capacity to sustainably improve pastures is ultimately limited by such factors as the risk of erosion or nutrient run off, the need to protect biodiversity and the relative difference between costs and benefits (see Fertilisers for coastal pastures for further advice).
With decreasing property size, the proportion of that farm not suitable for pasture improvement increases also tends to increase significantly along with the per head costs of pasture improvement and herd management. Making effectively use of the extra pasture volume and quality also requires additional herd management and marketing. Pasture improvement and maintaining increased productivity may consequently be inappropriate for smaller rural lifestyle properties, especially those with other production constraints (such as poor soils or limited growing seasons).
Subdivision and closer settlement can also result in landscape changes, loss of rural character, cumulative impacts on biodiversity and catchment values, the loss of farm forestry potential or the alienation of mining resources. Cumulative impacts and Ecologically Sustainable Development also need to be considered when deciding future land use options.
Retaining the capacity for sustainable primary production and creating further smallholdings and residential opportunities needs to be separately provided for within the context of local and regional planning policies and related conservation and development strategies. Key planning tools include the appropriate identification of zones and minimum lot sizes.
Property size, dwelling entitlement and the risk of land use conflict are key constraints for retaining or improving agricultural productivity. Retaining the capacity for sustainable cattle grazing can also help retain other productive land use options, and protect environmental and landscape values.
In coastal areas such as the Hunter region, the area typically needed to sustain a functional cattle unit provides a practical guide when considering buying or subdividing rural (resource) lands best suited for cattle grazing.
