Measuring What Matters

Have a say in what matters in your patch

Local Land Services (LLS) is currently rolling out the Measuring What Matters project, providing land managers the opportunity to have their say in a survey about how they can better manage what matters in their patch.

Now in its second year, the state-wide survey is currently open for land managers of two hectares of land or more in NSW and will directly feed into how Local Land Services meets the needs of local land managers and the services it provides to support improvement in their land management practices. To further bolster the project, LLS are calling on more participants to join the survey.

LLS provides services which support land managers to manage their property in a bio-secure, profitable and sustainable way. Feedback from people on the land is key to the organisation’s ability to support land managers with funding opportunities, while also feeding directly into understanding what their customers need and how to best support them.

“We are measuring our customer experience to answer one fundamental question: what influence does LLS have in land managers’ adoption of best-practice land management systems?” Local Land Services Chief Executive Officer Kate Lorimer-Ward said.

“We are looking for feedback to assist our customers in achieving their land management goals, but to do this we need to understand the value of our services, how they meet their needs, and the impact they ultimately have on how they manage their land.”

The 15-minute survey, as well as a follow-up survey each year for five years, seeks to understand how threats on properties are managed, how soil, water, vegetation and production assets are managed, and levels of preparedness for change and emergencies.

Only one third of the more than 1000 survey participants to date have a biosecurity plan in place, just over half plant or maintain their native vegetation, and seven out of 10 are confidently managing livestock heath, nutrition and well-being.

Collecting and analysing this type of data allows LLS to adjust and enhance their services, information and opportunities to better support rural land managers into the future.

The data gathered so far has informed the LLS South East report to the Australian Government on Natural Resources Management trends. The organisation is also using the early results to design their Climate Smart Agriculture projects with the Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry.

LLS is also encouraging participation by providing a competition with prizes that can be won by simply completing the baseline survey (first year participants only). Up until 30 November, new survey participants will go in the draw to win a Silvan 100L Redline Sprayer and Allflex Rapidmatic Applicator valued at up to $900 (first prize) or a Waratah Gripple Tension Tool Starter Pack valued at up to $300 (second prize). T&Cs apply.

Sign up to participate in the project. For more information, email [email protected]