Cereus uruguayanus, commonly known as night blooming cereus, is one of many cacti becoming problematic in Australia’s rangelands. Its attractive shape and flowers make it a popular garden plant, but it can escape into surrounding vegetation and establish large infestations. For control in these situations, a novel stem-implantation system used to insert encapsulated herbicides was trialled. Four herbicides achieved high mortality, demonstrating the potential of this technique for control.

Understanding the unseen social identity dynamics of rural communities can provide insights to community leaders, development practitioners and extension officers struggling to innovate and serve rangelands communities. Established socially dominant residents can act collectively against newcomer and outsider efforts to introduce change, solve problems and revitalise communities. Social identity offers a psychological explanation for antisocial behaviours and resistance to new proposals or business or transfer knowledge to rural community.

Long-term paddock surveys from 2003 to 2022 in far south-western NSW showed that best land management practices increased from 14% to 75% of sites. This management change reduced wind erosion from 23% to 9% of sites. Future extension activities targeted at grazing management of stubbles and pastures are required to minimise erosion further.

The available evidence shows that the northern Australian beef industry cannot currently demonstrate whether it is financially and environmentally sustainable. We contend that this will not change if the industry continues to cling to generic industry frameworks with weak criteria. In this paper, we present measurable criteria for sustainability and provide a protocol for the beef industry to improve the trajectory of sustainability in the grazed landscapes of northern Australia.