Knowledge from landscape rehabilitation monitoring is urgently needed to support Australia’s Nature Positive agenda. This paper presents pasture recovery data from eight erosion rehabilitation sites, collectively representing a ~$2.5 million investment, in the Burdekin catchment, Australia. The observations and lessons learnt from these sites were synthesised to inform the next generation of rehabilitation in rangeland environments. These include that recovery may take decades and active interventions may accelerate the response, but they will be costly.

In this review, we suggest a paradigm shift in how cattle are fed in northern Australia that could reimagine the beef in the 21st century. Future global protein shortages for human nutrition may change the economic balance in favour of more creative ideas for feeding cattle. We highlight five ‘game changers’ that have been technically shown to take advantage of the opportunities across the north, including legumes, silage, irrigation, crop and vegetable co-products and low-quality feedstocks.