Test and monitor. Test and monitor.
This was the over-riding advice for farmers coming out of one of Australia’s premier soil health conferences held in York, WA last week.
Our Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator Karen Whitehead joined more than 100 farmers, researchers and industry professionals at the biennial event Talkin’ Soil Health organised by our counterparts at Wheatbelt NRM.
No worries if you weren’t able to attend! Karen has captured some points of interest to share.
The event included a high calibre line-up of 15 speakers who all addressed the importance of soil health for improved productivity and sustainability.
Common themes
Karen said a common theme which emerged from the presentations was that improving soil health is possible in all soil types.
The complication arises out of testing for soil health.
“There are a number of ways to assess biological diversity and abundance in your soil and each has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the context,” Karen said.
“Monitor your soil with soil tests, photos and observations to compare year to year which direction your soil health is trending.
“Getting to know your soil and connecting with people in your community to share wins and challenges will help you in the journey to sustainability.”
Carbon Farming
Karen said the other key message echoed throughout the conference for farmers was to get familiar with Carbon Farming.
“Carbon farming is going to be embedded into the future of Australian agriculture,” she said.
“Building carbon levels up in your soil will be beneficial for soil and plant health and therefore the sustainability of business on your land,” Karen said.
“And that’s regardless of whether it is officially accounted for in the Carbon Market.
“Getting familiar with the Carbon Market, if you are not already, will get increasingly more important as businesses throughout the supply chains start to seek offsets for their own operations, or favour growers with the lowest emissions to help keep their own footprint low.”
A highlight of the event was the awarding of Soil Health Champion awards which included our South West NRM Region representative Warren Pensini.
You can meet our South West Soil Health Champion via the button below.
