Establishing the link: Soil Health through land management in the Central West
NEWSFLASH!!!! Soil Health Project II is a goer! Scroll to bottom of page for an Expression of Interest form
What's this project all about?
With the help of Ecological Agronomist David Hardwick, this project is taking 10 local farm businesses on an indepth study of their soils, exploring the way soil types and surface management changes physical, chemical and biological properties. The project involves:
- Soil Pit Day
- 10 Soil Health Farm Visits
- Soil Health Interpretation Day
The Soil Pit Day kicked-off the project on 2 May 2012. Getting beneath the surface, this hands-on day gave participants a fresh perspective on how surface management and plant roots change the physical, biological and chemical aspects of their soil; and how to manage within parent material limitations.
The 10 Soil Health Farm Visits will be run using a modified version of the (hugely successful) Little River Landcare “Farmers Teaching Farmers” model which was developed in 2007.
The Watershed Farm Visits will work as follows:
- Each participating farm business has a burning soil health issue or topic they're interested in which will be explored in detail during the 1/2 day group visit to their farm
- Each Farm Visit will involve a bit of theory and lots of practical, including a soil sample collection which will be interpreted during the last "Soil Health Interpretation" day
- Each Farm Visit will be professionally facilitated by Ecological Agronomist David Hardwick, assisted by Watershed Landcare
- Each participating family business will host the group on their property
The Soil Health Interpretation Day will take a look at all 10 soil test results to explore how different soil types, vegetation cover and management practices affect soil chemistry, physics and biology. Participants will learn all about how to READ and UNDERSTAND these sometimes confusing results and will be able to evaluate the biological and chemical fertility of their soil; interpreting key indicators in a holistic manner.
Handy tricks, tools and info sheets from the project...
Looking at your Paddock-Soil Ecosystem hand-outs
Newspaper articles about the project...
Central West project launched on soil health
Background...
This project was developed by the Central West Natural Resource Management (NRM) Working Group of which Watershed Landcare is a member.
In early 2011, the Central West NRM Working Group “project sub-committee” prioritised soil health for a regional project. Through the Central West Catchment Management Authority, the NRM Working Group applied for funding under the Federal Governments’ Caring for our Country – and was successful!
Eight Landcare networks are participating in the successful project, which will see a core group of 10 land managers in each Landcare area (total of 80 land managers) participate in series of workshops that demonstrate innovative soil health management strategies.
The project will result in an overall improvement in soil condition of more 40,000ha within the Central West Catchment.
This project is supported by “Establishing the link: Soil Health through land management in the Central West”, through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country and the Central West Catchment Management Authority.
