FARMERS and landholders gathered at Steve Leisk’s property near Molong last week for a soil health workshop focused on one of the most important parts of their businesses: the ground beneath their feet.
The workshop, run by Little River Landcare and led by soil scientist Dr Aurélie Quade, focused on helping farmers understand what is happening in their soil before spending money on inputs.
Dr Quade said soil health should not be viewed as a moral or environmental issue, but as a financial one.
“Soil health is not a moral topic,” she told attendees. “It’s the margin topic.”
Her message was successful soil management isn’t about spending less or spending more, but about spending on the right thing at the right time and making sure the soil can use what is being put into it.
Dr Quade described soil biology as a functioning community, with different organisms performing different jobs, and said farmers needed to think about how well their soil could make use of available nutrients and moisture.
The workshop was particularly relevant to Mr Leisk, who has spent more than two decades experimenting with his own property.
When he bought the property in 2003, the self-described “city slicker” thought he had plenty of grass, only to find that it lacked nutrition and within six months Mr Leisk had to hand feed his cattle.
A chance spill of compost later showed him just how much of a difference the material could make, with the ground turning green where it landed.
He has since experimented with compost and lime across the property, including a recent trial comparing different application rates.
Those experiments have produced some dramatic differences but have also raised more questions. Recent soil testing found some areas with acidic soil and high aluminium levels, helping Mr Leisk understand why some parts of the property continue to struggle.
His latest approach combines compost with lime, while further trials are helping him work out what application rates make sense financially.
Local farmer and long-time Landcare member Don Bruce said the value of workshops like Friday’s was in making scientific information practical for farmers.
“There are a lot of soil scientists, there are a lot of academics. Very knowledgeable, but they can’t put it across,” he said.
Mr Bruce recalled seeing soil biology under a microscope years ago and watching a nematode chase bacterium through a single drop of water.
“You should be able to see life just moving,” he said.
