Productive soils

Understanding how soils function and how best to manage them will increase your productivity, profitability and sustainability.

A healthy soil:

• contributes to farm profitability
• has biological, physical and chemical properties that promote the health of plants, animals and humans
• is able to adjust to and recover from environmental, climate and seasonal stress
• supports plant growth, decomposition and recycling processes and resists erosion.

Our services

The Land Health program offers soil management training, advice, workshops and field-days to help farmers increase the productivity of their soils.

Our experts can help farmers increase their knowledge and understanding of:

• soil function — understanding soil and how they should be managed to maximise productivity including soil chemical, physical and biological properties
• plant production through measuring and monitoring
• soil efficiency — influences of nutrient and water use and impediments to efficient nutrient and water use
• soil constraints on production, and how to improve water and nutrient holding capacity and overall soil health
• how to avoid compaction, acidification, and to improve structure, pH and carbon status
• land management practices.

Land management practices include:

• managing stock traffic
• overstocking
• over-grazing
• tillage
• chemical input
• organic matter management.