Measuring & monitoring soil microbiology & soil health - free workshop!

Monday, July 3, 2023 in Murwillumbah, Venue TBA,  11.30 AM to 3.00PM (partnership with Tweed Council)

Tuesday, July 4, 2023 in Lismore​, Venue TBA,  9.00AM to 12.30PM

Bookings including name, workshop location and phone number are essential to SoilCare .
​Mark your calendar for SoilCare's upcoming workshop on soil microbiology & soil health with Dr Neil Wilson, Dave Forrest, Alan Coates and Graham Lancaster.
Our four expert speakers will answer these questions and more...​

  • What is the soil microbiome?
  • How are soil microbes measured and monitored?
  • How can microbial analysis benefit your crop?
  • How do soil microbes influence nutrient availability?
  • How is chemical analysis used in a biological farming system?
  • How do we use the results from microbial and chemical analysis to improve soil and crop health?

Recent Events

Connecting the Drops with Dr Matt Landos
A history of how land use influences the health of rivers, fish, and people.

​The evolution of humanity and modern agriculture is inextricably linked to water. The way that landscapes are managed impacts all parts of the water cycle from rainfall, to groundwater, to the persistence of riverine flows. The impacts that flow from land management decisions don’t end at the boundary fence. This talk will take you on a historical journey to appreciate how our decisions on land ultimately influence the health and productivity of aquatic ecosystems and down the line influence the health of our community. 
About Matt
Dr Matt Landos - Director, Future Fisheries Veterinary Service Pty Ltd (FFVS)
Thank you to Dr Matt Landos for an engaging presentation on Monday, March 27.  Also, thank you to everyone who joined us for the seminar and Southern Cross University for partnering with SoilCare to host the event.

Open Matt's presentation, 'Connecting the Drops - A history of how land use influences the health of rivers, fish and people' as PDF.

You can hear more from Matt on Spotify and the OzFish website.  ​

Integrated Pest Management & Cover Crops 
Thank you to Ross and Susan Arnett for hosting the field day on their macadamia farm.
The second IPM/Cover Crop Field Day in the series of three was attended by farmers interested in planting cover crops and providing beneficial insect habitat.
Ross shared his insightful observations on numerous trials running on his farm.  Thanks also to Richard Llewellyn, BioResources, and Dave Forrest, Organic Forrest, for contributing their knowledge and expertise. 

​BioResources provides insectary reared biological controls  specialising in Trichogramma and Anastatus wasps.
Farm Walk with Geoff Bugden
Thank you to Geoff and Debbie Bugden for hosting this farm walk on their pecan farm. Geoff shares his many years of observations and on-farm trials.  With help from Dave Forrest, Geoff explains to visitors how he developed his farm management practices. 

Geoff reveals the history of the farm and how he regenerated his land/trees with biological farming practices.  In this video watch Geoff explain how he manages ground covers, integrated pest management, soil health, and his brews of bio- fertilisers and bio-teas. 
Farm Walk videos produced by Mia Forrest.

In the news...

Inter row management in macadamias to conserve and encourage beneficial insects

​BioResources completed its Hort Innovation Project MC10068. The project used farm blocks on 11 macadamia farms from mid-coast NSW up to Bundaberg to work through with the farmers the issues of growing and maintaining an inter row insectary. BioResources then monitored these inter row insectaries in terms of their vegetation composition and insect community composition in comparison to industry standard regularly mown areas within these farms for 2.5 years.  
Apart from all the practicalities of maintaining an inter row insectary in macadamia orchards, the most important finding was that well-functioning insectaries increased the diversity of arthropod communities in both inter row &
tree habitats, in turn creating a more complex food web with higher proportions of beneficial invertebrates that were more stable in population abundance over time.  
​Visit the BioResources website for Project updates.      Visit the BioResources You Tube Channel for research project videos.

Podcasts

Make good use of your time while driving, mowing or tractor work by listening to podcasts.  A podcast is a just like a radio show, but you can listen whenever you want on your mobile phone.  You can easily subscribe to podcasts via iTunes or Google Play but there are other apps available as well.  Some examples below: 
​The RegenNarration Australian podcast features conversations with high profile and grass-roots leaders everywhere who are enabling the regeneration of life on this planet. They're sharing the stories, and changing the stories - the stories we live by. 
Visit the REGAN NARRATION website.
​Created and hosted by Anthony James, award-winning facilitator and educator, widely published writer, Honorary Research Associate at the University of Western Australia, and Warm Data Lab Host Certified by the International Bateson Institute. Anthony is currently also producing and hosting a short spin-off series for the Clean State podcast, dedicated to regenerative transitions in his home state of Western Australia.
Acres USA Tractor Time
The Voice of Eco-Agriculture. 
Acres U.S.A.: The Voice of Eco-Agriculture. We help educate growers on ecological techniques that are proven to increase yield and decrease the need for costly toxic inputs.

​There are 38 podcasts, and counting, at Acres USA. ​

Quick links

Northern Rivers Soil Health Cards

Soil Health Card Videos

Australian Biological Farming Conference 2018 Videos