New innovations in soil ecology and health were explored at a biological farming roundtable (BFR) event at the Coghills Creek Community Centre on Wednesday, with calls for more investment invest into soil health in farming systems.
The event, which was sponsored by vermiwash product NutriSoil, saw local farmers explore new (and old) tools developed to improve soil health.
NutriSoil director Nakala Maddock said the roundtables were non product specific and initially focused on researchers looking at research papers and discussing how to implement findings on-farm.
"After a while we actually went out on-farm and that itself started to get a lot of traction," Ms Maddock said
"So while we are a worm farm, we like to invite other, environmentally friendly products... for example at this BFR we're looking at vermiculture, but we're also looking at a biostimulant and the benefits they bring."
Ms Maddock said the roundtables aimed to have people understand changes that are needed to farm due to human health, the cost of farming, sustainability and the need to capture more water.
"If we're able to support soil biology, plant diversity and all the natural cycles of nature, instead of controlling it all the time, then It's actually more profitable.
"The nutrient integrity of the food is much healthier for the human, and in a way we are having a health crisis, at the moment.
"There is a need to put more finances into how we grow our food in agriculture, because good food is good medicine."
Diversity within a farmer's soil is paramount, including a whole array of microbes and organisms that drives soil and nutrient function.
That's according to Soil Land Food agroecologist David Hardwick presented at the BFR and spoke about the complex top soil community, which he says can be broken down to simple parts.
"We spoke here about how soil has life in it, has plant roots in it, has air, water and minerals in all of it and how all those things interact with each other," Mr Hardwick said.
"Diversity is a real driver of soil function and therefore progresses nutrient cycling, the nutrient status of plants and all of those benefits for animals and for us, I guess, as humans, eating food.
Mr Hardwick says the importance of knowing how soil works is at the heart of biological diversity on-farm, and farmers from all climates are wanting to know what suits them best.
"A lot of farmers are more proactively seeking out more information about soil health to build on what they learned right across Australia," he said.
"We work from the wet tropics through to Tassie and everywhere in between with wide array of farming systems."
He said principles with working with soil are the same, but climate differences in the country impact on how you improve soil health.
Specifically in Victoria, Mr Hardwick said managing diverse pastures and grazing management were two biggest tools farmers could use.
"Grazing management and building those diverse pasture bases is really the main key to get your soil improving here, which also includes the basics like ground cover," he said.
"Using new biological products on top of that can also really help."
READ MORE:
Zoe Crouch, Landsborough West said farmers from all sorts of operations are always seeking new ways of regenerative practices, which includes work on soil.
Ms Crouch, who is also the facilitator for the Central Victorian Regenerative Farmers Group, says interest is expanding with the group beginning in 2019 with five farms with four demonstration paddock trials to 35 members across 31 farms covering over 10,000 hectares.
"Many of our members are practical about what products to use, but this roundtable for our group was more about learning about the biofumigants and vermiculture," she said.
The group supported the roundtable along with Nutrisoil, and Ms Crouch said more community sessions would be beneficial across Victoria.
"More and more are interested in what's going on underground nowadays... and I think the knowledge base is growing from what I hear," she said
"That's important because then neighbors talk to neighbors, it's talked about down at the pub, it's even talked about at the footy."
"Events like this can see people work together and share that knowledge importance of biological systems in an educational type of setting."
Ms Crouch said that while many new technologies are coming forward to get the most out of soil on farms, but at the same time, believes going back to basics is fundamental for farmers.
"I think there's potential for a great use of technology in soils going forward, but we also need to embrace what we we need to relearn about soil... which is a big thing to be honest because there's still a lot of things we don't know about soil too," she said.
"We know more about flying to Mars than we do about soil, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to go Mars, I'd rather better our Earth."
"If you concentrate on learning about soil, and then growing it, everything else becomes healthy on farm, including yourself."
