Soils For Life

• Getting foliars right, with Tom Robinson

  This episode is part of a series of short conversations with the farmers profiled in our cropping practice guides. For Tom Robinson, foliar sprays aren’t a magic fix, but they’ve become a game-changer. Guided by sap testing and years of trialling, they’re helping him hit crop nutrition targets and lift grain performance while fitting into a broader soil health strategy.In this episode, Tom shares how he’s shifted from the odd zinc spray to a targeted program guided by regular sap testing, hitting critical growth stages in wheat, lentils, and canola. We talk through the practicalities – from making his own trace element mixes on-farm to jar testing, timing sprays for maximum uptake, and deciding when to include extras like seaweed or compost extracts.Tom also explains how foliar nutrition fits with other practices like zero-till, controlled traffic, and tactical livestock grazing, and the results he’s seen in grain quality, germination, and reduced pesticide use.Whether you’re already using foliars or just curious about where they might fit in your system, you’ll get practical tips and lessons learned from years of trial, observation, and adjustment – all aimed at building plant health and farm resilience.Read the full practice guide on using foliars at soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-foliar-applications/Get in touch - ⁠[email protected]⁠ Subscribe to our newsletter - ⁠soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter

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• Navigating uncertainty: Practical paths to resilient farming systems, with Nicole Masters

  Nicole Masters is an agroecologist, educator and author with decades of experience working alongside farmers and land managers across Australia, New Zealand, North America and beyond. She is formally trained in soil science, organisational learning and adult education, and is known for taking a practical, systems-based approach to regenerating land and building resilient farm businesses. Nicole is the founder of Integrity Soils and author of For the Love of Soil.We caught up with Nicole ahead of her forthcoming visit to Australia in September to talk about navigating the overwhelm of managing complex and uncertain agroecological systems, implementing new practices safely, the toolkit for diagnosing and dealing with limitations in your system, the value of coaching and peer support, and ultimately, strategies for building healthy, resilient farming systems.Book for Nicole’s Soil Health Masterclass, on 1-3 September at Tresavale Farm, Gympie, Qld - ⁠https://integritysoils.com/products/masterclass-aus Get in touch - [email protected] Subscribe to our newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletterMentioned in this episode:Integrity Soils - integritysoils.co.nz CREATE (Coaching Regenerative Experts in Agriculture for Tomorrow) - https://www.integritysoils.co.nz/create A chat with Sam Vincent, author of ‘My Father and Other Animals’ - soilsforlife.org.au/my-father-and-other-animals-a-chat-with-sam-vincent/Jonathan Lundgren’s 1,000 Farms initiative - www.ecdysis.bio/featured-project Soils for Life work with Nicole Masters:Masterclass recap: Rethinking what healthy soil looks like: A blog reflection on Nicole Masters’ intensive masterclass in Orange, exploring how we’ve normalised degraded landscapes and how to start seeing soil health differently. soilsforlife.org.au/nicole-masters-masterclassWebinar: Tracking soil health with Nicole Masters: Nicole works with three Australian grain growers to explore soil health using the Soilmentor app — demonstrating practical, visual soil tests like rhizosheath assessment, infiltration and rooting depth. soilsforlife.org.au/tracking-soil-health-with-nicole-mastersWebinar replay: Soil health in practice: Watch the full July 2024 webinar with Nicole Masters and see how soil indicators are used to guide decision-making on-farm. soilsforlife.org.au/tracking-soil-health-with-nicole-masters-webinar

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• Feeding cane by building biology: Michael Waring on soil health and nitrogen cycling in the tropics

  This is the first in a series of short episodes we’ll be releasing over the coming months featuring farmers profiled in our series of regenerative cropping Practice Guides. Check out the full suite of guides at www.soilsforlife.org.au.Michael Waring is a North Queensland sugarcane grower with decades of experience improving nitrogen cycling and soil health. Michael walks us through his journey from adopting controlled traffic, multispecies cover cropping, reduced tillage, and biological inputs. Michael shares the nitty-gritty of how he trialled, and eventually achieved, a multispecies cover crop mix that can survive the tropics’ brutal wet season. He explains how he’s cut nitrogen rates dramatically without sacrificing yield, and how new biological tools are helping him unlock phosphorus sitting in the soil. For sugarcane growers, and any farmer wanting to cut costs, reduce runoff and build a healthier farming system, this episode is for you.We talk about what worked on-farm: the tweaks, the failures, and the long game of testing ideas until they stick. Michael’s message is simple - there’s no silver bullet, but there are simple steps you can take to get started.Read the full Practice Guide on Improving Nitrogen Cycling and Efficiencies at soilsforlife.org.auIf you’ve enjoyed this podcast, leave us a comment or a like! It helps us to reach others.

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• Letting the microbial superstars do the work, simple steps to build soil biology, with Dr Mary Cole

  Dr Mary Cole has spent more than 40 years working with the microbial life that underpins healthy soil. In this episode, she shares what she's learned from a career in plant pathology and soil microbiology, and from farming using compost products, aeration and no synthetic inputs on her own property in Gippsland Victoria.Mary explains how simple practices like aeration, compost, and soil and plant observation can make a big difference to soil function. She talks through what happens when we disturb soil biology, how to get started on improving microbial life, and why she believes we should all be working with, not against, the life beneath our feet.In this episode, you'll hear about:What mycorrhizal fungi actually do, and why they matterHow biology-first farming reduces the need for inputsMonitoring tips for farmers who want to learn more about what’s going on undergroundWhy Mary suggests starting with your worst paddock, not their bestReflections on 50 years of biological farming, and what she wishes more people knewLinks and resources:AgPath (Mary’s consulting and training organisation)Our video on brewing biofertiliser: Watch nowOur podcast episode on compost: ListenOther episodes on soil biology: Planting with purpose, Diversity is king

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• The farming communities restoring natural water cycles — one catchment at a time

  Australia has often been described as a land of droughts and flooding rains. But what we don’t often hear is that, for millennia, the land had a remarkable ability to regulate itself — through healthy ecology and the natural water cycle.Since European settlement, however, we've seen a steady decline in soil health and water-holding capacity across much of the country. The rivers don’t flow like they used to, and the land struggles to bounce back from the extremes of flood and drought. The solution is to help restore nature's ecological systems of water and nutrient cycling.In this episode, we hear from two farmers who are restoring these natural water regulating systems, rehydrating their landscapes — transforming degraded paddocks into thriving ecosystems. They’ve embraced techniques that slow, spread, and sink water back into the ground — reviving their soils, crops, and communities.And they’re not alone.Across Australia, groups of farmers are coming together to restore entire catchments. Programs like the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative are proving that when we work with nature — not against it — we can regenerate not just one farm, but the broader ecosystems they’re part of.This podcast was produced by the Grow Love Project in collaboration with Soils for Life. The Communities of Practice Project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, Mulloon Institute and Soils for Life.Sign up to the Soils for Life newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/ Get in touch - [email protected] Mentioned in this episode:Mulloon Rehydration Initiative - mullooninstitute.org/projects/mulloon-rehydration-initiative/ Danthonia Bruderhof Community -  bruderhof.com/danthonia Mulloon Institute - mullooninstitute.org/Laura Norman, US Geological Survey - www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/laura-m-norman Mulloon Institute Community of Practice Project - mullooninstitute.org/learning-events/communities-of-practice/ Soils for Life case study on Danthonia Bruderhof and Community of Practice project - soilsforlife.org.au/landscape-rehydration/ Thanks for listening!

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