Group Soil Nutrition and Nutrient Cycle Workshops
We provide tailored projects that suit different needs and requirements (i.e. for broadacre, horticulture, livestock industries, depending on the groups we are working with). Stakeholder and farmer engagement is a very important part of our services. Benefits of working with groups of producers in capacity building exercises is the potential for knowledge sharing and being able to assess different situations, management strategies and bolster shared learning.
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A focus for VAES is to where possible further assist these groups with potential for development of newsletter articles and case studies revolving around the projects and soil nutrition, to bolster e-news, technical journals, social media, and general communications of Not for Profit (NfP) Farmer driven and NRM groups.
General Soil Sampling Group Projects firstly involve 1:1 with the farmers to develop a sampling plan that will suit their business moving forward. This allows development of a comparable process to realistically assess progress over time. This is done with feedback from the farmer as to what issues they may have, potential limiting factors they are aware of, how the areas have or have not been sampled in the past and what focus their business has for production moving forward.
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Intensive sampling then occurs, in the past it is done standalone or with the farmers (some projects have more specifically shown them how to do it and linked them in with equipment owned by others) but more importantly we hope to show the best way and what tools and equipment they can use themselves if wanting to do their own more regular sampling in the future.
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For this purpose we are also including an equipment and resources page in this website to bring together all of the useful tools and resources for a producer. They will not be sold for profit but at costs price to ensure easy access for all.
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Once the lab data is back, full soil health reports are developed for the individual farmers and then case studies that provide an anonymous overview of each property involved in the project are collated. At this point presentations on the initial findings can be given to wider groups and more intensive small group workshops with the project participants can occur. Follow up presentations on overall findings, also with interactive input from participants are a good final capacity building exercise to share to the wider group, the benefits, and outcomes of the project.
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Recent group project work with the West Midlands Group involved 6-10 producers on different farms all with different queries and questions about the soil management process and their soil nutrition on their farm. We recently held the workshop event for all of the participants to go over their results in depth, visit paddocks that had been tested and get feedback from all involved and share learnings in a small group setting. Read more about the Workshop here:
The project was very successful with planned objectives being met and great feedback from the farmers involved. They can be held in a formal setting or more appropriately a fertiliser shed with a beer shared at the end of the day.
This project was also utilised as a pilot project to get feedback from the farmers and the group, to assess the process used for going over the results and to work out a plan moving forward to refine the process alongside the interpretation guide to ensure long term capacity is provided.
Following this project, VAES will work on further developing a step-by-step learning module to utilise as farmers go over their results.
For more information on the Evolving Soils Project and the six case studies developed by VAES:
Examples of various data we look at are different methods of testing for example Walkley and Black Vs Leco Carbon testing so farmers can get an idea of different outcomes and how to ensure comparable results in the future. We look at conventional data and then also tie in considerations like Total N and P and biological testing to assess what nutrients are available if improving microbe and funghi levels. There are also other ways to test and assess data for example the HANEY Test.
The Haney test uses unique soil extracts in the lab to determine what quantity of soil nutrients are available to soil microbes. This test also evaluates soil health indicators such as soil respiration (Solvita CO2 burst test) , water-soluble organic carbon and organic nitrogen and their ratio. These results indicate the amount of food that is readily available to soil microbes and is sensitive to measuring root exudates and decomposed organic material.
Group Water Quality sampling, testing, and monitoring workshops
For irrigated croppers, livestock producers or those businesses that supply potable water we can develop workshops that will help to increase understanding of water bacterial, amoebic, and chemical parameters and what they may mean in relation to human, animal or plant health and your individual business.
Adding in water testing components to the soil assessment workshops especially for the irrigators and livestock producers adds immense value to overall farm data assessments and the bigger picture nutrient cycle.