The Evolving Soil Testing Project

Supporting farmers and land managers across the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia to evolve their soil testing programs.

Although the benefits of soil testing are widely recognized by land managers, the extent of its adoption varies greatly, ranging from ad-hoc testing for general knowledge to systematic point or grid sampling for continuous validation of farm decision-making processes. Many factors, such as cost, time, and complexity of results, can act as barriers to increasing the complexity or frequency of a soil testing program.

Regular sampling and lab testing provides farmers with critical information to make informed decisions about input requirements, paddock optimisation and limiting factors. It is well documented that a combination of soil tests and on-farm observations will assist in determining the nutrient requirements of both crops and pastures. Regular tests build a better profile and the saying ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure’ rings true in the case of soil sampling.

The goal of the Evolving Soil Testing Project is to assist farmers and land managers in the Wheatbelt region of WA with improving their soil testing program and implementing sustainable practices that enhance soil health. WMG aims to initiate a dialogue and establish connections between farmers and industry professionals, providing them with the necessary resources and information to feel confident about soil testing and recognise its significance. The project emphasises capacity building, enabling farmers and land managers to enhance their soil testing practices continually.

Commencement: 2022 | Completion: 2024

Funding body(s): Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program
Project Lead Organisation: The West Midlands Group
Collaborators: Corrigin Farm Improvement Group

Who is involved?

WMG are working with 10 farmers across the West Midlands region including farms in Badgingarra, Warradarge, Dandaragan, Moora, Yathroo, Eganu, Gillingarra, and Coomberdale. Alongside WMG, Corrigin Farm Improvement Group are working with 7 farmers. Each farmer is selecting a particular focus area in which they would like to evolve their current soil testing practices before being paired with a suitably qualified soil professional to both sample and to provide an understanding of the results.

2023 focus areas

Across the two regions, focus areas range from gaining baseline soil data or simply increasing test complexity, to examining paddock, soil, and season variability, limiting factors, input responses, nutrient movement, soil organic carbon levels and microbiology assessments.

Farmer Learnings & Case Studies

Latest Updates

• 
  Evolving Soil Testing Project Discussion Event – Farmer Summary
  Take a look at our recent Evolving Soil Testing Project farmer catch-up. Hosted by Brendan Van Beek, this small group farmer discussion event allowed project participants to share experiences, compare soil testing results and have some in-depth Q&A with soil professional Joy Sherlock.
• 
  Examining variance in crop production levels through soil test comparisons
  Interpretation of soil lab data and graphical results of a combined Warrradarge paddock (previously 2 paddocks) showing potential variances between production levels.
• 
  WMG focus on soil health and soil testing continues into 2024
  Into 2024 WMG will continue its focus on soil health, sharing learnings from the Evolving Soil Testing project and providing new material to assist farmers in evolving their soil testing programs.

Useful Resources, Information & Tools

SoilsWest Soil Quality ebooks

The SoilsWest Soil Quality ebook series has been compiled to provide landholders, industry and students the state of knowledge and practical strategies on identifying, managing and integrating solutions to manage the soil resource, with a focus on agriculture in the south-western agricultural region of Western Australia.

How to Soil Sample – NSW DPI

Characterising WA Soils – Soil CRC

Explaining Soil Testing Jargon – NSW DPI

An excellent NSW DPI webinar presented by Jason Condon explaining the basics of soil test results so that we can better understand what they are telling us about the soil and how they can be related to plant performance.

Soil Biology Webinar – Soil CRC

DPIRD MySoil Tool

MySoil is a simple tool to identify soil types. Growers can use soil identification to improve soil management and reduce the impact of soil constraints.

VAES Soil Test Interpretation Guide

Want to get involved?

Get in touch with our Project Communications Officer, Simon Kruger.

Mobile: 0420 729 055

Email: extension@wmgroup.org.au