Soil Health Indicators Workshop Identifies Local Priorities

Sep 10,2025 Events, 2025, Events,

By Simon Kruger, WMG Project Communications Officer

West Midlands Group hosted a Soil Health Indicators Workshop on 22 August 2025, bringing together producers and project partners to identify and prioritise the most relevant measures of soil health for the region.

The workshop was part of a Soil CRC funded national project led by Federation University researcher Dr. Nathan Robinson, with five grower groups across Australia contributing local perspectives. Each group is focusing on a shortlist of indicators that can guide management actions, with the project set to conclude in mid-2026.

Workshop Process

Participants were asked to consider indicators across four areas – observations, chemical, physical, and biological – and then rank their priorities using dot voting. The session began with scene-setting and land use handouts, before moving into structured discussion and group voting.

Federation University’s Dr. Nathan Robinson in conversation with WMG members Ben and Sean Plozza.

Key Findings

Top priorities for the West Midlands region included:

Water repellence and infiltration on sandy soils, reflecting ongoing challenges with non-wetting profiles and water use efficiency.
Root health and depth, highlighting the importance of strong early establishment.
Nitrogen fixation and nutrient availability, including phosphorus and potassium.
pH management, with profiles continuing to guide lime applications.
Practical observations such as crop vigour, groundcover, and paddock walks, valued for their immediate use in decision-making.

Producers also highlighted the tools they commonly rely on, including NDVI imagery, yield maps, and tissue testing for variable rate input decisions. Soil testing to depth, pH profiling, and penetrometer checks were seen as important for guiding amelioration and nutrient strategies.

Workshop participants and WMG team working through a land use and management practices activity as part of the workshop.

Barriers and Challenges

Discussion identified several constraints to adopting soil indicators more widely:

Limited time and information overload.
Variability in lab interpretations.
Confidence in sampling consistency.
Balancing innovation with the day-to-day pressures of running mixed farming businesses.

Next Steps

The workshop reinforced that producers are looking for soil health measures that are practical, interpretable, and directly linked to management options. National experts will now work with the local data to refine the shortlist of three to five indicators for each region, ensuring they can inform corrective actions and future soil stewardship.

West Midlands Group staff will continue to contribute farmer perspectives to this national project, helping to ensure that soil health indicators remain grounded in local realities and useful for decision-making across mixed farming systems.