Wine, cheese and soil matters

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A group of Dongara ladies got together for a Women’s “Wine, Cheese and Soils workshop” in the afternoon of May 24.  The workshop came about as a result of the NACC Small Rural Landholders Soil Sampling grant that was offered to residents in the NAR at the end of last year.
Some of the participants at the Women’s Wine, Cheese and Soils workshop.

With a number of ladies taking up this grant in Dongara, coming together to discuss the results was a great way to network and learn more about soils and how exactly to read the raw data.

Soil samples were originally taken in March this year by Tiarna Kanny and Courtney Humphrey from Great Northern Rural.  Samples were taken down to 30 cm at 10 cm intervals.  Depending on the size of the property there was generally 2 to 4 samples done per property.

Tiarna Kanny and Courtney Humphrey from Great Northern Rural.

“We spent a day going around the properties in Dongara and then another half day in the Geraldton area,” said Sarah Jeffery, NACC Sustainable Agriculture Project Manager.

“It was great looking at the similarities and differences in soil types around Dongara, and chatting to people about what they are using their land for and maybe some of the issues they are experiencing.”

Along with networking, the group also had presentations from the workshop organisers, Tiarna and Courtney.

“They started from scratch, telling us about soils and how to read raw soil data.  This included information about what the optimal levels of nutrients in the soil should be and how they interact with each other,” said Sarah.

Courtney explained soils are a bit like a leaky bucket – a bucket only needs 1 hole for it to not work anymore.  Much like with soils, it only needs one level to be out and this causes the whole system to breakdown to some extent.

Tiarna then went on to talk about some of the pasture options that are out there and which ones would work for different soil types and pH levels.

Overall it was a very informative afternoon, with special thanks to Tiarna Kanny and Courtney Humphrey from Great Northern Rural.

 

NACC’s Small Rural Landholders Soil Sampling grants are made possible through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

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