Building Drought Resilience through Improved Soil Health and Management

Since 2019, Craig Miller has been hosting a trial to tackle three big
issues in farming – maintaining soil fertility and productivity, reducing
fertiliser inputs, and increasing drought resilience. Experimenting
with 36 large plots, the trial monitors the impact of different rates of
compost and fertiliser on plant growth and soil properties. Apart from
assessing the fertiliser replacement capacity of compost, the trial looks
also at finding solutions that overcome soil constraints and increase
drought resilience. This field day will present not only trial outcomes
but offer also hands-on learning opportunities and practical tips to help
land managers assess and improve the soil health status of their land.
Those attending are encouraged to bring a block of soil from their
property (approx. 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm deep) for assessment during
the workshop. The guest presenters will help attendees learn and test
a range of simple tools and techniques to visually assess and monitor
soil health criteria.
The field day will cover:
✔ The compost use trial – what it is and what we have found
✔ Soil structure, soil health and soil properties (aided by a soil pit)
✔ Reading soil and understanding sub soil constraints
✔ Improving water infiltration to enhance drought resilience
✔ Assessment of your own soil with simple visual methods

Drought Resilience through Improved Soil Health and Management – Roma Field Day 26 Sept