To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil. --- Xenophon Oeconomicus, 400 B.C.

SoilCare Landcare logo

Events 2009

July
SoilCare/NRCMA sponsored
TAFE Courses - Semester 2


Murwillumbah TAFE
Biological Farming with
Dave Forrest
Wednesdays 5.00 to 9.00 PM

details


Wollongbar TAFE
Biological Farming with
Alan Coates
Mondays 5.00 to 9.00 PM

details

For more infor or to enrol
contact SoilCare


August
'Managed Grazing for Cash and Carbon' Field Day - Dyraaba
Saturday, 22 August
details

September
NSW Landcare Catchment Management Forum
9 - 11 September 2009
Port Macquarie

Forum Program

Big Scrub Landcare Day
20 September 2009
Bangalow
details TBA

November
SoilCare Expo
10 November 2009
Wollongbar

Details coming soon.


Soil Best Management Practice Guides and
Soil Health Cards

soil health card

Northern Rivers
Soil Best Management Practice Guides for


Macadamias

Coffee

Perennial Horticulture

Vegetables

Northern Rivers Soil
Health Cards for

Macadamia

Coffee

Perennial Horticulture

Vegetables

Original
Soil Health Card




For more info:
Contact SoilCare Inc
Latest News and
Newsletters

I
nternational Biochar Initiative News
June 2009


DAFF Newsletter
22 May


Soil Erosion Solutions Dec 08

Northern Rivers CMA
July 2009
E-news

(including funding opportunities)

Organic Federation of Australia News
May 2009


all the dirt...soil newsletter (Feb 2009) from NSW DPI funded by the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority

North Coast Weeds

drumMuster
how and where to dispose of chemical containers

AIMS
Agriculture Information and Monitoring Services



Videos

ABC Catalyst program on Agrichar (biochar)
click on this video

Rodale Institute CEO, Tim LaSalle,  explains how organic farming (& regenerative/biological farming) will combat climate change
click here




Biochar news - 'Char Grilled' on ABC Landline 24/5/2009 watch the video
featuring SoilCare members Lukas Van Zwieten, Robert Quirk and Debra Lewis

Dirt! The Movie
coming to theatres late 2009!

About the movie featuring Bob Shaffer, guest presenter at
SoilCare Expo

Tuesday, 10 November 2009, Wollongbar, NSW.

Carbon in the soil is essential to the planet and one way to replenish it is by composting food.
'watch this video' also featuring Bob Shaffer.


biochar conference SoilCare display

SoilCare Inc and Richmond Landcare Inc were sponsors of the Asia Pacific Biochar conference on the Gold Coast in May 2009. The conference was fully booked with delegates attending from Asia-Pacific countries.


SoilCare Inc Workshop with Professor Lyn Abbott, 'Soils Are Alive',
was held on 13 March 2009.

Soils Are Alive Workshop
Workshop participants examined their farm soils under the microscope.
Other websites to visit to learn about Lyn Abbott's work:
www.soilhealth.com .... www.soilquality.org.au ...www.soil.org.au



'Put the fun back in farming', Gary Zimmer says.
You would not find a group of farmers having more fun than those pictured below in the SoilCare/Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority sponsored TAFE Wollongbar 'Biological Farming' class with teacher Dave Forrest.
Biological Farming TAFE Class


Northern River's Soil Health Cards and Soil Best Management Practice Guides

Dave Forrest demonstrates the Soil Health Card

Northern Rivers Soil Health Cards and Soil Best Management Practice Guides for Perennial Horticulture and Vegetables have been released. The documents were produced by farmers for farmers in a project funded by the NR Catchment Management Authority.

Dave Forrest demonstrated the Soil Health Cards to (above) pecan growers at their recent AGM and (right) to vegetable growers at a recent field day at Cudgen.

Dave Forrest demonstrates the Soil Health Card

Dave demonstrates the soil aggregate stability test.

 

National Landcare Programme Project
Best Practice Soil Health and Conservation in Macadamia Plantations


Fleming farm
Stead farm

 Participants enjoyed the SoilCare Farmer to Farmer field day on 6 February.

Learn how four innovative farmers have taken steps to
manage soil erosion and improve soil health.

Debra Lewis and Mark Atkinson  (McLeans Ridges) are planting a new macadamia orchard.  To reduce the volume of water entering the orchard from an adjoining property they have constructed a drain to redirect run-on to a stable gully catchment thus minimising erosion.

Details of this project.

John Webster (Agnutta at Clunes) has removed 25% of the trees (every 2nd tree in every 2nd row) in a crowded block to improve light penetration.  The trees have been chipped and chips spread on the orchard floor.  Smother grass has been planted in squares throughout the block.

Details of this project.

 

Meg and Peter Fleming (McLeans Ridges) have removed 25% of the trees in a block with little or no light penetration to the orchard floor and minimal ground cover.

Trees were chipped and a mixture of millet, carpet grass, broadleaf paspalum and haifa clover was broadcast planted and sprigs of smother grass manually planted.

Details of this project.

 
Anne and Shaun Stead (Jiggi) are using limb removal in 18 year old macadamia trees to enhance light penetration through the canopy and down to the ground covers. Prunings are chipped and the chips are put directly back under the trees to enhance erosion control and increase biological activity.

Details of this project.

 

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