Soil success for Monaro Farming Systems

A partnership between Local Land Services and Monaro Farming Systems (MFS) has been successful in engaging local land managers to continue their commitment to ongoing soil fertility monitoring and understanding of nutrient management.

The Monaro Farming Systems ‘Soils Club’ was initiated in 2010 has been running continuously since then. With funding through Local Land Services and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program since 2019, the club has been able to continue its annual soil sampling program and annual Soils Club field days.

“With over 130 farming businesses participating and samples collected from paddocks across the Monaro, the MFS Soils Club has provided a great opportunity for people to test, monitor, learn about and manage their soils,” Local Land Services Agricultural Advisor, Jo Powells, said.

“This has been an amazing effort with over 1100 samples collected by land managers over the past 5 years, some of which have been the driest and then wettest on record and made soil sampling quite the challenge.

“This demonstrates a real commitment by farmers to monitor their nutrient levels and make informed decisions about their fertiliser programs.”

Chair of the Monaro Farming Systems, Mandy Horton, was buoyed by not only the sheer number of soil tests undertaken by their farmers but also by the level of participation in the Soils Club field days.

“The sampling and collection of all these soils for testing is a huge undertaking for our group but it’s one that our members are committed to being involved in,” Mrs Horton said.

“The success of the MFS Soils Club has been reinforced over the years to its position as one of our most significant activities over the year. Our annual Soils Club Field Day provides MFS members as well as the general public with opportunities to