Soils For Life

• The farming communities restoring natural water cycles — one catchment at a time

  Australia has often been described as a land of droughts and flooding rains. But what we don’t often hear is that, for millennia, the land had a remarkable ability to regulate itself — through healthy ecology and the natural water cycle.Since European settlement, however, we've seen a steady decline in soil health and water-holding capacity across much of the country. The rivers don’t flow like they used to, and the land struggles to bounce back from the extremes of flood and drought. The solution is to help restore nature's ecological systems of water and nutrient cycling.In this episode, we hear from two farmers who are restoring these natural water regulating systems, rehydrating their landscapes — transforming degraded paddocks into thriving ecosystems. They’ve embraced techniques that slow, spread, and sink water back into the ground — reviving their soils, crops, and communities.And they’re not alone.Across Australia, groups of farmers are coming together to restore entire catchments. Programs like the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative are proving that when we work with nature — not against it — we can regenerate not just one farm, but the broader ecosystems they’re part of.This podcast was produced by the Grow Love Project in collaboration with Soils for Life. The Communities of Practice Project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, Mulloon Institute and Soils for Life.Sign up to the Soils for Life newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/ Get in touch - [email protected] Mentioned in this episode:Mulloon Rehydration Initiative - mullooninstitute.org/projects/mulloon-rehydration-initiative/ Danthonia Bruderhof Community -  bruderhof.com/danthonia Mulloon Institute - mullooninstitute.org/Laura Norman, US Geological Survey - www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/laura-m-norman Mulloon Institute Community of Practice Project - mullooninstitute.org/learning-events/communities-of-practice/ Soils for Life case study on Danthonia Bruderhof and Community of Practice project - soilsforlife.org.au/landscape-rehydration/ Thanks for listening!

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• Farmers helping farmers, with VicNoTill President Mick Gooden

  Mick Gooden runs Old Man Creek Bull Farm near Wagga Wagga in NSW and is President of farmer group Vic No Till.In this episode, Eli and Mick chat about the value of having a supportive group of peers around you, the links between soil health and human health, the importance of pulling up and taking the time for observation and reflection, transitioning cropping systems profitably, leveraging the power of working with nature, and how to communicate the opportunity in agriculture as a solution to many of our biggest challenges. And we discover how a NSW cattleman ended up President of a Victorian cropping group.Sign up to the Soils for Life newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/Get in touch - [email protected] out more about Mick and Vic No Till:Soils for Life Willowlee case study - soilsforlife.org.au/willowleeSoils for Life 8 Families Case study - soilsforlife.org.au/the-8-families-groupVic No Till - vicnotill.com.auOther Soils for Life resources mentioned in this episode:Integrating livestock guide - coming soon...All practice guides - soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resourcesAlso mentionedBrian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - insideoutsidemgt.com.auStacey Curcio, Nutritionist - cultivatingwellness.com.auAlejandro Carillo, Mexican rancher - instagram.com/p/DLGMlCnRFcgJohn Kempf podcast - advancingecoag.com/podcastsGroundswell UK - groundswellag.comDrawdown, by Paul Hawken - drawdown.org/the-bookThanks for listening!

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• The ‘mad bastard’ growing veggies for Sydney’s top restaurants, with Phil Lavers

  Phil Lavers is passionate about good food. He runs Moonacres, a 140 acre fruit and vegetable farm in the NSW Southern Highlands, and sells his award-winning certified organic produce direct to some of Sydney’s best restaurants.Phil is not a guy to beat around the bush. He sees big problems with typical practices in fruit and vegetable farming and the impacts those practices have on the soil, the environment and our health. A relentless experimenter, Phil is determined to find ways to do things better.In this episode we talk about weaning off the rotary hoe, managing weeds, keeping bare soil to an absolute minimum with annual vegetable crops, how to grow the best tasting silverbeet, valuing good food, being a ‘sugar daddy’ for soil microbes, cover cropping and stealing the microbiome from cover crops to grow cash crops.Head to soilsforlife.org.au to find out more about our work. If you’re finding value in the Soils for Life podcast, please consider donating to help us continue sharing stories and knowledge from farmers. As a non-profit organisation, we rely on support from generous donors, so please consider making a donation via soilsforlife.org.au/donate. Of course, we understand that not everyone has the means to support us financially - you can also help by rating and reviewing us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.If you have feedback, or suggestions of people or topics we should cover, you can reach us at [email protected], we love hearing from you. Thanks for listening.Links and resourcesAbout Phil and MoonacresMoonacres website - Moonacres Kitchen - for more information about whole of operation, farm tours, training opportunities and markets where you can find their produce.Moonacres - Heart and Soil Episode #1  youtube channel linkOrganically certified - can’t see by whom he is certified Other references from the episode:https://www.facebook.com/RailwayStMarketMossVale/ Roller Crimper Roller Crimper Blueprints - Rodale InstituteAustrian weeding ploughSouthern Highlands on the Grow Inc GROW – Southern Highlands Further learning:To gain some deeper understanding about multispecies crops Phil is using in his soil health building rotations refer to our Soils for Life Multispecies practice guide Practice Guide: Multispecies Cropping - Soils For Life

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• Making decisions in the dry, with Martin Royds

  With record dry conditions across eastern Australia and many of you facing difficult decisions, we wanted to have a chat with Braidwood farmer Martin Royds to share his thoughts and experiences with making decisions in the dry, and coping with the emotional toll of seeing the landscape go backwards.Read more about Martin Royds’ approach to building landscape resilience - https://soilsforlife.org.au/observing-resilience-at-jillamatong/ Martin speaks in the episode about his approach to managing grazing livestock during drought, which is informed by Holistic Management techniques. You can learn more about Holistic Management via:Workshops and other events run by the Australian Holistic Management Cooperative - https://holisticmanagement.au/events.php The Savory Institute - https://savory.global/holistic-management/Online courses run by The Savory Institute - ​​https://savory.shop/en-au/collections/online-courses Other links and resources that may be useful include:Resource Consulting Services (RC) events and courses - https://www.rcsaustralia.com.au/ Inside Outside Management, Brian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - https://www.facebook.com/insideoutsidemanagement/ Decision Design Hub, Helen Lewis, Holistic Management educator - https://decisiondesignhub.com.au/AIMS (Agricultural Information & Monitoring Services), Dr Judy Earl - https://aimsag.com.au/Southern Blue Regenerative, Glen Chapman, Holistic Management educator - https://www.southernblue.com.au/ If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. Rural Aid support line (1300 175 594), Lifeline (13 11 14), and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) offer free, confidential support. The National Centre for Farmer Health also provides a wide range of resources - https://farmerhealth.org.au/support-hub#mental-health-support-farmers.Get in touch with us a [email protected].* Note, in this episode when Martin refers to the “1983 drought” he was referring to the drought that ended in 1983.

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• Diversity is king: How four dairy farmers are building profitability and resilience with multispecies pastures

  Can dairy systems support soil health, productivity and profitability at the same time?In this episode we meet four dairy farmers who are exploring that question. Kate Mirams, Simon Schulz, Sandra Jefford and Chris Eggert share their experiences with introducing diversity into their pastures and farming systems—what motivated them, what they tried, and what they’ve learned so far.We also hear from pasture scientist Anna Thompson with her insights from current research into multispecies pastures, including how they’re performing under real-world conditions and what that might mean for animal health, climate resilience and farm inputs.You’ll hear about:The trial that gave Kate confidence to rethink her approach to nitrogen and massively reduce synthetic nitrogen applications while increasing productionHow Simon is combining pasture diversity with new tillage methods and enterprise stackingWhat Sandra is learning from sap tests, shelterbelt plantings and mixed perennial pasturesWhy Chris first turned to organics, and what he’s observed about soil and plant health sinceAnna’s research into growth, resilience and methane in multispecies swardsWhat farmers are finding when they start measuring BRIXWhether you’re already experimenting or just interested in what others are finding, this episode offers a window into paths being explored in the Australian dairy industry.Resources and links mentioned in this episode:FarmersSimon Schulz - https://schulzorganicdairy.com.au/Chris Eggert - https://oxhillorganics.com.au/Sandra Jefford - https://www.wilandrafarms.com.au/ Soil and regenerative agriculture resourcesKate’s presentation to the Dairy Australia Grounds for Growth Conference in March 2025 on the results of her trialNicole Masters – Cited by Simon Schultz as an influential voice on soil biology. Check out her book For the Love of Soil or Integrity Soils for more resources.Jade Killoran from Healthy Farming Systems – Mentioned by Kate in relation to soil repair trials post-laser grading.Shelterbelt planning with productive and medicinal trees – Sandra’s system of mixed-species planting for shade, fodder and natural worming. Agroforestry or shelterbelt design resources:Agroforestry in Australia: https://www.agroforestry.org.auEverGraze shelterbelt info: https://www.evergraze.com.au/library-content/shelterbelt-design-and-benefits/ Trials and benchmarking toolsVictorian Dairy Farm Monitor Project – Kate Mirams mentions using this to compare pasture consumption and input efficiency. Soil moisture probes – Used to track root depth and water uptake under different pasture mixes.Sap analysis and BRIX meters – Sandra Jefford and Kate Mirams both use these to monitor plant sugars and infer animal nutrition and productivity.This episode was hosted and produced by Susannah Kable from the Grow Love Project, in collaboration with Soils for Life. Head to the Soils for Life website (soilsforlife.org.au) to find out more about our work, and if you like what you hear don’t forget to rate and review our podcast. Every review helps to make our podcast easier for others to find.If you have feedback, or suggestions of people or topics we should cover, you can reach us at [email protected], we love hearing from you. Thanks for listening.

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