Soils for Life

24/06/2026

Looking to get more out of your pastures and increase animal performance?

Join us for our next Dairy Convo with Emily House, who will explore how management decisions, from grazing management and fertiliser use to pasture diversity, shape pasture nutrition, and influence animal health and productivity.

Bring your questions and join the discussion.

Monday 13 July | 12pm AEST | Register here 👉 https://loom.ly/yUeGr5k

Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

22/06/2026

We're surprised and grateful to have received several unexpected donations in the past week or two. Thank you! 🙏

If you've been following our work and want to know what impact a donation to Soils for Life will create in the world, have a look at our new 3 year Strategic Plan soilsforlife.org.au/what-we-do.

Donations are the single most impactful way to support this work, allowing us to:
1. Back the ideas we believe will support farmers most, even if we haven't yet secured grant funding
2. Create leverage by enabling us to make cash contributions to grant applications
3. Allow us to jump on opportunities that arise, and quickly invest in them

Every bit makes a difference. Thank you for being part of it.

22/06/2026

How can foliar applications support plant health and pasture performance as part of a more targeted approach to nutrition?

Join us for a Dairy Convo with John Moor, a biological farming mentor and sixth-generation farmer with decades of experience in dairy systems across Australia and South Africa.

Drawing on his transition to a biologically focused approach to farming, John will share practical insights into getting started with foliars, managing the transition process and avoiding some of the common challenges farmers face along the way.

There’ll also be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Tuesday 7 July | 12pm AEST | Register here 👉 https://loom.ly/yUeGr5k

Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

19/06/2026

"The Regenerative Food and Farming Alliance, of which we're a proud founding member, is hiring a Policy Lead to shape its policy positions and put regenerative agriculture firmly on the national agenda.

Full position description available on request - Contact [email protected]

18/06/2026

Join us on 15 July for a day of on-farm learning and practical skills focused on implementing grazing strategies to build soil and landscape health.

Hosted by the Curtis family - a case study in Soils for Life’s recently launched Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration Practice Guide - this is the second of our national field days with graziers featured in the guide.

The day will cover:
📖Introduction to the Grazing Practice Guide
🐑The Curtis family will talk about their grazing management practices
🌱Grazing educator Dr Judi Earl will share practical grazing management principles, and how to apply them
🌾Practical skills session in the field
🗣️Open discussion, networking, questions and peer-to-peer learning throughout the day

The Curtis family have transformed their farm into a thriving, profitable Dorper stud and sheep enterprise. They sell fat lambs into high-end butchers and hold multiple stud sales a year, from a farm that is seeing ever-increasing biodiversity and soil health. Their approach of grazing regeneratively, reducing their costly inputs, and sowing multispecies fodder crops underpins their success.

Join us:
🗓️ 15 July at 9.30 am
📍 Millmerran QLD
🎟️ Tickets and details at the link https://loom.ly/4BQJFeA

Many thanks to Twynam Investments for supporting the production of this guide, to the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and Hand Heart Pocket for supporting this event, to Judi Earl (Agricultural Information and Monitoring Services), Helen Lewis (Australian Holistic Management Cooperative), David McLean (RCS), Grahame Rees (KLR Marketing) and Brian Wehlburg (Inside Outside Management) for input and guidance, and to Ben Simpson, David and Ruth Read, David Curtis, Nick Austin and Rod and Katrina Butler for generously sharing their stories, knowledge, experience and data.

Bellevue Dorpers FRRR Hand Heart Pocket Holistic Management Co-op RCS - Resource Consulting Services Inside Outside Management KLR Marketing

15/06/2026

How can building soil health support long-term resilience on dairy farms through droughts, floods and changing seasonal conditions?

Join us for our first Dairy Convo with Chris Eggert from Oxhill Organics, whose family’s farming journey has focused on improving soil health, building resilience and adapting their farming system over time.
Chris will share practical insights and lessons from their transition toward farming practices that regenerate soils and landscapes for resilient dairy systems, including navigating flood recovery and extended dry periods. There’ll also be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Monday 6 July | 12pm AEST | Register here 👉 https://loom.ly/yUeGr5k

This project is jointly funded through Soils for Life and the Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust.

Oxhill Organics Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Maffra & Districts Landcare Network Cradle Coast NRM Lower Blackwood Landcare South Gippsland Landcare Network Healthy Land & Water

12/06/2026

New podcast episode 🎧

Grant Williams describes himself as cautious. He wasn't looking to change anything, things were ticking along reasonably well on the farm with no obvious reason to do things differently.

Grant runs a nearly 600-cow dairy operation in West Gippsland with his wife Leesa and family.

At a neighbour's suggestion, Grant tried a multispecies mix on one paddock, and it started something he couldn't ignore. A decade on, the whole farm is in multispecies pastures, synthetic fertilisers haven't been bought in over three years, and Grant is carrying a shovel in his side-by-side to regularly observe what's happening in the soil. Something he enjoys doing.

In this episode, Grant talks through how his early trials didn't quite go the way he hoped, and how it wasn't until he committed to the whole farm that things really started to shift. Plus what he's been noticing in the soil since.

New episode on the Soils for Life podcast: https://loom.ly/yvDEg9I

05/06/2026

We use the words "pest" and "insect" interchangeably, but should we?

Dr Paul Horne, founder of IPM Technologies and one of Australia's most respected entomologists, has spent decades helping farmers take advantage of the fact that 99.9% of insects in their paddocks aren't pests. Paul says that orchards that have adopted biological approaches to IPM are using fewer chemicals and they're among the most productive and profitable he has seen in his 40 years of work.

In our latest podcast episode, recorded live at the Grounded Festival, Paul walks through what integrated pest management actually looks like in practice, from broad acre cropping to perennial horticulture, and what it actually takes to get a new system working on-farm.

👉 Have a listen via the link: https://loom.ly/HzaaE6A

You can also catch up on our recent Orchard Convo about Life Cycles and Management of Beneficial Insects, featuring Dr Paul Horne and Rebecca Addison, find the recording at the link: https://loom.ly/kweUBh4

03/06/2026

Join our ‘Ask Me Anything’ webinars to connect with pasture and nutrition specialists, consultants and fellow dairy farmers in a relaxed online discussion.

The free online sessions run from 6-15 July.
🐮 Building Resilience Through Soil Health in Dairy Systems with Chris Eggert – Mon 6 July, 12pm AEST
🐮 Starting Out with Foliars and Managing Transitions with John Moor – Tues 7 July, 12pm AEST
🐮 Pasture Nutrition with Emily House – Mon 13 July, 12pm AEST
🐮 Multispecies Pastures: Establishment and Grazing with Jade Killoran – Wed 15 July, 12pm AEST

Register here 👉 https://loom.ly/yUeGr5k

We look forward to seeing you there!

This project is jointly funded through Soils for Life and the Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust.

Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Oxhill Organics Healthy Farming Systems Maffra & Districts Landcare Network Cradle Coast NRM Lower Blackwood Landcare South Gippsland Landcare Network Healthy Land & Water

Encouraging regenerative agriculture and landscape management to enhance the natural environment and enable sustainable production - for the benefit of all.

02/06/2026

Upskill your systems thinking, facilitation, coaching, soil and pasture health, and more!

Shifting Gears in Dairy is a practical, peer-based online workshop series for ag extension officers, agronomists, Landcare and NRM officers, consultants and educators who support dairy farmers in building soil health and climate resilience.

Over five sessions, you'll build confidence, sharpen your toolkit, and explore what it takes to engage dairy farmers in meaningful, lasting change. Learn from experienced practitioners including David Hardwick, Les Robinson, Emily House, Tanya Massy, Tony Evans, and the Soils for Life team.

👉 Walk away with a new or improved workshop or program designed by you, for your dairy farming community.

📅 Kicks off Tuesday 9 June, 12–2pm AEST
🎟️ $50 all-inclusive
✏️ Register now via the link https://loom.ly/bSMWO3U