Soils for Life

02/09/2026

Getting ready for a grazing field day in East Gippsland!⁠
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David and Ruth Read on what they'll cover at Woodcote on 15 September - a day of on-farm learning and practical skills focused on implementing grazing strategies to build soil and landscape health.⁠
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🌱 Introduction to the Grazing Practice Guide⁠
🌱 David and Ruth Read on their grazing management practices⁠
🌱 Grazing educator Brian Wehlburg on practical grazing management principles, and how to apply them⁠
🌱 Practical skills session in the field⁠
🌱 Open discussion, networking and peer-to-peer learning throughout the day⁠
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David and Ruth are one of the case studies in Soils for Life's Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration Practice Guide, and this is the fourth of our national field days with graziers featured in the guide.⁠
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🗓️ 15 September at 9.30 am⁠
📍 Perry Bridge, East Gippsland, VIC⁠
🎟️ Tickets and details at the link: https://events.humanitix.com/grazing-for-soil-and-landscape-health-field-day

Woodcote Pty Ltd.
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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.⁠
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FRRR
Hand Heart Pocket
Holistic Management Co-op
RCS - Resource Consulting Services
Inside Outside Management
KLR Marketing

02/09/2026

We’re at the VicNotTill - or should we say the freshly renamed Farmers helping Farmers - conference today and tomorrow. Pictured here are our Farmer Learning Manager Courtney Young, Board member Grant Sims, and Partnerships & Strategic Projects Manager Jono Forrest.

A few of the ideas we’re taking away from a day of top speakers include:
👉 ‘Go in the same direction as nature’ - the inimitable Suz Orgill of Impact Agriculture
👉 Tim Watt highlighted the need to improve the understanding of the interaction between soil chemistry, biology and physical aspects - what levers can be pulled, and what impact will those changes have on others things.
👉Dan Fox’s highlighting of the benefits of small trials and not going ‘all in’ resonated with our approach of supporting farmers gain confidence to make ‘safe-to-fail’ trials part of their farming.

Our Cropping Communities project is just getting started, if you’re a cropping farmer or advisor excited by what’s being discussed at the conference check out the opportunities coming up or come and say g’day if you see our team around the conference.

Head to: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-communities/

31/08/2026

‘When I came to Bibbaringa I thought, well I've got a clean slate, the place is flogged, and I know how to monitor. With all the naysayers about regenerative farming then I'll have these records just so I can see what happens, someday someone may want to use the data for research’ says Gillian.

Gillian Sanbrook’s monitoring began through implementing the Holistic Management decision making framework where the cycle is to plan, monitor and replan. Her original motivation was to improve management in a period of drought, debt and declining farm conditions to support better decision-making. Gillian emphasises the importance of understanding the purpose of monitoring: ‘You have to ask why am I doing it? Monitoring needs to connect to a clear management purpose or it becomes difficult to maintain in the long term.’

To hear more about Gillian’s monitoring, and learn more about getting started with monitoring on your farm, come along to our webinar on Tuesday 22 September.

Agroecologist David Hardwick joins Gillian as we discuss getting started, tracking changes over time, and how to make it part of your farm decision-making.

Book now: https://events.humanitix.com/getting-started-with-soil-monitoring-for-on-farm-benefits-webinar-with-david-hardwick-and-gill-sanbrook

29/08/2026

Can't make it to one of the in-person field days around the launch of our Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration Practice Guide?

Come along to this webinar version with Rod and Katrina Butler instead!

Their sheep trading and opportunity cropping enterprise is one of five farming enterprises featured in the guide. In this webinar they'll share how they used grazing management as a tool to improve their soil, landscape and business health, and how they went from being curious about the idea to actually changing how they farmed.⁠

📅 Wednesday 2 September, 1pm AEST⁠
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Book now!
https://events.humanitix.com/grazing-for-soil-and-landscape-health-with-rod-and-katrina-butler

26/08/2026

Earthworm counts are a good start, but if you want to see the bigger picture of what’s happening with your soil biology do you know what else you could be looking at in the field, and when a lab test is worth the investment?

Dr Jessica Rigg from Impact Ag Australia joins us for the first session in our Monitoring Series, in the lead-up to launching our new Soil, Plant and Landscape Health Monitoring practice guide.

We'll cover:
- The major soil biology groups and why they matter.
- Soil biology lab tests: what you can measure, when to measure, what the results mean, and how you can use them.
- What you can measure yourself in the field.
- Strategies for building biological activity in the soil.

Bring your questions!

Jess brings over 10 years experience in applied soil microbiology, working across government and industry on plant-soil microbe interactions, nitrogen fixation and carbon processes. She's passionate about connecting producers with science so they can improve soil health, boost productivity, and build climate resilience.

📅 Wednesday 9 September, 12pm AEST.
Online, one hour

👉 Register: https://events.humanitix.com/monitoring-soil-health-webinar-with-dr-jessica-rigg

Free to register, and a recording will be sent out for those who can’t make it.

The monitoring webinar series and the Soil, Plant and Landscape Monitoring Guide are funded by James N Kirby Foundation.

26/08/2026

Want to build healthier soils, more resilient pastures and greater confidence in making decisions about soil and pasture management?

Soil Sessions is a 10-month program and discussion group for dairy farmers in North West Tasmania, delivered by Soils for Life in partnership with Cradle Coast Authority.

Starting in October, the program brings farmers together with soil and plant specialists and other local farmers to explore practical approaches to soil health, pasture management and farm resilience.

The program includes:
🌱 Six on-farm sessions and two online sessions
🌱 Learning alongside other North West Tasmanian dairy farmers
🌱 Guest specialists including international plant and soil educator Joel Williams, agroecologists David Hardwick and Robin Tait, with more speakers to be announced
🌱 Subsidised soil and pasture testing and consultant support, worth up to approximately $2,000 per farm
🌱 Practical, farm-specific discussion around soil health, grazing, pasture diversity, pests, disease and resilience.

The first online session is 8 October, followed by the first on-farm session with Joel Williams on 15 October.

Only 10 farm businesses will be selected, with up to two participants per farm business.

Registrations close 30 September 2026. A cash co-contribution of $150 per business applies.

👉 North West Tasmanian dairy farmers: register your here https://bit.ly/4wKxqoM

Cradle Coast NRM

26/08/2026

If you enjoy stories about constant learning and innovation, you will love this podcast episode featuring David and Ruth Read!

Have a listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/21dVEksiDbbDDQTWLrZxGT?si=YsDgwlVhSf-U733TPPItTg

David and Ruth own and manage Woodcote, a 470 hectare beef cattle trading farm located in East Gippsland, Victoria.

In this episode, we talk about:
🌧️ How the Millennium Drought sounded a wake-up call for their farm
🐄 The changes they have made since that time including moving towards higher density grazing, and establishing fencing and water infrastructure to support that
🦠 Shifting to a primarily trading enterprise and refocusing from feeding animals to feeding biology.

Ruth and David are incredibly enthusiastic in their learning and adaptation, and share a wealth of resources for people to tap into as they make their own farm learning journey.

David and Ruth featured as case study farmers in Soils for Life’s recently released Practice Guide: Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration.

They are also hosting the third of our national series of field days launching the guide. If you’re interested to see their work in action, and hear more about their farming practices - alongside grazing educator Brian Wehlburg - join us on September 15 for a day of on-farm learning. Tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/grazing-for-soil-and-landscape-health-field-day

If you’re unable to attend that event in-person, we’ll also be running an online webinar on September the 2nd with Rod and Katrina Butler, another of the farming families featured in the grazing guide. Register here https://events.humanitix.com/grazing-for-soil-and-landscape-health-with-rod-and-katrina-butler

Join us at one of our upcoming events, read their story in the grazing practice guide, and have a listen to this fantastic account of farming by responding to what the land is telling you.

🎧 Find the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/21dVEksiDbbDDQTWLrZxGT?si=YsDgwlVhSf-U733TPPItTg

Woodcote Pty Ltd. Inside Outside Management

25/08/2026

Great practical discussions at the recent Orchard Resilience workshops run by Soilcare! Keep an eye out for their upcoming field days.

22/08/2026

We've noticed a fair few people checking out our Biological Seed Treatment Practice Guide this week!

If you're seeding, check out the guide for how to get started on biological seed treatment: https://soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-biological-seed-treatment/

🌱 What are biological seed treatments?
Biological seed treatments are liquids or powders that can contain a combination of microbes, biostimulants and sometimes nutrients or trace minerals. These treatments are applied to the seed prior to sowing and can be mixed or brewed on farm or purchased from credible suppliers.

Recipes can be as simple as using compost extracts or vermicast (worm castings), or more complex with a ‘stacked’ approach of using multiple ingredients such as kelp, fulvic acid, humic substances, trace minerals, protein hydrolysates, etc.

🌟 What are the benefits?

🚀 They can boost early root development.
This allows the plant to better access soil moisture and nutrients and to develop a relationship with the soil microbiome. Many farmers who use biological seed treatments observe vigorous germination, strong root development with a fuzzy rhizosheath and resilient seedlings.

💪 They can increase plant health.
Microbes applied to a seed with biological seed treatments, along with the microbes already associated with the seed’s microbiome, can populate the emerging root and continue to grow with the plant for its entire life cycle, forming beneficial plant soil relationships. By supporting a diverse and balanced microbial community in the soil and on the plant, farmers can keep pathogens in check. Conversely, fungicides and insecticides that are applied to the seed through commercial seed pickles can impact these microbial community dynamics.

🙌 High bang for buck.
What makes biological seed treatments appealing for many farmers is that only a small amount of biological input is required, with targeted application where it is most impactful – on the seed itself. This means good ‘bang for your buck’.

Image: QLD farmer Will McInnes holding barley seedlings that were dressed with a biological seed treatment. The seedlings are demonstrating strong root and rhizosheath development.

19/08/2026

Grazing webinar coming up! 👉 Getting started with grazing for soil and landscape health

📅Wednesday 2 September, 1pm AEST

Sheep farmers Rod and Katrina Butler lifted their stocking rate and lowered their costs at the same time.

In this webinar, they will share how they used grazing management as a tool to improve their soil, landscape and business health, and how they went from being curious about the idea to actually changing how they farmed.

This is one of five sessions with the farmers whose case studies feature in our Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration Practice Guide, and a chance to ask Rod and Katrina your questions directly.

Gimlet Ridge, in the Mid West of WA, is a sheep trading and opportunity cropping enterprise. Rod and Katrina began Holistic Planned Grazing there in 1997 after training with Bruce Ward, and kept working with him on financial planning and context.

Over the years that followed, pastures stayed green for longer, ground cover increased and trees and birds came back into the landscape.

"We realised we were creating a lot of the tough times. We used to blame the weather, when it was our decision making. We decided not to blame the weather and the drought and make decisions towards keeping cover on our land instead." - Katrina Butler

On the day we’ll cover:
🌱 The why and then the how of change
🌱 Making balanced decisions socially, financially and environmentally
🌱 Learning to leave grass behind, feed budgeting and mobbing up stock
🌱 Animal behaviour and the KLR system
🌱 What the change gave them: lower costs, better drought resilience and a more enjoyable way to farm

This free online webinar will run for one hour, with lots of time for questions.

🎟️ Book your spot - https://events.humanitix.com/grazing-for-soil-and-landscape-health-with-rod-and-katrina-butler

The Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration Practice Guide was produced with funding from Twynam Investments and guidance from Judi Earl, Helen Lewis, David McLean, Grahame Rees and Brian Wehlburg. This webinar is supported by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal and Hand Heart Pocket.

Image: Amanda Rowland

Rod and Katrina share their experience implementing grazing for soil and landscape health on their sheep trading enterprise at Gimlet Ridge, Western Australia.