02/04/2026
🌱Late post: Massey University Soil Society Field Trip to South Taranaki
In late 2025, 37 enthusiastic participants – mostly undergraduate and postgraduate students, along with a few supportive family members – joined our field trip to South Taranaki organised by the Massey University Soil Society.
Dr. Callum Rees from Massey University guided us from the Manawatū to South Taranaki, explaining the fascinating land formations and soil changes along the route. His engaging commentary turned the journey into a travelling soil science lesson!
Once we arrived in South Taranaki, we visited a landfarming site to see how soils are used to treat drilling mud from the oil and gas industry. Landfarming involves spreading drilling mud over recontoured dunes, mixing it with the dune sand, then re-applying topsoil and re-establishing vegetation.
We also dug a soil pit in a newly established landfarming site to observe the soil horizons and profile — a great hands-on experience that helped everyone understand how drilling mud is incorporated into the sand and how the soil develops over time.
Landfarming relies on natural biological activity, dilution, and weathering to break down hydrocarbons and other compounds in the drilling mud.
Research led by the Farmed Landscape Research Centre at Massey University is investigating the long-term effects of landfarming on soil and pasture quality. Early findings show that treated soils have higher cation exchange capacity and may help with pasture production by increasing moisture availability in summer. Ongoing work is being undertaken to track pasture production through the season and confirm if there are any advantages or disadvantages associated with this practice.
A big thank-you to Dr. Callum Rees, the farm manager and staff for their time, and to everyone who joined and made it a day full of learning, exploration, and great discussions!
