Answer: Answer: Farm animals cause compaction. The depth of compaction is generally within the
surface 10-15cms.The extent of damage depends on many factors such as stocking rates;
length of time of grazing; weather conditions; soil type; quantity and quality of vegetation
cover; soil water content, to name a few. Animals should not be allowed to graze overly wet
pastures because they cause pugging holes which fill with water in the wet but dry to hard
dangerous uneven ground in the dry. Vegetation cover is lost and weedy species can intrude.
Good grazing practices would see healthy well established pastures grazed to no less than
10cms in rotations that allow the soil and pasture species to recover. The manure from the
animals helps to fertilise the soil providing nutrients for soil biota. These nutrients, as they
are made plant available by microbes, provide a stimulus in plant growth.

Answer: Answer: Take a look at the Australian Government Department of Climate Change & Energy
Efficiency website. Here you will find the methodologies used in assessing farm carbon for
the Carbon Farming Initiative. This is a good website to read masses of information about
carbon mapping and other topics around carbon sequestration. The Garnaut Report is useful
to read. Read any papers by Jeff Baldock, CSIRO Land & Water/Sustainable Agriculture
Flagship. Jeff is the leading scientist in this field.

Answer: Answer: This has been answered in part in other questions. It is not a problem to add carbon
to the soil, but it is difficult to hold that carbon in the soil. Keeping a perennial plant cover on
the land is probably the most effect manner in holding carbon. Tilling/cultivation loses more
carbon from the soil because it damages the fungal component important in holding soil
structure; exposes soil to heat and UV that also damages soil biota and also allows elements
to return to the atmosphere. Pasture cropping is a method gaining popularity because the
pasture sward is kept intact while the crop is planted, grown and harvested maintaining the
fungal component’ Look at any work by Jeff Baldock as he is the recognised expert in the field
of carbon sequestration.

Answer: Answer: It is more difficult to encourage one species over another if they are all the same
botanical group, in this case probably the Graminaceae. One suggestion is to improve the
soil fertility with addition of organics matter in the form of compost, compost teas, etc., and
encourage flowering and seeding of those species wanted. Depending on the distribution
of the unwanted species, heavy grazing may help with the immediate seeding of the grazed
down areas with the species of choice. To answer the question more appropriately, I would
need to know more about the property.

Answer: Answer: Natives grasses have adapted to a nutritional deficient soil compared with
that required for cropping plants. Have a soil biology test carried out to see if there are
deficiencies in the soil food web. Then use fungal dominated composts and compost teas
to stimulate growth at the appropriate time of the year. Do not add chemicals or any
remediation in large amounts as the plants would not be able to deal with the high input
of nutrition. It is always better to apply regular amounts of required elements though good
compost or compost teas when it is needed such as before flowering. Introduced species
require more nutrition than native species but well-balanced soil microbiology will adapt to
accommodate all plant species in the pasture.

Answer: Answer: Even the driest of deserts support an active microbial population of specialised
microbes that have adapted to the harsh conditions. There is not a habitat on the planet that
is devoid of some form of microbial life. Those microbes have a relationship with the plant
life in the environment and balance is maintained for the benefit of all life. If we consider
what think of as ‘normal’ environmental conditions, eg climatic conditions with temperatures
between about 10 and 30oC, then normal soil biota do need moist but not wet soil for
maximum microbial activity.

Answer: Answer: Consider a biological approach to your farming practices. Have your soil chemical
and biology levels tested (see Agpath website for help) and then consider a programme to
repair the soil. Improving the organic matter in the soil helps it to hold water and nutrients.
Active soil biota release plant available nutrients so that external applications do not have
to be made which affect the soil biota negatively. If amendments such as lime or potassium
need to be added in the transition stage, then I they can be added to compost and broken
down into plant available forms before they are applied to the soil or plants. As the soil
develops and the plants are healthier, then external sources other than seaweeds, fish, rock
dust, molasses, compost, compost teas will not be necessary.

Answer: Answer: Not easily. Generally, it can be said that a healthy soil containing diverse soil
microbial populations, has all the beneficial that are required. The organisms that may be
considered pests have a role in the diversity of life on Earth and are kept in balance within
the soil web so long as the soil is in balance with its environment. When a plant is attacked
by insects or disease-causing organisms, it is because an imbalance has arisen most likely in
the soil or from use of chemical herbicides or pesticides removing the beneficial. Laboratories
specialise in identification of pests and diseases and beneficial organisms. There is literature
available in libraries that will help to a certain level.

Answer: Hopefully you have absorbed the information presented by experts in the field of soil health.
You will have met like-minded people all of whom are on the same journey as you who
are always glad to assist in relating their experiences so that you do not have to “reinvent
the wheel! “The Agpath website has papers, articles, and websites that will lead you to
more information. The workshops are designed to give you confidence that biological soil
health translates into human health and long term maintenance of our precious soil and
environment.