04/09/2026
What a jammed packed day of learning we had on Wednesday at the Soil Fertility and Salinity Field Day! Dr Rebecca Haling from CSIRO showed everyone the newly established soil nutrient experimental site. Her key messages:
☘ P is usually the most limiting nutrient in our pasture systems, but consider if ‘secondary’ nutrient deficiencies such as S, K and B are limiting productivity.
☘ More clover and pasture growth was observed in the potassium plots, as expected due to the low soil test result (86 mg K/kg) which is below the critical value of ~130 mg K/ka for pastures.
☘ Boron deficiency is a known issue in the NSW Tablelands and Monaro regions, particularly on granite and some shale soils, and is seasonally dependent, most often pronounced in dry conditions. B deficiency needs a plant tissue test to be confirmed
Allan Nicholson from NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water then showed us a nearby salinity/waterlogging affected paddock with patchy germination and pasture growth, and provided practical advice to remediate it. His key take aways:
⛏ The site can be repaired and support productive pastures!
⛏ A shovel hole 30cm deep and 1:5 EC meter reading at different depths down the hole identified a highly saline surface and negligible salt below 20cm.
⛏Creating a mulch layer with straw, worm castings or woodchip etc will help reduce 'wicking' and the concentration of salts on the surface, and create a better place for plants to establish.
There are several factors that influence the salinity risk in a catchment: soil and geological properties, climate, and farming practices. While we can't change the hydrogeological features of the land or the impact of rainfall (or lack of it) we can ensure the farming practices reduce that risk and saline run-off into our waterways. These include ensuring our paddocks have good vegetation cover, especially during drought, and providing a buffer in riparian areas with good perennial cover and revegetation.
Thanks to those that came along and to Andy for hosting!
