Building healthy soils

The KI NRM Board works closely with several organisations to assist landholders to build healthy soils through:

Farm forestry

Seed potatoes

Subsoil amelioration

Promoting effective land management techniques

Farm forestry

Farm forestry has the potential to provide multiple natural resource management (NRM) benefits through ameliorating issues such as salinity, waterlogging, and water quality, and enhancing habitat, as well as producing timber for firewood and sawlog applications for diversification of farm income. Indirect benefits also include the:

Reduced pressure on native vegetation (and therefore habitats) resulting from the production of plantation firewood and sawlog timber;
Carbon sequestration offsetting greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the forest rotation;
Opportunity to link patches of remnant native vegetation and serve as biodiversity corridors; and
Create shade and shelter for stock.

Private Forestry Kangaroo Island (PFKI) is the peak industry body for plantation and farm forestry on the Island. PFKI receives National Landcare Program (NLP) funding through the KI NRM Board for the project “Farm Forestry for Multiple Benefits”. With the support of ForestrySA this project aims to assist landholders with the development of farm forestry plantings on cleared agricultural land for multiple NRM benefits on Kangaroo Island by:

Promoting the uptake of farm forestry for multiple benefits, contributing to regional resource condition targets and diversifying farm income through timber production;
Assisting landholders to develop farm forestry plantings to suit property and enterprise requirements and;
Providing interested landholders with the required technical and coordination support to achieve quality farm forestry plantings.

Species are selected on the basis of growth rate and tree form, site suitability, potential wood products, the level of management required.

Suitable species include:

· Eucalyptus occidentalis Flat Topped Yate

· Eucalyptus cladocalyx Sugar gum

· Corymbia maculata Spotted gum

· Eucalyptus saligna Sydney blue gum

· Eucalyptus globulus Tasmanian blue gum

· Eucalyptus nitens Shining gum

Click here for more information from PIRSA Forestry.

Above right: Eucalyptus occidentalis plantation on Kangaroo Island.

Contact

Simone Muir, Executive Officer, Private Forestry KI, ph: (08) 8559 7272

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Growing potatoes

The production of seed potatoes is a relatively new industry on Kangaroo Island. The Kangaroo Island Irrigated Seed Producers Group has been working with funding from the KI NRM Board to:

Evaluate and monitor sustainable seed potato production technologies to support NRM issues within the greater community;
Evaluate, through a soil monitoring process, soil organic carbon breakdown and general soil health and disease impacts specific to seed potato production;
Demonstrate and evaluate new technologies for the management of non-wetting sands for intensive seed potato production; and
Evaluate and monitor soil conditioning treatments to sustain intensive seed potato production.

Above right: Seed potato producers examining the results of a trial. Image courtesy Bob Peake.

Contact

Bob Peake, Senior Consultant, Horticulture, Primary Industries & Resources, SA, ph: (08) 8389 8800

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Subsoil amelioration

Kangaroo Island’s soils are core assets that make a fundamental contribution to the region’s environmental, economic and social prosperity. They underpin most of the Island’s primary industries. However many Island soils have some level of physical, chemical or biological limitation resulting in restrictions to plant and root growth and root functions. Some of the main root zone limitations include compaction and hard pan development below the cultivation layer and sub soils with high strength sodic layers, low pH, low water conductivity, low nutrient contents and aluminum toxicities. These soil limitations result in less than optimal water use by crops and pastures and

contribute to a range of soil degradation issues; including soil erosion, soil acidity, soil structure decline and compaction, nutritional deficiencies, soil toxicities, water repellence, salinity and water logging.

Work is being undertaken to investigate, trial and demonstrate appropriate, practical and cost-effective soil modifications and amelioration treatments. This treatments focus on physical (structural changes, deep tillage, drainage) and chemical (gypsum, lime and nutrients at depth) properties. Field days are conducted to demonstrate the results to the community and guidelines for practical root zone modifications and management technologies are being developed.

Explore a range of soil reports for Kangaroo Island through the Document Library.

Click here for more information about the activities of Rural Solutions SA.

Above right: A Land Management Consultant explaining soil condition during a Soil Pit Field Day.

Contact

Lyn Dohle, Senior Soil and Land Management Consultant, Rural Solutions of SA, ph: (08) 8553 4949

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Promoting effective land management

This project, through a range of tools including community capacity building, trial/demonstration work, case studies and extension, will provide landholders on Kangaroo Island with the skills and enthusiasm to achieve targeted and strategically planned on-ground works to increase the water use of crops and pastures. This will result in increased and sustainable production with the associated environmental benefits of reducing salinity, soil erosion, nutrient loss and soil acidity.

The integrated project will deliver the following outcomes:

1. Education and capacity building through:

· Farm tours

· Visiting technical speakers

· Field days/farm walks

· Workshops – including Property Management

Planning

· Best practice case studies

2. Optimisation of production with minimal

environmental impacts through:

· Trial work to demonstrate new soil management options

· Strategically located on-ground works with appropriate technical advice.

Explore a range of land management reports for Kangaroo Island through the Document Library or contact Rural Solutions SA for results of trials conducted in 2005.

Click here for more information about the activities of Rural Solutions SA.

Above right: Landholders examining cropping equipment during a Farm Walk Field Day.

Contact

Lyn Dohle, Senior Soil and Land Management Consultant, Rural Solutions of SA, ph: (08) 8553 4949

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Building healthy soils

Farm forestry Seed potatoes Subsoil amelioration Promoting effective land management techniques

Farm forestry

Contact

Growing potatoes

Contact

Subsoil amelioration

Contact

Promoting effective land management

Contact

Farm forestry

Seed potatoes

Subsoil amelioration

Promoting effective land management techniques