Collaboration between Gippsland farmers and farmer groups resulted in a world-renowned soil specialist visiting Newry, Bairnsdale and Orbost last week.
The positive ramifications for everyone involved was evident as independent plant and soil health scientist, Joel Williams, an Australian currently based in Canada, engaged with more than 100 farmers across the region.
For dairy farmers, Kate Mirams and Pete Neaves, the visit hosted on their farm at Newry was a fantastic way to help them continue their transition from chemical fertilisers to more natural ways of fertiliser application.
Kate and Pete milk 300 cows and two weeks prior to Joel’s visit, at his request, they used a foliar spray on a multispecies perennial pasture, which included red clover, chicory, ryegrass, cocksfoot and white clover, so that there was something to look at on the day.
“We jumped at the chance to offer our property to showcase his work,” Kate said.
“He sent us a foliar ‘recipe’ that we applied along with urea on one paddock, then the second paddock we applied just straight urea, and the third had nothing applied.

IMAGE: Visiting international soil scientist, Joel Williams, with Kate Mirams at her family’s Newry dairy farm in a multispecies perennial pasture that was foliar sprayed two weeks prior to Joel’s visit. (PS)