This project is helping landholders improve the health and productivity of sandy soils that are prone to erosion, declining fertility and low groundcover. Through on-farm demonstrations, practical workshops and producer engagement, the project is investigating management practices that improve soil condition, establish resilient perennial pasture systems and reduce the risk of wind erosion under increasingly variable seasonal conditions.

Project description: 

Sandy soils across the Upper South East are highly susceptible to erosion, nutrient decline and poor pasture persistence, particularly following prolonged dry seasons. This project is working with producers to demonstrate practical management strategies that improve soil health, increase groundcover and build more resilient grazing systems.

Activities include on-farm trials investigating veldt grass establishment and nutrition, companion species for sandy soils, compost use and practical workshops focused on soil improvement. By combining demonstrations with producer learning opportunities, the project aims to provide locally relevant information that supports better management of vulnerable sandy landscapes and improves long-term drought resilience.

Key achievements and results: 

The project has made strong progress establishing demonstration sites and engaging producers in practical discussions around improving sandy soil health and pasture resilience. While seasonal conditions delayed some field activities, the extension of the project has allowed additional monitoring to capture more meaningful data on pasture growth, biomass production and feed quality before findings are shared with producers.

Early activities have also highlighted strong interest in practical soil improvement options. A workshop exploring on-farm composting demonstrated how compost can improve soil condition and generated interest from participants who are now considering incorporating compost into their own farming systems.

Project progress includes:

• Established demonstration trials investigating nutrition strategies and companion species for veldt grass establishment on erosion-prone sandy soils.
• Completed pasture establishment monitoring, with biomass assessments and feed quality testing underway to better understand pasture performance under different management treatments.
• Rescheduled producer field walks to coincide with meaningful pasture growth and biomass assessments, allowing growers to observe treatment differences under field conditions.
• Delivered a practical Making Compost on Farm workshop, increasing grower understanding of compost production, compost quality and its role in improving soil health on sandy soils.
• Expanded the project to include additional demonstrations investigating the carryover effects of manure applications and optimising compost application rates for Upper South East farming systems.