Soil CRC launches drought fact sheets

With the aim of seeing ‘how researchers and industry are working with farmers to get our regions ready for drought’, the Future Drought Fund Science to Practice Forum was held in eight drought hub locations across Australia and online this week.

CEO of the Soil CRC, Dr Michael Crawford shared new resources to manage drought during his presentation. He launched two new fact sheets from the Soil CRC on managing soils during and after drought – both in cropping and grazing systems.

The fact sheets are a culmination of the project completed by PIRSA and Agriculture Victoria for the Soil CRC.

Dr Crawford welcomes the establishment of the eight drought Hubs and their aim to support farmers and communities to prepare for drought.

‘The work of the Soil CRC is supporting all eight drought hubs across the country. We are making our research available to all farmers.

‘One of the great challenges of a hotter drier climate is how to manage our soils. Much of the research of the Soil CRC is focusing on increasing resilience of soils in times of drought.

‘These fact sheets represent just one of the many outputs that the Soil CRC is contributing to soil research in Australian agriculture,’ Dr Crawford said.  

Dr Crawford took part in a panel session ‘How do we best manage soils for drought resilience?’, which was chaired by Troy Clarkson, Director of the National Soil Information Framework Section, DAWE, along with Soil CRC PhD student Naveeda Majid and Belinda Eastough, Agronomist at Elders Rural Services.

‘The Soil CRC is investing in the future of agriculture, with our PhD program. It is wonderful to see one of our outstanding PhD students, Naveeda Majid contributing her knowledge to this panel,’ Dr Crawford said.

The Forum included presentations from each regional hub. Covering topics such as innovation, better land management, soils, improved knowledge, better risk management and resilient communities. The third day of the Forum focused on field trips and networking. 

An in-person event was held at each of the eight regional drought hubs across Australia – Northern WA/NT, South West WA, Victoria, Tasmania, Southern QLD, Northern NSW, Tropical North QLD, Southern NSW and South Australia.

The event aimed to connect researchers, farmers, agribusinesses, community members and governments to discuss practical opportunities and strategic challenges in building drought resilience across Australia.