Managing soil for high performance after a drought

This project and review investigated the effects of drought on soils, strategies for managing drought-affected soils and how to recover soils and return them to full productivity. The project conducted detailed interviews with farmers, advisors and researchers to better understand how drought-affected soils were being managed ‘on the farm’ and this was supported by information sourced from the scientific and grey literature.

There were many common findings between the interviews and the literature review. These include:

1. The need to manage ground cover to reduce the potential for erosion and better understand the impact of erosion on farming systems.
2. The impact of drought on nutrient availability (especially nitrogen) and how this interacts with post-drought fertiliser regimes.
3. How different pools of soil biology interact with drought and their response when conditions improve.
4. Methods to reduce soil constraints for optimal capture and water use.

The interviews covered an applied and holistic view of the topic covering areas from the movement of weed seeds with fodder imports as part of a drought response to the mental health of farmers.

One of the interviewees commented that, “A lot of our research has historically been very reductionist as it focuses on a specific context in isolation. Soil is a system you cannot isolate. [We] need an integrated system approach.”

This was confirmed in the literature where, despite the enormous body of research, the vast majority concentrated on assessing the effects of drought on soil, rather than evaluating integrated management practices or systems during and in the recovery phase.

Read the full project report for more information or download our project fact sheets:

• Managing soil during and after a drought in cropping systems
• Managing soil during and after a drought in grazing systems.