Striking a match: How to ignite a passion for soils

摘要

Initiating and sustaining interest in soils in the general community has historically been a difficult task. In the Northern Rivers region of NSW Australia, the development, by a group of farmers, of a monitoring tool adapted from the United States Department of Agriculture (USD A) Soil Health Card model has created a soil literate and informed group of proactive farmers. The Northern Rivers Soil Health Card (NRSHC) has been around for over 8 years and still finds interested audiences amongst farmersall over Australia. This paper proposes that the process of creating the NRSHC and the continued presence of a dedicated soil extension officer for over 15 years have been powerful factors in igniting a passion for soils amongst a group of north coast farmers. It is argued that ongoing support and an extension presence has resulted in a farming population with high 'soil literacy'. The instigation of a formal single purpose, region wide soils group and its activities could be said to have been stimulated by previous soil extension activities particularly the development of the NRSHC.