50 Shades of Clay - Harden Ladies on the Land

Through our one day course Soil Health for Farm Wealth, local women assessed their soil health, identified which pillars were missing in cropped and grazing paddocks, and mapped the next actions for their farms.

Dr Aurelie Quade was our excellent teacher for the day. She presented information about nutrients in soil (Total, Exchangeable, Soluble), biology in soil, and the water storage in soil in easy to understand analogies. This helped unlock the mystery in these interactions for participants so that we can make better decisions about what our soils need and the value of different inputs to achieve better soil health and productivity. We hope to see Aurelie again in 2026 to continue our learning and share these ideas with the wider Landcare community.

This course was organised by Julie Roberts (Local Landcare Co-ordinator for Murrumbidgee Hilltops area) and funded by Riverina LLS Agriwomen Connect Program under Climate Smart Agriculture Program.

The workshop name "50 Shades of Clay" was borrowed from the original idea from Tamworth Landcare group.